ohmidog!

Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard
To get her old dog a bone.
When she got there, the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, and Jean Tarazewich of Lynchburg, VA has hatched a real beauty. Jean is the owner of J.J.’s Pampered Pets, a pet store in Lynchburg, VA. She realized about four months ago that some of her regular customers were beginning to have a hard time financially and that their pets were beginning to suffer. That’s how the idea of Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard was born. It’s a food pantry for pets.

Jean didn’t rush into production with her brilliant idea. She got together with friends and employees and made careful plans for the opening of the pantry. Angela Doss canvassed for donations and reports that only two businesses refused to contribute. A number of suppliers suggested that they could donate food in damaged containers. This is fine idea for non-saleable but still good food that would otherwise go to waste, and it’s a practice borrowed from the “gleaning” at human food pantries.

Free grooming services are also available through Jean’s groomer, Aaron Spinner, who is donating five groomings per month.

After several weeks of planning, soliciting donations, and putting up flyers, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard opened this past Saturday. While the turnout was small (ten pounds of cat food, twenty of dog food were given away), Jean is not discouraged. She believes that her idea will take root and grow, that people will begin dropping off donations, and that financially-troubled pet owners will realize that they have a resource that may enable them to keep their pets. She also hopes that her idea will spread to other areas and that perhaps human food banks might operate pet food banks as an additional service. You can read a full account of Jean’s efforts at the Lynchburg News & Advance.

I visited Jean’s website, and while it does appear that she carries both puppies and kittens, it also appears that she’s buying them locally. Nevertheless, she deserves a lot of credit for a brilliant and simple idea that could help keep humans and their pets together in these tough times.

Cheers,

Anne and Spencer