Low income families that need help feeding their beloved pets can now receive pet food free of charge.
A new donation based program called Pet Food Stamps assists poverty stricken families by providing them with food stamps to help feed their pets, ABC News reports, adding that in only the last two weeks over 45,000 families have signed up their pets.
Based out of New York, the program provides recipients with up to six months of pet food from retailer Pet Food Direct, said Marc Okon, the program's founder and executive director. Interested pet owners must apply through the programs website or via mail and once they meet the necessary requirements they'll be eligible to receive the food stamps, he added.
The program receives no government subsidies and is currently awaiting to be awarded nonprofit status, Okon said.
"We're not looking for government funding at this point," Okon told ABC News. "Should the government be willing to provide assistance further down the line, we will look into it."
Pet Food Stamps is not the first program to provide food assistance for low income pet owners, the report says. Organizations such as the Washington Animal Rescue League have run pet food banks along with a number of other services.
"One of our missions is to provide income-qualified families with discounted pet care, vaccinations, vaccine clinics, neutered clinics and vet care," Matt Williams, Washington Animal Rescue League spokesman, told ABC News.
An estimated 46.6 million Americans were enrolled in the federal food stamp program in 2012.