Submitted Photo Kasey Breuer, co-founder of the Lend a Paw food pantry, checks people in at her desk at the Lend a Paw food pantry.

Along with human food prices, pet food prices have skyrocketed, and many North Dakotans are struggling to afford to keep their pets.

Humbled by the great lengths people will go to remain with their four-legged friends, Kasey Breuer, co-founder of the Animal Empowerment League (AEL), is keeping the “Lend a Paw” food pantry in Minot.

She strives to do two things: keep people and pets together and help prevent animals from entering the shelter or rescue system.

“Everyone has their own story; we strive to be judgment free so that we can focus on serving our community,” said Breuer.

Breuer has taken over the food pantry from Emma and Toby Phillips at Blessed Pets.

“Emma and Toby made a tremendous impact on our community by loving people and their pets. They approached us several months ago to let us know they were ready to pursue another calling and wanted the pet pantry to continue through another organization, if possible,” said Breuer

“Having our pet retention program already in place, the addition of the pet pantry only made sense and we are honored to carry on Blessed Pets’ work in our community,” said Breuer.

Breuer said they have grown from serving 41 animals per month to 79. Some of these animals share their owner’s meals to stay fed. She wants to help by supplying locals with something so simple, yet a financial barrier to many.

“Eighty percent of people who visit a food pantry have pets. That is a shockingly high percentage. But is it really? Living with financial hardship is one thing, living it alone is another. Humans and pets need each other,” said Breuer.

Jared Slinde, communications manager at Great Plains Food Bank, said they have seen a 14% increase in people receiving help from food pantries since 2021 – the highest numbers since the pandemic – and a 21% decrease in the amount of food available.

“Things have not been normal since COVID,” said Slinde.

Great Plains Food Bank is the only food bank in North Dakota with its statewide distribution center in Fargo and its regional service center in Bismarck.

Paulette Streitz, head of Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry in Minot, said they noticed a massive increase of people in need of their service years ago and has not gone down since. They currently serve more than 600 families per month and have been eating into their own checkbooks to keep things going.

Much like human food pantries, the demand for Lend a Paw’s services is rapidly increasing. “I used to be able to answer messages within an hour, however it takes about three or four days now because there just aren’t enough hours in the day,” said Breuer.

On Lend a Paw’s five shelving units, two are full of pet food. “Pet Supplies Plus has kept us stocked while the supply lessens. Donations are the lifeblood of this program,” said Breuer.

AEL was founded by Kasey Breuer and Lauren Rogers. Since then, Breuer stepped down from the board and became a dog trainer with the rescue. She continues to run operations and serves as executive director in a volunteer capacity.

With a strong background in the rescue and shelter industry, as much as she has a normal life like everyone else, she yearns to keep her toes in the water with rescue.

Always doing something for AEL six days a week, she claims it would be easy to do it every day but does her best when given the chance to rest.

AEL also provides low-cost microchipping, TNR (trap-neuter-return), humane dog trapping for stray dogs, and trap loan bank to support community cat caregivers.

“Currently we have one volunteer for trapping…me,” said Breuer. She held off for a while because she wanted to make sure volunteers had what they deserve – insurance.

“It’s a tight budget for us to keep insurance, but so far, we have been blessed. If anyone wants to learn about trapping and come on trapping calls, I’m happy to teach them,” said Breuer.

One day, her time to retire will come and she hopes to have someone trained to continue AEL’s programs. Until then she continues to influence the community with her unique skill set and gifts.

“I know I can make a difference and I don’t want that to go to waste,” said Breuer.

Breuer aspires to obtain a facility to offer even more support to Minot.

Anyone in need of assistance can apply to the Lend a Paw pet food pantry. Once the application is filled out, people are welcome to come by anytime to the Lend a Paw open hours with an ID to get pet food.