PITTSBURGH — A pet food pantry on Pittsburgh’s North Side is temporarily shut down after repeated thefts.
The woman behind the Dr. John P. Ruffing VMD Pet Food Pantry says food and supplies, like heated water bowls, beds and shelters, have vanished.
“Someone was very dishonorable, and they took most of the food and we don’t know who it is, why they would do that,” co-founder Sue Kerr said."
Kerr says the heated items were critical needs with upcoming very cold temperatures, and that the pantry can’t afford to replace them. Same with the food, which was mostly donated.
“We can’t do this anymore, and that is a tremendous blow to what we do,” Sue Kerr said. “Because people really rely on being able to just come and just get their food at the same time every month.”
The pantry distributes food each month through an honor system to nearly 100 local caretakers and families.
But now, because of the repeated thefts, Kerr says the nonprofit has ave to figure out a new distribution plan.
“We’re going to take some time to really think about that,” Kerr said. “We have recruited some volunteers to deliver directly to people for the rest of this month... We’re just going to have to really think about what to do... We may have to change the model.”
Kerr said the pantry was created to help fill a gap in pet pantry access for colony caretakers. It served around 900 animals.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
