PETERSBURG, Va. — With capacity increasing and budgets stretching thin, social media recently played an important role in helping Petersburg Animal Control keep the dogs in their care well-fed. There are about 40 dogs at the shelter which has space for 24 dog runs.
“It’s never-ending, like a revolving door,” Petersburg Animal Control Supervisor Jenny Smith said about the dogs at the shelter. “It began Friday night. We got in dogs Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and yesterday.”
While animal control has a dog food budget, the overwhelming number of animals can make that money go quickly.
“We are budgeted for dog food and the city is kind to us about that, they’ll purchase it, but we go through a lot of dog food with that many dogs, that many mouths to feed,” Smith said.
That’s one reason why a recent social media post by Petersburg restaurant owner Kathleen McCay asking for dog food donations did not go unnoticed.
“We said if you donated a bag or $29, that we would match your bag, bag for bag,” McCay, who owns Old Towne Alibi, said. “We had 16 bags donated, so we went Tuesday and purchased 32 bags of dog food.”