A new food bank for Richmond pets recently opened its doors to the community.

The pantry, hosted at the Richmond Animal Shelter on No. 5 Road, offers puppy food, cat food, leeches and toys galore.

Emma Michel, assistant manager at the shelter, said the idea for the initiative came after they had gotten “a ton of donations from the community” and couldn’t use all of them.

“So we thought it would be wonderful to help out the community and give back,” said Michel, adding that food banks are also available at some other BC SPCA branches.

Michel told the Richmond News anyone who wishes to make use of the food bank is welcome to visit the shelter in person and see what is available.

“If anyone is in need, we don’t ask any questions, no type of registration. You can just come in, let us know what you need, and hopefully we can help,” she said.

Those who wish to donate to the food bank can also drop off unopened food at the shelter any day from 10 am to 6 pm

Michel and her team have been working on getting the word out about the food bank on social media since it opened last month, and they’re hoping to expand their reach.

“If anyone in the community has other ways that they think we can reach more people, we’d be happy to hear from them,” said Michel.