Animal Lovers Urged to Share the Holiday Spirit with Homeless Pets

Pets are the latest victim of the recession.  During the past year, as more families have lost jobs and struggled to make ends meet, animal shelters across the country have seen a huge upsurge in homeless animals.

Shelters and rescue groups have been overwhelmed with dogs and cats being “given up” by families who just can’t afford to care for them. For the shelters, already coping with a dip in donations due to the economy, the problem is enormous: how to feed and shelter all these newly homeless pets.

Enter the Best Friends Angel Tree collection for homeless pets. For the ninth consecutive year, Best Friends Pet Care locations across the country are partnering with local shelters to ensure that homeless pets have much-needed food and supplies.

Through the program, animal lovers are encouraged to share the holiday spirit of giving with animals in need, and to donate food, toys and treats for dogs and cats at local animal shelters. From now through the New Year, Best Friends is inviting its clients and other animal lovers are invited to stop in at their local Best Friends and select a dog’s or cat’s ornament from the Homeless Pets Angel Tree in the lobby.

Listed on each ornament is information about a specific pet in need of a new home, along with details about supplies needed by the shelter.  Donors are asked to purchase only the specific supplies requested by the shelter. To make donating easy, Best Friends stocks the items on each shelter’s wish list. (Only new items will be accepted.) Donations are also accepted by phone.

The Angel Tree program was created in 2000 to help local shelters and rescue groups provide for the homeless pets in their care. Last year, more than $25,000worth of food, toys, treats and pet care products were donated to 80 shelters and rescue organizations across the country.

To find a participating Best Friends near you, go to the Our Locations page of the Website or call us at 888-FOR-PETS.

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