Nicole Frey of the Animal Food Bank and Abby Andrews with Abby's Animals stand in front of a trailer that will be delivering pet food to pets impacted by the floods in B.C. The trailer will be accepting donations from 9a.m. to 6p.m. Saturday and Sunday (Tiffany Goodwein/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

At the Moose and Squirrel from 9a.m. to 6p.m.

Animal Food Bank collecting donations for pets affected in B.C. floods

Nov 20, 2021 | 1:50 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– A local woman is doing her part to ensure that pets in flood-stricken parts of British Columbia don’t go without food to eat.

Nicole Frey is with the Animal Food Bank Foundation, an organization she founded back in Kelowna before moving to Medicine Hat in July.

The Animal Food Bank Foundation has locations in the B.C, but she said replenishing supplies to help victims has been a challenge due to supply shortages at stores and road closures.

“Normally we would do that out of the Lower Mainland and other pockets of B.C, but with the highway closures we have not been able to do that and so we have to completely re-shift our model and send in supplies from Alberta,” she said.

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Right now, Frey said because a lot of the evacuees are being sent to areas that they service they are seeing a lot of need for food. Last week alone they delivered over 5000 pounds of food to pets in need, and the demand is still very strong. The only problem is, their cupboards are bare, and they are in need of more stock.

Frey’s organization has helped pets displaced by natural disasters in the past. Most recently The Animal Food Bank Foundation helped in the B.C wildfires, and she said, right now, pets need support more than ever.

“ We know that when the pets come into the Emergency Services Centres, they are already stressed, their owners are stressed, they are picking up on that they have been displaced. A lot of them have left their homes without anything so it is stressful for everyone, animals included. The challenge with this one is a lot of pets have been left behind, and so we are hearing stories of local RCMP detachments, taking care of pets left behind in the floods,” she said.

Frey has 40 drivers in B.C. that are delivering food and water to wherever it is needed. From emergency services centers to Food Banks, to RCMP detachments, and directly to evacuees.

The Animal Food Bank Foundation is collecting donations this weekend. A large trailer has been parked outside the Moose and Squirrel on Second Street for people to drop off their donations.

Nine-year-old Abby Andrews was on hand to help.

“I run Abby’s Animals. I collect pop bottles and get that money back, and just going to pet food and pet stores and dropping them off and giving it to animal organizations,” Andrews said.

People can drop their donations off from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Frey said there is also a need for animal crates. The donations collected will be delivered on Monday.