Donate To Old Dominion Humane Society During National Feed A Rescue Pet Week

Old Dominion Humane Society (ODHS) encourages the community to donate food or a monetary

gift for National Feed a Rescue Pet Week, July 24-30. One of the costliest expenses for the nonprofit ODHS, it spends approximately $1,642 a year to feed each dog. With 120 rescue dogs cared for on average a month, the total amount to feed all of the dogs is nearly $200,000 annually. (The cost rises when dogs have specific diets due to food allergies.)

Old Dominion Humane Society is not government funded and relies on your donations for dog food, veterinary care, and other expenses.

Now in its eighth year, National Feed a Rescue Pet Week is held to raise funds and provide food for rescues. This enables the rescues to allocate funds for other necessities to keep the animals in their care safe, healthy and comfortable. Animal rescues and shelters welcome the donations during the annual week and throughout the year, because the number of stray, neglected, mistreated and surrendered animals they take in on a weekly basis has risen. Additionally, ODHS is a no-kill rescue, saving dogs from shelters where they would otherwise face euthanasia.

Lovable Skeeter is at Old Dominion Humane Society waiting to meet his forever family.

“As a no-kill and nonprofit organization led entirely by volunteers, ODHS depends on the kindness and caring hearts of the community to help the rescue dogs,” said Chrissy Hamilton, ODHS founder. “With these donations, we’re able to ensure the rescue dogs are well fed and nourished. It allows us to concentrate on the many other needs of taking in these rescues, such as veterinary care, vaccines, microchipping, housing them in a safe and comfortable facility and more.”

National Feed a Rescue Pet Week began through the partnership of GreaterGood.org and The Animal Rescue Site, which initiated an annual drive to provide animal shelters across the nation with food for animals in their care, according to Pango Vet.

Donate: Celebrate the event by donating dog food, monetary gifts and other necessities, including cleaning supplies, blankets, paper towels, trash bags and more. A complete list is available on the ODHS website.

Volunteering: ODHS is a volunteer-led organization, and there are many ways the community can participate. From taking a dog out of the facility for a few hours to decompress, walking rescues for potty breaks and spending time with a pup on the premises to cleaning the facility, keeping up with the laundry and joining one of the crews (Sunday Cleaning Crew, Puppy Crew, Puppy Pawties), there’s something for everyone. Volunteering helps to socialize the dogs and help a frightened pup begin to trust humans again. Whether it’s five minutes or five hours, ODHS appreciates the time given to its many four-legged friends. With the Saturday Strolls and Sunday Hikes, the public is invited and it’s not necessary to be a volunteer. It’s an easy way to help by getting the rescues out for exercise and meeting other people in the community.

Report Suspected Animal Cruelty or Neglect: The public is urged to report any suspected animal cruelty or neglect to local animal control. The dogs at ODHS have come from many different situations and are finally able to be relieved of the stress and other abuses they endured. At ODHS, they’re on their way to getting a second chance at the lives they deserve with loving families.

Adopt, Foster or Slumber Pawty: An ideal way to help ODHS and other rescues is to adopt, foster or host a homeless dog for a Slumber Pawty. These are ideal ways to take dogs out of the facility and makes room for other dogs in need of a lifeline to enter the facility. Adopting, fostering and even taking a rescue for a night or more greatly helps when the facility is filled to capacity and gives the dogs an opportunity to decompress, show their personalities and find a new best friend.