Testimonials
The South Shore Pet Food Pantry is a resource I would have used when I was having a hard time, so I am personally grateful for it and I support it to make sure that others have access when they need it. In 2009, I moved back home to the South Shore for a job. Jobs were so scarce then, and my husband and I had been unemployed and underemployed for a while. During that time, my cat Max had some food-related health problems. We tried dozens of different cat foods to find something that wouldn’t make Max sicker. It added up financially. But we couldn’t give up on him - Max had been with me across three states and 15 years. He was a member of my family. I remember practically sobbing when I had to throw out opened cans of cat food he hadn’t finished. It’s been years now, and Max is gone; he died shortly after we moved out of our first Quincy apartment in 2010. After years of chasing affordable housing across the South Shore, my husband and I finally were able to buy a little house in Weymouth for ourselves and our two cats Anya and Riley. We moved here in October 2016, the same month that the Weymouth Pet Food Pantry started (now the South Shore Pet Food Pantry). I saw a chance to help people who were struggling to keep their pets fed and healthy like I had. I don’t have a lot, but we have enough that I can buy some food for the South Shore Pet Food Pantry from their online wish lists, and I can support them by helping to share their content on social media. I do it because these are difficult times, and life is hard. Maybe I can make it a little less hard for someone so they can keep the joy and love of a pet in their life.
The Pet Pantry has allowed many of us - who use the human food pantry to keep our own heads above water - to keep our pets and take good care of them.
Individual pet owners can always count on a bag of dry and some cans of wet food. No questions asked (at the Weymouth distribution) except “How many cats do you have?"
If our cats could give the Pet Food Pantry a hug they would. They owe their lives to it.
Can’t say enough good things about Kristen and her volunteers.
Maisie is 2.5 years old and hails from Kentucky. I spotted her on Petfinder.com offered by a shelter called Rock 'N Rescue. She looked like my previous two cats, orange and white in color and with a bit of mischief in her eyes. She was waiting for me!
When I picked her up, she wasn't orange or white at all! The color in the online photograph was off by a mile. She was buff and cream! No turning back now.
The companionship and mayhem which is Maisie's contribution to my life here on earth couldn't happen without the contribution of food by the Pet Food Pantry each week. Maisie relies on both canned and dry food, the occasional bag of treats and a catnip toy for fun and games.
Thank you and thank everyone who donates!
I am 17 years old and I just was looking everywhere to find pet food pantries near me. I live in Brockton and I had two cats and one dog. I had to surrender my two kitties because buying food every week was too much. Luckily my neighbor upstairs and my Mom's co-worker have them to take care of. I have my dog now, his name is Stykie and he's a red nose pit. He is one goof ball to be honest.
I just recently got him back in my life again; long story short he was with someone when we were in the shelter. I thought I could trust them but they completely let my dog starve and beat him; it makes me so upset because I trusted them and they used me. Now I'm trying to fix my dog back to the way he was before. I don't have a harness for him and we barely have food for him half of the time; my mom is working as hard as she can because we need to move since they don't allow dogs to be there.
Please, I need help. I don't want to lose the only thing I love.
[We were able to help this family and once they got over their financial crisis they were able to support themselves.]
I am thankful from the bottom of my heart for the South Shore Pet Food Pantry and Kristen. When I brought my 8 week old puppy home eleven years ago I was financially comfortable and a responsible pet owner. I didn't predict a massive nervous breakdown. I was diagnosed with Bipolar, PTSD and agoraphobia.
My financial situation changed drastically. One major thing that kept me from giving up is my dog Sully. I need him and he needs me. One of his needs is grain-free dog food because he gets allergic skin lesions. I have been unable to work since the breakdown. I have applied for disability several times, but meanwhile my income is $303 per MONTH. When I was able to work, I made double that per DAY.
Kristen is literally a life saver because I can't picture my life without Sully. He gives me a reason to get up every day.
I have to be medicated to leave my apartment, so every couple of months Kristen delivers bags of grain-free dog food for Sully and his skin has cleared up completely. When I used to run out of dog food before, I used to cook hamburger and rice that I got from the human food pantry. I never run out of grain-free dog food anymore. It's a HUGE amount of worry and guilt off my mind and that's precious.
Thank you South Shore Pet Food Pantry and Kristen!
The South Shore Pet Food Pantry was a life saver to both me and my cats. Having being diagnosed with a health issue where it was debated that the source could be my cats, I was desperate to find a temporary home for them while it was determined. I contacted them for help and they were able to find a home for both of them in about a week. They were the fourth organization I contacted and the only one willing to help me. Since then they have also provided me with the opportunity for obtaining lines and fluid bags along with special kidney food for my one cat with kidney failure. I for one am grateful to have found them; they have been there for me when no one was and they do it with a smile and encouragement for a better day. Weymouth is lucky to have an animal-based organization for those in need.