Contributed Photo A pile of donated pet food the Marshalltown Animal Rescue League has collected for their Pet Food Pantry.

Taking their Pet Food Pantry on the go, Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Marshalltown is bringing free pet food to pet owners in need.

The Pet Food Pantry originally started last year, open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday offering free pet food to any who need it.

However, the Pet Food Pantry hasn’t seen a lot of pet owners coming by for food since beginning said ARL volunteer coordinator Jessica Slifer who also runs the Pet Food Pantry.

“We don’t have a lot of turnout from people coming out here needing the food and we were concerned that it was just because of our location,” Slifer said. “So we decided to go ahead and go into Marshalltown once a month for those who cannot come out to our shelter, so we’re a little bit more close and a little bit more vocal for them.”

The ARL Pet Food Pantry is going mobile on the first Friday of every month. The ARL’s Pet Food Pantry will be set up at the Thompson True Value in Marshalltown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday. There are no income restrictions required to receive pet food, and the Pantry will try to supply people with a month’s supply of pet food depending on availability.

“We try not to ask a lot of questions,” Slifer said. “A lot of people tend to get embarrassed when they’re asking for handouts and we don’t want anyone to feel that way.”

The idea for the Pet Food Pantry came in response to impacts from the 2018 tornado, 2020 derecho and the on-going COVID-19 pandemic leaving many with diminished wages or without their livelihoods all together.

“Our community has been hit with some pretty hard events and there’s been a lot of people who have been struggling,” Slifer said. “We noticed that people had been choosing to take care of their own pets instead of taking care of their own necessities like putting food in their own fridge or paying their bills. We just hate to see that.”

The ARL hopes the Pet Food Pantry will prevent pet owners from having to surrender their pets due to financial hardship.

“We don’t want anyone to struggle, so if they’re struggling to make ends meet and they have pets then take the burden off of one thing and let us help,” Slifer said.

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Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.