A SNAP petition has gone viral, asking the government that food stamps be used to buy pet food.
SNAP — or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — is the government program that helps low-income families buy food using stamps at a low price. Under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, households are unable to use the program’s benefits to buy pet food, according to the USDA.
The Care2 petition is called
“Don’t Let Pets Starve – Include Pet Food in SNAP Benefits!,” and it has roughly 102,700 signatures at the time of writing, closing in on its goal of 90,000 signatures. About 40 million people around the U.S. rely on SNAP to get their food on a daily basis.
“I am one of those Americans. I have only been on SNAP benefits for a few months, but I have been unable to feed my little dog due to government regulations,” writes Edward B. Johnston, Jr., who started the petition.
Johnston, Jr. also mentions that some people argue that pets should not be kept if families cannot afford them, but he mentions that sometimes families get a pet and their financial conditions worsen, so should they really be forced to give up a pet they had for years due to a rough patch?
“Or should they be able to utilize federal aid to continue feeding their pet?” he adds on the letter.
