TAMPA, Fla. — This month Pet Supermarket is asking pet owners to think about all our furry friends that aren’t surrounded by toys, food and love. They are calling it their Lend A Paw fundraiser, with all proceeds going back to rescues and shelters.
Pet Supermarket manager, Jessie Reilly, gets a bright smile on her face every time they sell one of their $5 limited edition paw print bandanas.
“It brings happiness to people, it’s just fun to put clothes on your pet, and make them feel like a human, so it’s very entertaining to see,” said Reilly.
From now until May 22 proceeds from every bandana sold will go back to seven shelters across the state of Florida.
“Pet Supermarket has always had a desire to help the less fortunate and provide strength and awareness for the ones that can’t speak for themselves,” said Reilly.
One of those shelters receiving funds is Gulf Coast Humane Society.
“Fundraisers like this one that Pet Supermarket is doing for groups like ours is the lifeblood of our existence, we get no government funding, we get no tax dollars,” said Executive Director Gary Willoughby.
An average of 150 dogs and cats are housed at Gulf Coast at any given time. They couldn’t care for them all without these fundraisers.
“We wouldn’t be able to help nearly as many animals, many that come to us, they may have heartworms, they may have other medical things that we have to address, they need their shots, they need to be spayed or neutered, and the adoption fees only cover a very small portion of that,” said Willoughby.
Reilly said they have hundreds of pet owners visit their store every day and it’s important to remind them that not all pets have a loving family or home.
“A lot of times people don’t know where their pet came from whether it be a shelter or rescued from a neighbor,” said Reilly.
Reilly said if you have a pet that doesn’t wear bandanas, that’s ok too, they are accepting any and all monetary donations at the time of checkout.
“Pets are like potato chips you can’t have just one so when you can’t have just one and you can’t bring in any more to your household a lot of times the easiest way for you to be able to help out the four-legged is to donate money for them,” said Reilly.
