Families on SNAP worry about not just feeding themselves but also their pets

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sarah Lungwitz has fretted over feeding not just her two teenage daughters with SNAP payments disrupted, but her family's cat and two dogs.

Help has arrived for now, she says, after an Illinois nonprofit arranged for volunteers to give her a grocery gift card last week to buy food for herself and her pets. It's among the growing efforts to help struggling pet owners stretch their dollars as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments go out late during a government shutdown that is the longest on record.

“I don’t even make enough money for all my bills let alone groceries,” said Lungwitz, a 46-year-old auto parts store worker who has worried she might have to surrender her cat, Bambi, and two dogs, Spike and Chloe.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown, even though residents in more than a half-dozen states already received the funds. The uncertainty is placing a strain on shelters.

Although SNAP can’t be used for pet food, the food assistance program helps low-income families free up money to purchase kibble. It’s also common for owners to supplement or entirely feed their animals human food that was purchased using SNAP, said Stephanie Hicks, executive director for Care for Pets, the Rockford, Illinois, nonprofit that helped Lungwitz and others. Some volunteers walked the grocery aisles with struggling pet owners.

The Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States, estimates that more than 20 million pets live in poverty with families. Economic strain is one of the leading reasons animals are surrendered to shelters, spokesperson Kirsten Peek said.

While it is still too early to tell whether that is happening, groups are collecting pet food as shelters worry about a possible surge as the shutdown also leaves hundreds of thousands of furloughed workers without paychecks.

“An increase in surrenders is always a concern when an influx of people fall on hard times,” Peek said.

The concerns have one Louisiana shelter considering diverting money away from veterinary care so it can buy pet food. The SNAP delays come at a particularly bad time for the Companion Animal Alliance in Baton Rouge: The shelter recently lost a donor, forcing it to halt a program that distributed pet food to around 200 families each month.

“People are exceptionally panicking. I don’t know what a better word would be,” said Paula Shaw, the shelter’s director of access to care, noting that it was so common for SNAP recipients to give their own food to their pets that the shelter provided information about human foods owners could add to pet food to make it last longer

Offers of pet food and Venmo donations were immediate after Charley’s Angels Pet Initiative in Massachusetts put out a plea on Facebook last week. “We’re expecting, at least in the short term, that there’s going to be a surge" in demand, said Kandi Finch, a groomer who named her nonprofit after a beloved pet.

That's exactly what has happened at New Leash on Life, a shelter in Lebanon, Tennessee, outside of Nashville. The number of families using its pet food pantry jumped to 125 in October, up from 75 to 100 in a typical month, said executive director Angela Chapman.

“We’d rather help them with their food than have to surrender a pet,” she said.

In New Orleans, Zeus’ Rescues gave out a ton of pet food in October, double the normal amount, said founder Michelle Cheramie, who said this is the highest demand she’s seen in 20 years.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said, noting that some people are so desperate they are dumping animals in the shelter’s yard.

Among those seeking help there Thursday was Katie Saari, who is unemployed because of health issues and struggling to set up interviews to get SNAP benefits amid the shutdown. Out of money, she needed food for her two dogs.

“They’re more important to me than I am, so I want to make sure they’re fed first,” she said. “They’re my babies.”

Aware of the problem, many food pantries also stock their shelves with pet food, said Kim Buckman, with Feeding Missouri, a coalition of food banks in the state.

“We do know a lot of people will feed their pets before themselves,” she said. “In some cases, that is their emotional support animal.”

Such is the case for Lungwitz, who said she has PTSD and severe depression. A psychiatrist told her to get a dog because they need walks. That's how she wound up with her Chihuahua. Her American Bulldog — 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of “pure muscle” — made the domestic violence survivor feel safe. She says it worked, allowing her to venture out into the community and land a job.

But money is so tight that she sometimes seeks help at food banks, including getting doughnuts from one for her 17-year-old daughter's birthday. “I’m struggling,” she said.

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.

This story corrects the name of the Charley’s Angels Pet Initiative in Massachusetts.

Jordan Robinson restocks a Pet food pantry, for families needing help to provide for their dogs and cats, at New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Danica Anderson restocks a Pet food pantry, for families needing help to provide for their dogs and cats, at New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Dogs are seen at the New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Angela Chapman, director of New Leash On Life animal shelter, holds an owner surrendered dog at the facility Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A Pet food pantry, for families needing help to provide for their dogs and cats, is seen at the New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Danica Anderson restocks a Pet food pantry, for families needing help to provide for their dogs and cats, at New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

An owner surrendered cat is seen at the New Leash On Life animal shelter, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dominant Shohei Ohtani pitched shutout ball for six innings in his first start on the mound this season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night in drizzly conditions.

Ohtani (1-0) allowed only a two-out double to Rhys Hoskins in the fourth. The two-way superstar struck out six and walked three on 87 pitches, 54 for strikes, in his first outing in 150 days since he started Game 7 of the World Series against Toronto.

His Japanese countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, won that game in relief as the Dodgers clinched their second consecutive championship.

Max Muncy hit his first home run of the season for Los Angeles. Edwin Díaz pitched the ninth in a non-save situation and gave up an RBI single to Brayan Rocchio.

Dodgers pitchers retired the leadoff hitter in each of the first eight innings before Díaz plunked Kyle Manzardo with a pitch to open the ninth.

After dropping the series opener 4-2, the Dodgers needed a win to avoid their first series loss in March since 2018.

Muncy made it 2-0 with a 410-foot solo drive to the right-field pavilion off reliever Kolby Allard in the sixth. Los Angeles added two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages.

Pages’ two-out RBI single off starter Tanner Bibee (0-1) in the fourth gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, the first time this season they scored first.

At the plate, Ohtani went 1 for 3 with a strikeout and two walks, extending his on-base streak to 36 games dating to Aug. 24, 2025.

A fresh rosin bag was brought to the mound in the fifth when light rain began falling. Ohtani wiped the damp ball between his pants legs.

The grounds crew was called out to groom the front slope of the mound, specifically Ohtani's landing spot, after he issued his third walk with two outs in the sixth. He used a metal tool to dig dirt lodged in the bottom of his spikes. Ohtani then retired Hoskins with one pitch to end the inning.

Ohtani hit Angel Martinez on his left kneecap with a 96 mph fastball with two outs in the fifth.

Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (0-1, 5.40 ERA) starts the series finale Wednesday against Yamamoto (1-0, 3.00), the third consecutive Japan-born pitcher to start for the Dodgers in a major league first.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani runs during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)