Heat-Driven Infestation Empties Vegas Pet Pantry — Your Donation Can Refill It
Thousands of pounds of donated pet food were just tossed in the trash in Las Vegas — and it wasn’t because anything had expired. Insects, desperate for a cool escape from our record-breaking summer heat, burrowed into the bags stored at Kendall’s Kupboard, the pet-food bank run by the nonprofit Hearts Alive Village. By the time volunteers unlocked the storeroom on Friday morning, July 11, the damage was done: whole pallets had to be hauled straight to the dumpster.
A Summer of Unlucky Breaks
If you follow Hearts Alive Village on social, you know this hasn’t exactly been a quiet season. A small electrical fire about ten days earlier singed the air-conditioning unit that keeps the warehouse usable, forcing the team to race through two food-distribution events in triple-digit temps. Even with the AC out, they still moved “hundreds of pounds of dog and cat food” to more than 700 local families, pushing the year-to-date total over 32,000 pounds.
That momentum came to a screeching halt when the insects moved in. Without climate control, the bags were basically a giant summer resort for every crawling critter in Clark County. Volunteers were left with zero choice: thousands of pounds had to be discarded to keep clients’ pets safe.
Why This Matters (Even if You Don’t Live with a Tail-Wagger)
For a lot of people in Vegas, Kendall’s Kupboard is the thin line between keeping a beloved animal at home and surrendering it to a shelter. “Every week, someone tells us they’ve been taking food off their own plate to feed their pets,” the rescue wrote in its appeal. Lose that safety net and owners often feel forced to rehome or abandon perfectly healthy dogs and cats. The downstream effect: more animals in already-packed municipal shelters and more hard-to-adopt seniors on the intake list.
How to Help Right Now
Hearts Alive Village is asking for two things, and both are easy:
- Monetary donations. One full semi-truck of replacement food costs roughly $2,500. Even five bucks chips away at that invoice. (They’ve set up a direct link to donate here.)
- In-kind pet-food donations. Any brand is welcome. Drop-offs are accepted at:
- Clinic: 3250 N. Decatur Blvd.
- Everyday Adoption Center: 286 W. Lake Mead Pkwy.
Prefer shopping online? The team keeps an up-to-date Amazon wishlist so you can send kibble with two clicks.
