The all-volunteer Outreach to Pets in Need is nothing short of angels for the dogs and cats at the city of Stamford, Connecticut animal shelter.

Outreach provides $3,000 worth of medical care a month for the strays, even chemotherapy and dental visits. They hire a certified behaviorist for training, provide a low cost spay and neuter program, and care for pets of domestic violence victims while the battered women seek refuge. Since 2007 when the group began, the adoption rate skyrocketed to an astounding 97 percent, the highest rate in the state.

Thanks to a recent Freekibble.com donation of over 2,000 bags of Halo Healthsome Treats to Outreach, the shelter dogs received yet another gift. “They loved them,” says Jenny Colucci, a co-founder of Outreach to Pets In Need. “They’re used to the standard little Milkbones, that is the norm for them, so when they got something different, they like them.” One longtime resident – a Sharpei, Akita and Boxer mix named Barley, “inhaled them.”

Outreach received the treats thanks to an online promotion run by Freekibble.com and their food sponsor, Halo. They in turn donated the treats to a Pets for Patriots, a non-profit devoted to encouraging veterans to adopt older or disabled dogs with veterinary and pet needs discounts. Outreach recently affiliated with Pets for Patriots, “so we can offer some services to military personnel,” says Colucci. Her group will provide veterans a leash, collar, micro-chipping and two in-home training classes for their dogs after adoption.