Our Story

On May 23rd 2020 my dog Obi passed away. I was devastated.

The day after he left us I looked through his adoption paperwork from the place where we rescued him. I hadn’t remembered that he had been relinquished to Chicago’s Animal Care and Control-our city’s open access animal shelter. His owner brought him there because he had terrible separation anxiety that she couldn’t manage. Obi was there for almost three weeks before he was pulled by Pal’s Place rescue.

Three weeks. A dog with terrible anxiety at CACC for three weeks.

In my 10+ years being involved as an animal rescue volunteer in different ways, I appreciate what a person goes through when they think about relinquishing their pet. I started to think about what his original owner went through and if there was anything that could have prevented his relinquishment. Maybe she didn’t have access to certain things that could have improved his quality of life. Would those things have helped her keep him? Then I started to think about other families that have pets that might have special needs that they are having a difficult time managing. I know of these families but nothing I've done until now has been a legitimate effort to actively assist in this problem. In the age of Covid-19 these challenges are magnified. What can we do as a block, as a neighborhood, as a city to help keep pets in the homes of the people that they love? What can we provide and ask nothing in return? The human animal bond is real and must be nurtured. Pets ARE family.

Obi’s Pet Pantry™ is a donation box where people will be able to donate pet items and those in need of items for their pets will be able to take what they need, no questions asked, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
You may have seen book exchange boxes on people’s front lawns in some neighborhoods and Obi’s Pet Pantry™ is similar to that.

In December 2020 Obi’s Pet Pantry (OBI WAN, NFP) was granted 501c3 status.

Our 501c3 status means that any monetary or physical donations can be tax deductible. If you're in the Chicago area we are also in need of physical donations. Please contact obispetpantry@gmail.com if you would like to donate. Also, if you're interested in having a donation box placed on your front lawn, we’re happy to talk about that too.