Posted: December 26, 2009, 5 a.m. EST
The Hartz Mountain Corp., a pet products manufacturer, is calling on the public to nominate animal shelters in need of pet supply donations. The company, through its Hartz Shelter Donation Program, plans to give away $1 million worth of its products to animal shelters in North America.
Hartz launched its donation program this past summer with the aim of providing assistance to animal shelters in the U.S. and Canada during these tough economic times. According to the company, more than 800,000 American families lost their homes to foreclosure in 2009 and, in some cases, could no longer afford to keep their pets. As a result, shelters are overflowing with abandoned animals, but donations are down by as much as 30 percent, the company reported.
At the time of the program’s launch, Hartz pledged to donate a total of $3 million worth of its pet supplies. So far, Hartz has donated $2 million worth of pet supplies, such as treats, collars and grooming products, for an array of animals. Now the company is accepting nominations of shelters that would benefit from the remaining $1 million worth of supplies available.
Due to the way Hartz stores and ships its products, each donation must be for a minimum of 2,000 pet supply items. Shelters can also be nominated jointly, and as a group, distribute the supplies between them.
Nominations are accepted via e-mail. E-mails should include personal contact information as well as contact information for the shelter (name, address and phone number). The deadline to submit nominations is Jan. 31, 2010.