Helen Woodward Animal Center Offers Warmth and Wellness to the Pets of San Diego’s Homeless Population…
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2023) – Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls program will be on site at Father Joe’s Neil Good Day Center (located at 299 17th Street San Diego, CA 92101) TOMORROW, Friday, February 17th at 9:00 a.m. with a cozy gift drop-off for both people and pups.
Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls is one of its most heart-warming community services, but in February each year the program sets out to provide literal warmth to the pets of San Diego’s homeless population. For a fifth year, thanks to generous donors, over 100 pets residing in temporary homeless shelters will snuggle into new sweaters and toasty blankets to battle the winter temperatures.
Launched six years ago, Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls has been honored to join efforts to assist families experiencing homelessness by keeping their furry companions fed and healthy. The program makes regular weekly visits to shelters headed by Alpha Project, Father Joe’s, Interfaith, Jewish Family Services and PATH in San Diego, providing health checks, microchipping, preventative medical care, important vaccinations, flea and tick medication, and pet food (through an extension of its AniMeals program), as well as human clothing and blanket donations from the Center’s Orphaned Object resale store.
Now, for the fifth year, with San Diego’s brisk evening temperatures in full swing, the Center’s Pets Without Walls program is providing pet supplies specifically aimed at keeping the beloved pets of the city’s homeless individuals protected from the elements. At the “Cozy Critter Drop-Off” event, scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, February 17th, Helen Woodward Animal Center will be unloading over 100 pet sweaters, along with hundreds of kits (including hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, water, collars, leashes, pet hygiene products etc.) and blankets to human friends in need.
“The love these pets and their owners have for one another is truly beautiful,” stated Helen Woodward Animal Center VP of Development Renee Resko, “It means the world to us that we can assist in keeping these pets healthy and warm so that their pet parents can stay focused on getting themselves back on their feet.”
Special thanks to Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny of the Lucky Duck Foundation and the Alex and Elisabeth Lewyt Charitable Trust for making this program possible.
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