Christmas dinner came early for over 1,000 furry friends in Los Angeles animal shelters last week.
Thanks to the efforts of Marc Ching and his team at the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, plus dozens of volunteers, more than 1,000 dogs and cats enjoyed a free meal as part of the foundation’s third annual Hope for the Holidays shelter feeding.
From Dec. 12-17, Animal Hope and Wellness treated all of the dogs and cats in the L.A. Animal Services Shelter system to a freshly cooked meal of Ching’s special Petsaurant food, made with combinations of organic rice, beef and peas, turkey and lentils and turkey and peas. They also changed the animals’ bedding, and give them blankets for the colder weather.
“This is our third year doing the shelter feeding,” says founder and animal activist Ching. “Our foundation is based mostly on fighting against animal cruelty and abuse, but we try and always give back to the community.”
For those interested in giving back to our furry friends this holiday season, Ching says most shelters will happily accept any type of donation, especially blankets and food. “People can always bring blankets to the shelters, we need those because it’s colder,” he says. “And we always need fostering, but mostly we want to raise awareness that there are many great animals here. Most people think shelters don’t have pure breeds but there are great dogs here, like Pomeranians and pugs. So many great animals.”
In addition to bringing this early holiday cheer to the animals, Ching and the Foundation are working tirelessly to help end the dog and cat meat trade, with the initiation of the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, aka H.R. 1406.
“Our foundation has paid to draft H.R. 1406 and it’s an anti-dog and cat meat prohibition act,” says Ching. “Meaning that in the United States, you can’t eat dogs and cats anymore, because in 44 states you still can.
If passed, the bill will prohibit anyone from shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling or donating dog or cat parts for human consumption.
For more information about the bill, how to help, donate, foster and/or adopt a new furry friend, visit the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation’s website.
