Leaders at King's Harvest say they've seen more people and pets out on the street over the course of the past year.

Because many shelters don't allow pets, the newly homeless are forced to abandon the one thing they love most. But right now, King's Harvest leaders are doing everything they can to change that.

"I was homeless, on the streets, don't know anybody around here," says Diane Kavalski.

Diane kavalski moved to davenport from washington state on the promise of a real estate deal.

After things fell through...she found herself living at the humility of mary shelter...which wouldn't allow her dog rita to stay.

She says the idea of life without her beloved pooch was unacceptable.

"I was gonna move out of the shelter because I didn't know what I was going to do with my dog to live under a bridge or something," Kavalski says.

But that's when fate stepped in.

Kings Harvest Director Terri Gleize had just started a program designed to prevent people like Kavalski from losing their pets.

"It's to help the homeless that are living in their cars with their pets," Gleize says. "We will take their pet and put it into a temporary placement so they can go to a shelter and hopefully get back on their feet."

She says she got the idea for the program after noticing a trend recently.

"We are giving out more dog food now than human food," she says. "We've seen just such an increase in people that need help."

And now, Kavalski is one of the program's first success stories. Just weeks after losing everything, she says she's well on her way to getting back on her feet.

"I found a landlord that worked with me," Kavalski says. "I was able to move into an apartment with nothing down. One week later, I got my dog."

"It's always great to see a happy ending," Gleize adds. "We don't want anybody to have to lose the one thing that they love because they're going through a hard time."

Kings Harvest says they have a number of kittens and dogs available for adoption, but still need help from the community to meet the increase demand for pet food.

They also are still in need of volunteers to help run the program and serve as temporary homes for the pets. If you are interested in helping out or adopting an animal, you are urged to call Terri Gleize at (563) 570-4536 or stop by King's Harvest at 824 W. 3rd St. in Davenport.