In the tiny, remote town of North Battleford, in the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan, is Battleford’s Humane Society, a small shelter run purely on donations. Krisy Wandler and her mom, Wendi, members of the shelter’s board of directors, recently figured out a unique way to raise more money for their homeless cats and dogs: sell Halo, Purely for Pets, which is not available anywhere nearby. And, all of the profit earned from sales can go to the shelter’s coffers.
So on June 19th, Krisy and Wendi held their first Strutt Your Mutt dog walk, hosted a bar-b-que, and introduced over 500 humans and their dogs to Halo with a variety of samples. Over $1000 worth of Halo flew out off the shelves that day, and the Wandlers will continue to sell Halo at the shelter. “Everyone who had a sample and fed their dog there said their dog ate it,” says Wendi. “It’s wonderful, I’m so excited.”
Over $5000 was raised that day, including the $600 of profit from their Halo sales. And now, all of the homeless cats and dogs at Battlefords will only eat Halo. “I think this an opportunity for every shelter across North America,” Wendi says. “I think if Halo could do this with other shelters, I think this could raise alot of money for the shelters.”
During the festivities, three dogs were adopted. Edward Marchewka (pictured, with Krisy Wandler) adopted Rosco, a 7-month old German Shepherd found starving. Marchewka made the day’s first Halo purchase; all of the dogs who found homes that day left with Halo. “We have no funding except for donations and fundraising,” Wendi says. “The Halo gives us a different opportunity to make money for the shelter.”
The genesis of the idea came from Krisy, 31, who started feeding her cat Halo. With no stores anywhere around carrying it, she bought the food off of a shopping channel. “My cat went absolutely nuts over the Halo food, and when her box of food is delivered, she knows it’s hers,” says Krisy.
And now, many other lucky cats and dogs in the North Battleford area can go absolutely nuts, too. “(Selling the Halo) is a huge help for our animals,” says Krisy. “And we do hope we did Halo proud.”
Indeed they did. Says Brooke Lavins, Halo’s Canadian sales manager who helped the Wandlers get their Halo: “Their passion for animals is refreshing. It’s great to come together to create such a successful event.”
Click here to go to the group’s Facebook page, where you can see photos of the day’s events.
