Scraps & Treats

AniMeals Helps Feed the Hungry

The St. Charles Humane Society has officially launched AniMeals, a food pantry for pets of low-income families. Although the organization has been doing it unofficially for awhile, it recently decided it was time to kick it up a notch. Through word of mouth, the program has helped many pet guardians in need, and continues to grow. The inspiration for the program came last July when the organization received more than 500 pounds of prescription dog food it could not use. “I knew that someone somewhere needed these items,” says Jill Allen, director. She made calls to several local rescue groups and found one that desperately needed the special food. “My husband believes that there is no actual food shortage anywhere, just a distribution problem, and that was the case here,” Allen says. So now volunteers at the St. Charles Humane Society process the donated items, sort them out, and hold them for folks whose pets need it. Since AniMeals is run entirely on donations, the organization is always in need of help—it will accept dry and canned dog and cat food at any time. For details, call (636) 949-9918 or visit www.StCharlesHumaneSociety.org.

We’ll Drink to Dog House Wine

It’s not like we really need another excuse to pour a nice big glass of vino, but the folks at Dog House Winery are throwing us a bone. Now you can justify that overworked corkscrew with the comfort of knowing you are drinking for a good cause. Dog House Winery, part of California wine company Kendall-Jackson, recently released three canine-inspired labels: Maxie’s Merlot, Checker’s Cabernet, and Charlie’s Chardonnay. Fifty cents per bottle will go to support Guide Dogs for the Blind, a nonprofit charitable organization that provides and trains guide dogs for visually impaired people in the United States and Canada. The mutt behind the mission is the Jackson family dog, Robbie, who, of course, inspects each bottle and gives it his seal of approval in the form of a paw print. The wine retails for around $10 a bottle and can be found at major grocery stores and wine distributors. For details, visit www.DogHouseWine.com.

Orange You Going to Help the Animals?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants you to go orange. On April 10, the oldest animal-welfare organization in the United States is turning 140 years old and it’s asking Americans to help it celebrate. As part of the festivities, skyscrapers in the group’s hometown of Manhattan (including the Empire State Building) will be lighting up orange–the official color of the ASPCA. Other big cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, will be going orange as well. But the ASPCA also offers a number of ways for people to show their support on a local level. Suggestions include asking your local pet store to go orange and offer discounts on April 10, getting an “orange” thumb and planting an orange garden in your yard for the animals, organizing a wear-orange-for-the-animals day at school, and having a benefit for your local animal shelter by organizing a bake sale with orange cookies and cupcakes. For other ideas on how to go orange, please visit www.ASPCA.org.