SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) — Providing for a family can be a difficult task, but taking care of those fluffy four-legged friends can be just as difficult.

For many people, dogs and cats in the house aren’t just pets, but rather members of the family. A shelter in Salt Lake City is helping ease the burden of those who need to buy pet food during difficult financial times.

Ruff Haven Crisis Shelter opened its doors back in 2020 and has only flourished since. The shelter offers services like grooming, vaccinations, rehoming, temporary sheltering, and now, a mobile pet food pantry. 

“One thing we noticed is that a lot of animals were ending up in the shelter because families couldn’t supply basic needs like dog food, leashes, treats, stuff like that,” Marisa Hernandez, director of operations for Ruff Haven said.

Ruff Haven partnered with popular food delivery service Door Dash to provide families with pet food once a week free of charge for anyone within a 10-mile radius of their location. 

Simply go to the Ruff Haven website at ruffhaven.org/petpantry and fill out the jot form. The service caters to up to five cats and asks what size of dog you have.

Dog owner Melissa Rowley said Ruff Haven has been a life safer and has eased her anxiety on how she would go about feeding her animals since losing her job. “Times got hard,” she said. “We were worried about how we were going to afford dog food because it’s expensive.”

For those interested in donating, the shelter accepts both new and open bags of food that they repackage for new users. 

“We’re really hoping to keep pets and people together and it’s just such a simple, easy way of taking that stress off,” said Hernandez.