Washoe County is a top donation site for the national pet food drive.
The week of August 10-16, 2015 is the sixth national Pets of the Homeless Give a Dog a Bone week. Across the country, hundreds of member collection sites for Pets of the Homeless will be asking the community to bring donations of pet food and supplies to their neighborhood participating donation sites.
Washoe County is one of the top regions for pet food and cash donations during Give a Dog a Bone week. In 2014, the PetSmart Warehouse in Reno, Nev. donated 59,858lbs of pet food that went to St. Vincent’s Food Bank to be distributed to the homeless and less fortunate.
Homelessness is still an issue even as the economy brightens. 3.5 million Americans are homeless. Between 5 and 10 percent of homeless people have dogs and/or cats. In some areas of the country, the rate is as high as 24 percent.
Genevieve Frederick founded Pets of the Homeless in 2006 to offer animals the food their owners cannot provide. The organization garnered nonprofit status in 2008. Today, Pets of the Homeless is an organization who’s mission is simple – to feed and provide basic veterinary care to pets of homeless people in the United States and Canada.
“Since 2008, collection site members have taken over 374 tons* of pet food and supplies to homeless shelters, food banks and soup kitchens across the country,” said Genevieve Frederick, founder of Pets of the Homeless. “It is a combined effort to continue year-round collections of pet food. We applaud the caring, member sites who have reported their contributions. The need is great for communities to continue to donate to this on-going effort.”
*Approximately 50 percent of the collection sites report the amounts, so the number is actually greater.
As an outreach to the homeless who own pets, Pets of the Homeless also uses cash donations to provide veterinary care to pets of the homeless at free wellness clinics as well as emergency veterinary care across the country. More than 12,000 pets have been treated.
“These pets are non judgmental, provide comfort and an emotional bond of loyalty. In some cases, they provide the homeless with protection and keep them warm,” said Frederick.
Pets of the Homeless has more than 400 distribution locations in food banks and soup kitchens in nearly every state. Over 747,000lbs of food have gone to tens of thousands of animals. More than $293,000 has been provided for vet care expenses, pet food and crates.
For more information about Pets of the Homeless, visit www.petsofthehomeless.org. Participating locations can be found here: http://www.petsofthehomeless.
About Pets of the Homeless:
Pets of the Homeless believes in the healing power of companion pets and of the human-animal bond which is very important in the lives of many homeless. They find solace, protection and companionship through their pets. They care for their pets on limited resources so they themselves have less. The task, nationwide, is to feed and provide basic emergency veterinary care to their pets and thus relieve the anguish and anxiety of the homeless who cannot provide for their pets. For more information, please visit petsofthehomeless.org.
