A Dog Owner Pays It Forward Through Pet Food

Indianapolis  - One dog owner’s plight to save her pet has come full circle as she tries to give back to pet owners in need.

Callie is a dog who endured thousands of dollars in surgery and vet care to repair torn ligaments in her leg last year. To pay for that care, Callie’s mom went on a social media campaign and raised around $4,000.

“I think what surprised me is that people I didn’t know at all were willing to help and get involved. Now some of them are getting involved with this organization as well,” says Betsy Alt, Callie’s owner.

To pay it forward, Betsy Alt started a pet food pantry called Callie Cares, Inc. With only two distributions under her belt, those in need have been slowly trickling in.

The donations have been overwhelming.

So far Callie Cares has received about 200 pounds of pet food and a couple hundred dollars in donations. Meredith Eastwood says she makes donations on a regular basis because she knows the need is there.

“So many people are surrendering their pets in this type of economy and we really need to think about the pets. They can’t handle a lot of the funding for the Humane Society and various shelters are lessening at this time. I would suppose a lot of people surrendering their pets would really like to keep them,” says Meredith Eastwood.

Starting the pet food pantry hasn’t been easy, but Betsy and her team say they know they’re making a difference one bag of pet food at a time.

“Its just her passion. She is so passionate about her pet and that’s what really brought me into this,” says Angela America, a volunteer for Callie Cares. “I really hope this takes off and that we do provide a need for this community.”

~ Courtesy of WISHTV

Tags: pet food, pet food pantry