Rescue organizations throughout Southern California and New York will be gifted bags of pet food for their orphan pets courtesy of Blue Buffalo.

Rescue organizations throughout Southern California and New York will be gifted bags of pet food for their orphan pets courtesy of Blue Buffalo.

October officially marks the kick-off of the 24th Annual Home 4 the Holidays campaign, sponsored by Blue Buffalo. For the fifth year in a row, the Wilton, Conn.-based pet food company is providing animal rescue organizations and shelters on both coasts of the country a very special holiday gift by unloading a massive amount of free pet food in San Diego and New York City. At the same time, Naturally Fresh will also provide free pallets of their premium kitten litter to West Coast shelters.

Founded by Helen Woodward Animal Center in 1999, the Home 4 the Holidays campaign has helped place more than 19 million pets (in partnership with more than 4,000 participating global rescue groups) into homes. The program seeks to encourage families to find their four-legged family members at a shelter, rather than a pet store or breeder, during the holiday season when more families choose to bring home a new pet than any other time of the year, officials said.

Blue Buffalo has supported Helen Woodward Animal Center’s holiday campaign since 2013. Last year, Home 4 the Holidays resulted in more than 1 million dogs and cats united with loving families.

“Blue Buffalo’s mission is to love, feed and treat all pets like family,” said Haley Perry, consumer activation at Blue Buffalo. “We believe every dog and cat deserves a loving, forever home where they are truly embraced as family. This holiday season, we hope people visit their local rescue centers and consider the love they can give to shelter pets.”

Many animal welfare organizations struggle with limited funding and hungry mouths to feed, while juggling budgets with supply costs and medical expenses, officials explained. The Coast-to-Coast Blue Buffalo Food Drop helps takes a big bite out of the financial strain; enabling shelters to focus on matching pets with loving families, officials added. Blue Buffalo is delivering several truckloads of food to Helen Woodward Animal Center and the Center's partner, Paws Crossed Animal Rescue in New York. The much-needed holiday meals will be distributed to pet rescues and shelters within those regions.

“Blue Buffalo has such a heart for pets,” said Renee Resko, vice president of development at Helen Woodward Animal Center. “The company is not only dedicated to providing nutritious food to pets in homes, they are also dedicated to animal adoption and making sure shelter pets find their happily-ever-afters. Each year they are the engine behind the push to promote adoption during the holiday season. This gift of free food is an incredible bonus to rescue facilities that really need it.”

Helen Woodward Animal Center wants to continue to encourage rescue organizations to up their adoption efforts during the holiday season, when more families opt to bring home a new pet. For the fourth year, the Center is offering $25,000 and a custom kennel courtesy of Horizon Structures to the rescue organization that develops the most creative promotion to increase adoptions.

There are many ways to get involved in the Blue Buffalo Home 4 the Holidays campaign including adopting and encouraging friends to adopt and then showing the world your newly adopted best friend by posting a photo here, or sharing on Twitter or Instagram with #IChoseToRescue and tagging @hwac and @bluebuffalo.

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