Animeals

Meals on Wheels for Pets

Mar 27, 2009 Bobbie Aldridge

One way to reduce the number of pets entering shelters is to help provide food and care for them in their homes.

Animeals is a non-profit organization that provides pet food for animals if their owners qualify for some type of support, such as Meals-on-Wheels. The organization is typically established through the local Office of Human Concern. Animeals collects donations – both monetary donations and pet food donations – and provides food to people’s pets that might otherwise not be able to care for their animals.

Because Animeals is a non-profit organization, it is run by local volunteers. Sometimes animal rescuers or veterinarians initiate the organization and in other cases, Meals-on-Wheels volunteers expand their program.

Animeals is a 501C organization, which allows all sponsors to submit their donations on their year-end tax returns.

How Does Animeals Help?

Not only does Animeals provide food to the animals, it helps improve the quality of life of the pet owners. For most pet owners, their pets are part of their family. Pets become even more important to senior citizens who live away from their family or no longer have family members – the pets are their family.

Animeals provides an avenue that allows people to keep their pets and reduces the number of animals sent to a shelter or pound.

Research results predict that owning a pet can extend someone’s life an average of 7-8 years more than someone who does not own a pet. In most cases, people who qualify for Meals-on-Wheels (or similar support) are senior citizens and may be entering a time in their life that they no longer feel as needed as they once were.

Owning a pet can change their outlook on life just as losing a pet can have an equally negative impact on their health.

Get Involved

If you are not aware of an Animeals program in your area but would like to start one or volunteer if there is an existing one or to donate, contact your local Office of Human Concern or your local veterinarians. Often veterinarians are involved or aware of the local Animeals programs. Also check the internet for your area – many Animeals organizations have web sites.

A large percentage of the Animeals’ pet owners would prefer to give part of their own food to their pets than to lose or mistreat the pet – Animeals is a way to prevent both of those things – the pets are happier, their owners are happier and the volunteers are happier.

Why add to the problem of over-crowded animal shelters, which leads to needless euthanizing of innocent pets, when there are other solutions such as Animeals?

The copyright of the article Animeals in Pet Care is owned by Bobbie Aldridge. Permission to republish Animeals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Dora, Princess & Babe