A few years ago Hill’s Pet Nutrition started a Disaster Relief Network as an extension of its Food, Shelter & Love Program. It is comprised of more than 100 shelters nationwide that are on board to expedite fulfillment of dogs’ and other pets’ food needs when the areas they are in or near are affected by catastrophic events, disrupting lives. When contacted by a member shelter, Hill’s responds quickly with food shipments not only for pets separated from their human families but also pets belonging to displaced people. That is, the company provides bags of food that can then be distributed to families, allowing people to keep their dogs with them.
People can find a participating shelter near them by going to http://www.hillspet.com/food-shelter-love/find-a-shelter.html and typing in their zip code. If there’s no shelter within a 10-mile radius, there are also options for radii of 25, 50, and 75 miles.
In the last couple of years, Hill’s Disaster Relief Network has delivered free food to more than 60 shelters and veterinary clinics across the country in response to dozens of major incidents—floods in Colorado, fires in Idaho and Arizona, a fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, a mudslide in Washington state, and tornadoes in the central and southern regions of the country.
As an example, a fire in Sun Valley, Idaho, that started as the result of a lightning strike and consumed more than 110,000 acres of wilderness necessitated the evacuation of more than 2,300 homes—and an animal shelter. A nearby veterinary clinic was taking in the displaced pets and other animals in need and ended up caring for more than 200 extra dogs and cats. By the time the 1,000 pounds of emergency pet food arrived, the clinic was down to two bags. Hundreds of animals didn’t have to go hungry, or worse, starve.
