Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Food and Toys for the Abandoned Animals

I make contributions in the form of food and other necessities to our local animal shelter from time to time throughout the year.  This past weekend I made just such a trip to the DC Animal Shelter.


Unfortunately, they do not just receive unwanted and homeless dogs, but they receive cats as well. So the first thing we picked up was this 36 can medley of 9 Lives Meaty Classics.


I spoke to Beau at the shelter before I started my shopping and he informed me that the shelter has a strict rule that the dogs only be fed Hill's Science Diet food.  A heads-up on this food - you cannot find it at Walmart or Target or any of the big chain grocery stores.  You must go to a pet store.  I know this because I tried all of the above before finally going to Petco.


I bought the biggest bag in stock at Petco, which was this 33 lb. bag.  There are many hungry mouths to be fed at the shelter.


The next item that all shelters can use is bath towels.  Now, they do not need to be PortHault (http://dporthaultparis.com/towels/).  But simple middle of the road towels that will stand up to everyday use.  These bath towels from Walmart were just perfect.  And in black.  Stains are camouflaged on black.


Next up, some play toys.  Actually, a friend ordered these large balls from www.chewy.com and discovered when they arrived that she ordered the wrong size for her dogs.  When we contacted Chewy and explained the situation and told them we wanted to return these and reorder the same thing in small, they were so kind and suggested we take these to our local animal shelter and they shipped out the new balls for my friend in the small size.  THAT, my friends, is how you do business!!  We love Chewy and we want everyone to know what a wonderful thing they did.  Please use the link above to go to their website.


Finally, the car loaded, off we went to the shelter.


I was hoping that I was not going to open the door to the sound of wailing pets who had been abandoned.  And I did not.  The operation seems to be very well run.  Lots of young people with caring eyes who were very appreciative of everything I dropped off.


I love that they have painted in HUGE letters on the front of the building facing heavily trafficked New York Avenue, "Adopt here!"  A little further down "dc loves dc animals."


And on the opposite side of the building is this sign, facing traffic traveling east on New York Avenue, with their hours.

If you find yourself in a situation where you can help out at your local animal shelter, please consider doing so.  They would be happy if you walked in with a $5 donation or a can of food.  Anything, no matter how small, is appreciated.  Our furry friends look to us to care for them.

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