Stuff the Pup Bus collecting pet supplies for sheltered animals during the holidays
PANAMA CITY — A local pet care facility has launched a donation drive to bring awareness to shelter animals during the holidays.
Naju Pets kicked off its first Stuff the Pup Bus pet supply drive to help ensure that sheltered animals have the proper care. The drive will run until Dec. 16, and all donated items will be delivered to local animal rescues and shelters just in time for Christmas.
There are three donation sites in Bay County: Naju Pets, 5927 E. State Road 22; Pet Supermarket, 607 W. 23rd St.; and Pet Supermarket, 11160 Panama City Beach Parkway, unit 402. While all pet supplies are accepted, suggested donations include food, treats, leashes, toys, blankets, towels, cleaning supplies, cat litter and food bowls.
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In addition, anyone making a donation at Naju Pets will receive a 10% off coupon for any single service at the location.
Casey Forsythe, assistant manager at Naju Pets, said she hopes the drive will collect enough to donate at least one toy to every animal living in a shelter or rescue this Christmas.
“We realized that nobody does anything for shelter pets during the holidays, so instead of collecting toys for kids, we wanted to collect pet supplies,” Forsythe said. “Anything that they would use in a shelter environment, we would gladly accept them. We’re not turning anything away.”
After the drive is over, Naju's shuttle bus will distribute the donations proportionally to Bay County Animal Control, Mew Tew’s Refugee Cat Rescue, Castaway Cats and Dogs and Quincy’s Hope Canine Coalition.
Naju’s general manager Chelsey Walker said it’s important to her to see that sheltered animals get the same resources as pets, especially during the holidays.
“I've worked at Naju's for a while now, and I always see so many pets that are able to get new things for Christmas," Walker said. "I thought about how the shelter animals don’t have owners to do that for them, but they deserve it too because it’s not their fault they don't have anyone to take of them.”
Since the drive started in November, Stuff the Pup Bus has already collected hundreds of donations.
“With the turn around we're seeing with this year’s drive, we definitely plan to make it a tradition,” Walker said. “We didn’t think it’d become this big, but with the community’s support we can continue to grow the drive each year.”
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Stuff the Pup Bus collects supplies for shelter animals until Dec. 16
