“The Halo donation is extra special to us,” says Linda Barth, assistant general manager of the city’s six shelters. “Wonderful for us.”

Receiving such a large donation — eaten by cats and dogs, kittens and puppies at two of the shelters — enabled the animals to eat one kind of food for an extended period of time, helping their bellies get used to a new food. “Animals are already under stress in an animal care center and already have digestive issues,” says Barth.

“It is great to be associated with this kind of product and Ellen DeGeneres,” Barth continues. “It is a boost that our organization is something that Halo wants to help, and is providing a natural food.”

The strays who enter the shelter following abuse particularly benefit from a food like Halo. “We would have used this food for animals who need to get healthy,” says Barth, “animals in trouble due to neglect.”

The donation was in partnership with Warner Brothers and L.A. station KNBC.

Barth and her veterinary medical and animal tech staff were so impressed with Halo’s top quality, they are now recommending it to people adopting pets.

So when Halo, Purely for Pets recently sent over 5,000 meals of Spot’s Stew, which was shared by the Sacramento SPCA, it was a complete surprise. “Halo was dropped from heaven,” says Penny Cistaro, manager of the animal care program for Sacramento and creator of the food bank in November of last year. “It has been incredible for us to have that much food.”

The food bank relies on donations for the program to run. “I love the food bank,” says Cistaro. As do the grateful pet owners who come for food. They include the homeless and those that lost their house, even state workers experiencing financial difficulty due to California’s forced unpaid three-day-a-month furlough.

“They’re just plain thankful that they’re here,” says Cistaro. “They can’t believe we won’t make them do something to do for the food. When people come in for help, it’s a humbling experience and it’s a good thing to offer.”

Watch the segment on the local TV news about the donation and the shelter.

And the animals were tickled pink too. “They gobble it up, real simply,” says Backer of the 150 cats and 125 dogs. “In a shelter setting we typically use a shelter mix, and alot of them snuff their noses at it. With the Halo they just jump right in. We all know the quality is outstanding.”

The shelter takes in some 7,000 animals a year, many from owners who give them up due to job and home losses. “The economy is very bad in the Tampa area,” says Backer. “People that are losing their jobs or their homes are being forced to move in with family, friends in homes that don’t allow pets or they don’t want them there. It’s very sad, and it doesn’t seem like it’s ending anytime soon.”

So for the moment, at least these homeless pets can dine like kings and queens on the June donation. “On any given day there is someone who is finicky,” says Backer. “But I have not noticed that any of the animals don’t want to eat the Halo.”

So Zach, now 10, thought of starting a food pantry near their home in an Orlando suburb for dogs and cats, with help from his mom, Erica Wilson. Called The Animal Pantry of Central Florida, they recently received 5,000 meals from Halo, Purely For Pets — thanks to a promise Halo part-owner Ellen DeGeneres made while visiting Orlando — as well as from pet stores and neighbors. A local shopping center donated a storefront for storage and distribution. Since April of 2009, Zachary, with the help of his Erica and other volunteers, has donated over 75,000 pounds of food, helping some 10,000 different animals (and hopefully keeping them with their families). “I feel very happy that I know all those dogs and cats aren’t let go in parks or being put in the shelters,” says Zach. “And I am very happy they stay with their owners.”

Halo’s donation last month came just at the right time. “I was really happy because when we got the Halo food, I was very relieved,” says Zach. “We were running low on cat food, it really helps.” Adds Erica: “Because the food is high end, we saved that for special needs dogs, or dogs who used to be on holistic food.”

Zach, a cub scout, is particularly drawn to animals who have special needs. Erica believes it’s due to his sister Lexi, 13, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy. “We think one of the reasons that Zach sees the world as he does is that he’s spent his entire world in and out of hospitals,” says Erica. “So when he hears that a dog has to be put down because it has a gimpy leg, to him that means his sister is unacceptable, just because anyone has a disability doesn’t make them any less.”

The economy around the Orlando area continues to struggle, with no unemployment found anywhere, says Erica. “What we are finding is that people are still not finding new jobs, many times people pull up (to the pet food pantry) in trucks,” she says. “They have gotten rid of their house, their clothes, their jewelry and all they have is their dog.”

The overabundance of dogs and cats in shelters due owners’ financial hardships hit Zach hard recently. A few weeks ago, Erica says a local shelter put down 500 animals, mostly purebred dogs whose owners gave them up for financial reasons. “Zach was just flabbergasted,” says Erica. “He burst out in tears and said we have to work harder.”
Here is a clip from NBC TV in Orlando about Zach and the Halo donation.

Two construction workers saw what was going on, scooped up the friends and brought them to the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. Kay-Lynette Roca, founder of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary heard of their plight, “I asked for the dogs because they were going to put them down,” says Roca. “It’s so crappy for them to survive all of that and [then be euthanized]. They have gone through too much.”

Meanwhile, Halo had already planned on donating 5,000 meals to Safe Harbor, because we heard it’s a top-notch sanctuary. This story has a very happy ending. Click here to find out.

I’m really excited to tell you that Freekibble has now donated over 3.5 million meals to shelters, rescues and food banks! Everyday, over 55,000 people are going to www.freekibble.com and www.freekibblekat.com, to play the trivia… and we are generating kibble to feed many thousands of homeless animals everyday.

This week we launched a promotion called Letters for Pets. It’s a campaign that asks people to email a pre-written letter to The President asking for an official Proclamation for April 30th to be National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day! It’s a chance to get a whole day for adopting and celebrating shelter animals. AND, with every email letter sent, Halo Pets is donating a nutritious meal to Freekibble to help feed shelter dogs and cats – up to 50,000 meals! There are so many shelter dogs and cats in need of good, nutritious, food and this is another fun way to help feed them!

We’re partnering with Tails Magazine and Halo, Purely for Pets to get the proclamation and I’m the Spokesperson for the campaign. People can send the letter every day and we’re trying to get 100,000 letters emailed to the White House, but we’re hoping that we can get more than that – we’ve already had 28,000 letters emailed in the first 2 days! It’s great because we are raising awareness and kibble.

We’re very excited about getting a Proclamation and have kicked it off with a full week of Presidential Pets Trivia on both sites, as a way to get people excited about sending the letter to the President… and Adopt a Shelter Pet Day!

To help us get a Proclamation and feed more dogs & cats, click on www.freekibble.com/lettersforpets and e-mail the letter to the President.

If we can all work together to get a National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, I truly think it could help homeless animals for years to come.

MIMI

We’re very proud to help support 14-year-old Mimi Ausland’s great work at Freekibble. I think you’ll enjoy this inspiring slide show!

Click here to view the slide show.

It may be a game, but when you play, real donations of Halo Spot’s Stew go to animal rescue groups and shelters.

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.

“You can’t give up your dog,” said Blundell, 54, who was in the window covering business for 30 years before a variety of circumstances left him homeless three years ago. “I wasn’t going to give up what I don’t have to.”

Blundell, who works one day a week, began receiving weekly food from the Foothill Unity Center, a busy food pantry. In March, Foothill began distributing dog and cat food to its clients with pets, some who had to give their dog or cat to a shelter because they couldn’t afford to feed them.

When animal lover and Halo co-owner Ellen DeGeneres visited the center on April 19th as part of a segment for American Idol’s ‘Idol Gives Back,’ “she said, ‘Oh, we need to get them a donation from Halo,’” recalls Joan Whitenack, Foothill’s executive director.

In May, Halo sent 5,000 meals for clients’ cats and dogs; Jack is one of the lucky recipients. “Yeah, he does like the Halo, he eats that right up,” says Blundell. “(The donation) really helped me out.”

Last year, Foothill distributed 4 million pounds of food to 4,000 different families. “Many of our families have lost their jobs, are going through foreclosures,” says Whitenack. “We became aware that the pet shelters were literally overflowing because people couldn’t feed their pets. The pet food bank is a beautiful thing because families are now not having to make a choice between spending the little bit of money they have on utilities or feeding their kids or feeding their pets.”

The Halo food is being distributed at the centers’ two sites, in Pasadena and Monrovia. “Our motto is serving people with love and dignity,” says Whitenack, “and allowing people to be able to feed their pets and keep their pets.”

A calico cat named Calico and a dark chocolate kitty named Meeko owned by Ellen Cotacachi, 48, are enjoying their Halo. “Having the cat food available has been a huge help,” says Cotacachi, 48, a married mother of three. The food she bought from the 99 cent store made one of her cats sick, so she cut back on other items to buy better quality cat food. “I would not give my cats up,” she says. “We would just buy it and struggle.”

But thanks to the pet food bank, that worry no longer exists. “We couldn’t do anything nicer for them,” says Whitenack. “People are thrilled with it, they’re very grateful. Where else can people go who are low income to get help to feed their animals? I see it as something that is very special.”

Click here to see the American Idol segment with Ellen and the Foothill Unity Center.