Mimi Ausland, 13, reads the heartbreaking emails every day from shelters across the country begging for food. “Some of the shelters were literally going to close their doors, they would have to move the dogs and cats or they would have to be euthanized,” says Mimi, founder of freekibble.com, a website that donates food to homeless pets. In need of more food to donate, Mimi and her dad, Kelly, came to Halo for help. And help came. Boy did it come, in the form of 46,000 pounds of dry Spot’s Stew to 24 rescues and shelters in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida on Wednesday, and another 19,000 pounds earlier in the month to 13 other rescues. “We received all 6,000 pounds of Halo food today, and it felt like Christmas,” writes Tricia Sebes, Volunteer Coordinators of the McKamey Animal Care & Adoption Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Says Mimi: “Halo and freekibble are literally saving lives. It’s pretty unbelievable, we’re making such an impact.”

AN AMAZING GRASSROOTS EFFORT

Another hero in this tale is Palena Dorsey, a legal secretary and founder of Sanctuary Animal Refuge in Clewiston, FL. Dorsey, who for the last year has received food from freekibble.com for the 160 dogs and 100 cats at her rescue, contacted and coordinated the two dozen rescue organizations to pick up their food at certain drop-off points in Georgia and Florida on August 26th. Some got up at 2 a.m. and drove five hours to pick up their Halo Spot’s Stew.

“There is a huge need right now, with the economy the way it is, rescues are in dire need,” says Dorsey, who instead of giving the donation to just a few groups, wanted to spread the wealth among as many rescues as possible.

“People don’t understand that food is the biggest cost to any rescue, this makes a huge difference,” she says. “Everybody is thrilled. Not only do they have a week to breathe easier but the dogs are getting the best food there is.”

Despite the tens of thousands of pounds of kibble, it’s only going to last a week, says Dorsey, but that week can enable the rescues in the most dire need to find other sources of food. And as Mimi points out, the more people who play freekibble.com and follow @freekibble and @halopets on Twitter, the more food will be donated. Already, some 50,000 to 60,000 people play freekibble per day.

Rescues particularly helped this week by Halo included Forgotten Canines in Georgia, with 120 dogs to feed and no food. “Companies used to give food away and they aren’t doing it,” says Dorsey. “And at the end of the day you still have the dogs, you’re not going to kill them.”

Another recipient of Halo’s gift was Angel Dog Rescue, run by a woman in her 80’s who depends entirely on donations to survive. “Donations, they have dried up. No one is making donations,” says Dorsey. “There are the best rescues around. People are struggling to feed their own children and when companies like Halo and young women like Mimi are making this possible, do you know what it’s like? The best way to say it, if these companies continue to make contributions like this, dogs won’t die, and dogs can be healed because of this great food.”

Following are a list of the rescues who received food:

Aussie Rescue Group
Porter, IN

Humane Society of Dickson County
Dickson, TN

2nd Chance Animal Sanctuary
Warrior, AL

Town of Troy Animal Services
Tory, IN

A New Leash on Life
Lebanon, TN

Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby Cty
Memphis, TN

Safe Haven Animal Shelter
Scottsboro, AL

McKamey Animal Shelter
Chattanooga, TN

Coffee County Humane Society
Morrison, TN

FAMA (Fannin Animal Medical Åccount)
Blue Ridge, GA 30513

Southern HOPE Humane Society
Roswell, GA

Homeward Bound Pet Rescue
Ellijay, GA

Catcoosa Animal Control
Ginggold, GA

Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue
Dallas, GA

Lifeline Animal Rescue
Avondale Estates, GA

Puppy Love Rescue
Covington, GA

Douglas County Animal Control
Douglasville, GA

Paulding County Animal Control
North Dallas, GA

Forgotten K-9’s
Commerce, GA

Angel Dog Rescue
Georgetown, GA

Donna Long Fosters
Stockbridge, GA

Oconee Animal Control
Bishop, GA

Heard County Animal Control
GA

Superior Mutts
Orlando, FL

Another Chance Rescue
Bunnell, FL

Inverness Humane Society
Inverness, FL

Akita Rescue of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL

Friends of Jacksonville Humane
Jacksonville, FL

Sabbath Memorial Rescue
Miami, FL.

Sanctuary Animal Rescue
Clewiston, FL

Allen Babcock Dog & Cat Rescue, Inc.
Plantation, FL.

Pets in Distress
Davie, FL.

Bright Hope Animal Rescue
South Bay, Florida

Abandoned Pet Rescue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Cocker Rescue of Florida

Clewiston Animal Control
Clewiston, FL

Caloosa Humane Society
La Belle, FL

Ashley from the I Love Rescue Animals blog “spent a long time researching different premium cat foods.” We’re so thankful for her focus on “celebrating rescued animals and animal welfare worldwide” – and for her selection of Halo.

As she said in her blog, “We looked at so many companies & compared all the ingredients & company policies and recommendations and finally decided on Halo. We like it because everything is human grade, there are no meals or by-products, no artificial anything. It’s great, is what it is.”

We think that if pet lovers follow Ashley’s process – comparing ingredients and understanding that “chicken meal” is unfit for human consumption and therefore not in any Halo foods — folks would come to the same conclusion. Read Dr. Donna Spector’s article “Pet Food – What You Need to Know for Your Pet’s Sake” to see why she comes to that conclusion.

Visit the I Love Rescue Animals blog to read the rest, and see a video of her adorable kitties. Thanks for sharing your findings on the blog and on Twitter, Ashley!

The United States Department of Justice honored Best Friends Animal Society for its work with the fighting dogs of Micheal Vick.

If Best Friends had not opened its doors to the dogs, they would have almost certainly been destroyed; instead, they all have worked intensively with trainers and lead new lives — either at the Best Friends sanctuary in Utah or with families.

Click here to read all about it.

Halo is proud to support Best Friends Animal Society (read about our most recent donation here).

Walter Cronkite, the iconic CBS broadcaster who passed away at the age of 92 last week, had dogs and cats throughout his life, and made animal welfare a priority in his long, esteemed life. Visit the Humane Society’s tribute page to read about Cronkite’s love of animals.

Scampering through the trailer parks and apartment complexes in the areas surrounding Richmond, Virginia are hundreds and hundreds of feral and stray cats.

Operation Cat Nip helps these homeless kitties with food as well as medical care with its once-a-month spay and neuter clinic. And it’s all an effort from the heart on the part of the humans– the vets who perform the surgeries to the vet techs to the devoted cat lovers who buy food to feed the strays are not paid.

Halo, wishing to help Operation Catnip’s efforts, donated 30 cases of Spot’s Stew. It was the group’s first donation from a pet food company.

“We are very very grateful for it, thrilled,” says Jennifer Erisman, a board member of Operation Catnip and a licensed clinical therapist. “There are so many people who feed the cats, and it’s a struggle financially for some people. ”

On top of feeding homeless cats, about 800 feral and stray cats are spayed and neutered a year through Operation Catnip’s monthly free clinics. Yet this barely makes a dent in the stray cat population.

“I think it’s bad everywhere,” says Erisman of the issue. “We have a number of trailer parks inundated with cats, apartment complexes. In less than a year’s time I did 100 cats in the local trailer park.

“There is alot of suffering on the strees with cats who are not spayed and neutered,” Erisman continues. “When they are spayed and neutered, they are healthier, the males don’t fight.”

When the Halo donation arrived, volunteers received two cases each, and the food lasted several months. As expected, the cats loved it, says Erisman.

And the cats knew when their Spot’s Stew was arriving. “They know the sound of the person that feeds them,” she says, “the sound of their car.”