Pets Contribute to Healthy Aging
Studies have been documented that there’s a strong connection between pets and the elderly. Pets fulfill a need for their owners because they depend on them for care and attention. In return, the pets offer love and unqualified approval. Just petting a dog or cat can have major health benefits for seniors, especially those who are experiencing major life changes, such as illness or the loss of a loved one. For many seniors their pets make life worthwhile and for the pets many seniors provide them with life.
Why We Provide This Program
About 60% of the seniors who get Meals on Wheels live with a pet. We found that some clients were sharing their meals with their pets for various reasons, mostly because they couldn’t afford to buy pet food. In some cases, our clients’ pet is their only family or companion.
Pet Food Assistance
We provide pet food on a monthly basis or as often as we are able. Our volunteer coordinator also organizes this program and distributes the pet food to those clients who need the help.
Community Donation Based Program
Our Pet Food Assistance Program solely runs off of the generosity of the community. We are not able to use donor dollars to purchase pet food so we depend on various individuals, groups and organizations to collect the food for us. You can help by collecting small bags of dry dog/cat food and drop it by our office.
We also accept large bags and we will break it down into 1 gallon zip lock bags if not already done for us. If you do break the large bag down into gallon size bags, please make sure to write the date and food type on the bag with a sharpie (Ex. 1/2017, Purina Cat Chow).
We always need pet food, especially cat food. Some clients have cats with no teeth so the canned pate is nice for them. We also accept dog/cat treats. Thank you for considering our clients pets!
If you would like to donate pet food:
- please email our Volunteer Coordinator, or
- call us at 704-932-3412, or
- purchase pet food from our Amazon Wishlist and have it sent directly to us
The Splashpaw Foundation, Inc. holds pet food drives and makes regular donations to fill our pet food room to support our Pet Food Assistance Program.
