Grief over the loss of a pet can take many forms. I applaud people who take that grief and use it for something positive.

Woman starts pantry to help those who can’t afford food for animals
By Mike Blackerby

PHOTO BY WADE PAYNE

Rio Hays walks 3-year-old Harley, a Poshie, and 4-month-old Rama at Victor Ashe Park on Friday. Hays started the Knoxville Pet Food Pantry, which helps those who can’t afford to provide food for their pets.
Rio Hays turned the grief of losing her beloved dog into a mission of procuring pet food for financially strapped Knoxvillians who can’t provide for their animals.

Hays, a 26-year-old student and Web designer, began the Knoxville Pet Food Pantry about two years ago after the death of her Sadie, an Australian cattle dog.

“She had a freak allergic reaction to anesthesia and passed away,” Hays said. “I was put aside by the grief I had for her and then saw a news report about dogs being euthanized because their owners couldn’t feed them. I saw that these people were feeling the same sadness and grief that I was.”

At that point, Hays, never one to sit on the sidelines, went into action.

“My sister and I were raised in a situation where we always participated in philanthropy and did things like work for food pantries,” she said. “When Sadie passed, the grief was so intense that the only thing I could do was funnel it to try and help other people so that they didn’t have to go through the same thing I did because they couldn’t feed their pets.”

Once she became engrossed in the cause, Hays, a North Knoxvillian, said she was surprised by the acute need for a local pet food pantry.

“I saw a study where the No. 3 reason owners gave for surrendering their pets was because they couldn’t afford to feed them anymore,” she said. “A lot of animals are euthanized because their owners can’t afford to feed them. To me, that’s horrific.”

Hays initially advertised her desire to help pet owners online, and her cause quickly spread by word-of-mouth.

In addition to the obvious need for dog and cat food, Hays said she has had other surprising requests: “I had requests for horse feed, bird feed and even a request for fresh vegetables for reptiles.”

Hays said the flood of requests has been overwhelming.

“For the longest time, I’ve personally gone and bought food and given it to people,” she said. “It started to get really expensive, and I thought, ‘This is the kind of thing I could get help with.’ “

Hays said she is in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for the Knoxville Pet Food Pantry – http://knoxpetpantry.weebly.com/ – and is hoping to partner with local nonprofit agencies to distribute pet food.

Hays, who may also be contacted at 865-755-1079 for those who wish to donate pet food, said one of her top priorities is assisting Knoxville’s elderly pet lovers.

“A big concern of mine is the elderly population,” Hays said. “A lot of them are on fixed incomes or homebound. I’ve heard a lot of stories like, ‘My mother, or a friend, had to surrender their animals because they couldn’t afford food.’

“For some people, these are pets they’ve had for 10 years. That’s much more than a dog to them, that’s their companion. That’s heartbreaking to me.”

Mike Blackerby is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.