‘Worse than COVID’: Pet charity says demand for food nearly doubled in 2022

The dog’s food and the jacket were from Parachutes for Pets, a charity that provides subsidized pet care, including food hampers and medical treatment, to low-income Calgarians. Melissa David, who founded the charity, says the demand is ballooning as the cost of living skyrockets. During COVID, at times, it was high and I said: ‘Let’s just get through COVID,’” she said in an interview. “I’ve done three cases in the past 10 days where seniors are living in their cars because they can’t afford their medication and their food on top of their pet food. Pet food has almost doubled.”Parachutes for Pets has become a full-time obsession for David, who also works as an RCMP analyst.