The exploding demand among the needy for food banks is rapidly expanding to desperate pet owners who can no longer afford to feed their animals, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Animal shelters around the country are being flooded with hungry pets, and to tackle the problem, charitable organizations are setting up pet food banks, with products offered within regular food pantries.

“One of our goals is to keep pets in their homes if we can,” said Jane Hoffman, president of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, a nonprofit that works to find ways of limiting the number of animals in New York City that are euthanized. “It’s heartbreaking when an animal has to go to a shelter simply because its family doesn’t have the money to feed it.”

She compared it to City Harvest, a nonprofit group in New York that distributes excess food from the city’s restaurants to the needy.