In 2007, Mimi Ausland (pictured at right) and her family visited Best Friends Animal Society for the first time. The inspiration she received
from being at the Sanctuary has translated into helping feed thousands of homeless animals across the country.
Mimi had already been volunteering at her local animal shelter, the
Humane Society of Central Oregon. After returning from Best Friends, however, Mimi was motivated to do more. She was impressed with a website called Free Rice and thought it was an engaging way to help people. Then she had her lightbulb moment, and Freekibble was born!
Freekibble.com is a website where people can help feed dogs and cats with the click of a mouse … for free!
One thing that Mimi is passionate about is collaborating to help even more pets. Freekibble has partnered with
Halo, Purely for Pets as their Official Kibble Sponsor, and through this partnership, they’re able to donate a very high-quality, all-natural food to the groups they help. “We’re thrilled to work with Halo and feed homeless pets such a nutritious food,” says Mimi. “It really makes a difference!”
A recent delivery distributed 20 tons of premium pet food to organizations from Dallas, Texas, to Kanab, Utah. The final 10 tons of pet food were delivered to Best Friends!
That’s a lot of pet food any way you slice it, and the receiving groups along the journey were really blown away by the donations. In total, over a dozen organizations benefitted from this
leg of the Kibble Drop.
Texas pet food two-step!
“This donation helps a lot — we’re experiencing a time of donations being down and pet relinquishment being up, and
getting this food now is making a huge difference. We offer pet food to people to help them keep their pets, and every bit counts,” says Sandra Mustafa, shelter director at the
Humane Society of Dallas County.
Angie is available for adoption from the Humane Society of Dallas County. Click on her image for more information!
Freekibble distributed their delivery by engaging the help of the
Animal Refuge Foundation in Sherman, Texas, and
Animal Guardians in Plano, Texas. Freekibble believes that by working together we can achieve a time of No More Homeless Pets.
Sandra explains further what this donation means to her organization: “The fact that there are people out there that are willing to help is very significant and appreciated!”
Helping pets and people in O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!
Edy Bauer from Pets and People was ecstatic to get such a sizeable influx of pet food! “We have no federal funding at all, and we go through approximately 1,500 pounds of dog food per week! This food means so much to the animals in our shelter, and this is the kind of quality food we’d like to give our pets all the time.”
Wonderful pets like Albus and Aldon from Pets and People are ready to go home to their right forever family! Click on their image for more adoption information.
Pets and People is an all-volunteer rescue that works closely with local animal control. They specialize in saving pets about to die in other shelters. In addition to taking pets into their facility, they also work with breed rescues. All their networking allows them to rescue as many pets as possible. They also share cat food, when they are able, with a local group that does trap/neuter/return, and this donation helps that group feed even more hungry kitties.
Another benefit from the Kibble Drop has introduced Edy to Kim Pempin of the
Pet Food Pantry of Oklahoma City. The Pet Food Pantry is a member of
Best Friends Network Charities, and they are a major contributor to people in the area who are unable to afford pet food. The Pet Food Pantry works with local agencies, such as the Salvation Army, that help elderly and homeless people. Their typical cliental is usually referred to Kim because a human agency has identified a situation — like people feeding food intended for them to their pets.
“So many of the people we help see their pets as their family. When we help them feed their animals, we’re also helping them feed themselves. There is one gentleman that has recently come around to accepting our help. He’s homeless and fishes for his supper and for his cat. He was wary at first — trust can be an issue for people that are at a disadvantage — but he’s understanding now that he can get food for his cat from us and can keep his catch for himself.”
The Pet Food Pantry of Oklahoma City helps people like Bunny, pictured right, feed and neuter her kitty named Pepper.
Kim explains that the people they are helping usually will not go to a shelter even during the worst snowstorms because they can’t take their pets. Their pets are everything to them and while the cat and dog food is free from the Pet Food Pantry for the taking, there is one stipulation: that they don’t add to the homeless pet problem.
“There’s only one ‘price’ to the people we help; we’ll give you food for three months straight, but after that you have to get your pet spayed or neutered,” explains Kim. “It’s a big part of the deal!”
“We can’t do what we do without donations like this,” says Kim. “I’d like to thank Freekibble and Halo for making this quantity and quality of pet food available to the people that need it so badly. Running the Pet Food Pantry can be a challenge, but the people and pets I help are more of a blessing to me than I am to them. They are wonderful, often selfless, pet owners even during the most difficult of times.”
New Mexico Reaching for No More Homeless Pets
Animal Humane New Mexico is an organization on the cutting edge of bringing Albuquerque to a time of No More Homeless Pets. They run a pet food bank where they cater to senior citizens (the food is packaged on a monthly basis and delivered in conjunction with Meals on Wheels) and pet owners having trouble making ends meet. Low-income families can pick it up as needed. The group also services 15 other rescues in the area, making sure they have food for the pets in their charge.
“When people are on hard times, often their pets are the brightest thing in their lives,” says Peggy. “This donation will help us help even more people and their pets!"
Peggy Weigle of Animal Humane New Mexico pictured with Jack, her adopted best friend, are leading the way to No More Homeless Pets in their state!
And Peggy knows a thing or two about helping pets! Animal Humane New Mexico runs a low-cost spay/neuter veterinary clinic in addition to providing low-cost veterinary care for over 3,000 pets annually. The results include a staggering 10,000 surgeries per year! They also run a trap/neuter/return program in the city, which is part of their core mission, and that program has helped approximately 1,500 cats!
Their work in the community speaks for itself: No healthy pet has been euthanized at Animal Humane in over a year and a half. But wait, there’s more!
They are also part of a Maddie’s Fund coalition formed last fall to help make the city of Albuquerque a no-kill community! Animal Humane New Mexico has teamed up with PACA, New Mexico Animal Friends and
EnchantMutts to help make saving all healthy pets a reality, now and in the future.
“This donation really helps support the humane treatment of pets in our community — it has helped us help people who love their pets keep their pets. This donation has also made a real difference for the infrastructure that supports Albuquerque as an adoption-guarantee city,” Peggy shares with a smile.
Skittles, pictured right, is available for adoption from Animal Humane New Mexico. Click on his image for more information.
In addition to helping the pets of Albuquerque, Animal Humane New Mexico also helps animal welfare groups from all over the state. They’ve helped save the lives of around 900 pets who found their way to safety at Animal Humane thanks to their progressive programs and compassionate practices.
The Freekibble Drop also donated 26,080 pet meals to Arizona organizations (please see the receiving groups below).
Freekibble is helping homeless pets from coast to coast thanks to a young woman who saw an opportunity to make a difference. The difference she is making can be seen in the eyes of the pets who are getting a second chance thanks to the hard work of organizations that do all they can; these groups are able to do more thanks to the generosity of
Freekibble and
Halo, Purely for Pets. Together we can reach a time of No More Homeless Pets one kibble at a time!
Get involved: Adopt, Donate and Volunteer!
Texas:
Oklahoma:
New Mexico:
Arizona:
Images courtesy of Humane Society of Dallas County, Pets and People Humane Society, Animal Humane New Mexico and Freekibble.com