While out working as an animal control officer in recent years, Stephanie Gingras would ask people whether they have enough food for their pets. A surprising number answered no.
Some owners couldn’t afford the food. For others, transportation was a hurdle. So Gingras would run out to the store and buy enough to tide them over.
“I just really realized there’s a need for this,” she said.
“This” became the Mobile Pet Food Shelf, which is now a nonprofit organization run by Gingras and a handful of volunteers. It began in December 2023, when Gingras distributed a load of pet food and supplies at the Motel 6 in Colchester; she’s the town’s animal control officer. Now the volunteers make seven stops, from Burlington to St. Albans, on different days of the month.
She stocks her black minivan with dog and cat food and treats, hay for rabbits, and birdseed for parakeets, as well as cat litter, leashes, harnesses, beds and coats — even flea and tick medication. First-time customers must register. It’s all free, and there is no qualifying income requirement.
“You can show up in a limo and a three-piece suit,” Gingras said.
The org relies on donations of cash and supplies. It holds fundraisers and bake sales to keep things running. In July, it’ll host a vaccination clinic over two days in Williston and St. Albans with free rabies and distemper shots.
The need, Gingras said, is what keeps the volunteers going.
“When we first started doing it, I had a woman at the Motel 6 tell me, ‘Thank you so much. I don’t have to steal dog food anymore,’” Gingras recalled. “These are their kids; these are their heart and soul. Just because they’re in a hard situation doesn’t mean they don’t love their animals.”
For more info, visit mobilepetfoodshelf.weebly.com.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Warehouse Wheels”
This article appears in Animal Issue • 2026.
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