Several thousand homeless pets around the country are enjoying a happier new year, thanks to the generosity of pet lovers and a special, holiday-spirited program offered by Best Friends Pet Care.

Best Friends Pet Resorts in more than 30 locations -- from Massachusetts to California -- set up Giving Trees and shelter animals in their lobbies this holiday season. The trees contained ornament-like cards with information about needy cats and dogs at local shelters. Customers visiting the Resorts for boarding, grooming or training appointments during the holiday season were invited to select an ornament and donate a pet toy, treat or food item as a holiday gift to an animal in need.

The results were heart warming, according Dan Charleton, Chief Marketing Officer for Best Friends Pet Care. "Our customers -- like our own employees -- are people who love animals and they responded with overwhelming generosity. We collected an extraordinary amount of food, toys and treats that were donated to homeless animals being cared for by approximately 50 different shelters and rescue groups in the communities where we operate."

This is the second year that Best Friends has conducted the Giving Tree program. In its first year, the program collected food and gifts for approximately 500 animals at two dozen shelters. "Best Friends Pet Care is a strong supporter of the important work of pet rescue and adoption agencies," said Charleton. "And we are delighted at how this program has grown."

"We make an effort to work with rescue and shelter groups in many ways throughout the year and it's fitting that so many of our resorts chose to include a holiday giving tree to benefit these groups during the holiday season of giving."

For more information about Best Friends community outreach efforts, see the Supporting Our Communities section of the website. To find out more about getting your non-profit organization involved, email editor@bestfriendspetcare.com.