MOMMS Premium Pet Foods has been accepting donations of pet supplies for weeks leading up to its annual pet food drive on Nov. 4.
"It's becoming a huge success every single year gets bigger and bigger and we just love this charity," said owner Chris Malmberg.
"When the community hears about veterans and pets, Calgary comes together, we get people coming from the northeast, from the northwest, they come from all over Calgary and Okotoks."
Malmberg says the pet food drive is accepting all kinds of food and other pet supplies to help veterans.
"Our veterans don't just have dogs and cats," he said. "They have ferrets, they have parrots, they have snakes, they have lizards, so anything that helps feed a pet, we will accept and we'll accept open bags (of food) too, but please make sure they're sealed properly."
Since 2020, MOMMS has spearheaded pet food drives that resulted in nearly 4,000 kilograms of pet food for the Veterans Association Food Bank. It gets a lot of help from its suppliers who've donated six pallets stacked high with dog food.
"We have a number of veterans come in for food hampers," said Ryan Preston, Veterans Associated Food Bank's veteran outreach coordinator.
"So if we can help a veteran with their food and say hey you have an animal, do you need dog food or you have a cat do you need cat litter, cat food, treats anything? It changes things, like ‘wait, what you can help my animal too?’"
Preston and many staff and volunteers at the facility are veterans themselves and share a special bond with clients. Preston says an animal can make all the difference for a vet.
"We have the office dog (named) Turtle and that's kind of my fix of getting to see a dog every day and give a little belly scratch and it mentally it helps right, people don't think it does, but it does," said Preston.
"Whether the PTSD kicks in or you're having a rough day or something like that, I think seeing a comforting animal and even just giving it a little pat, it kind of blocks everything out for me and then it just changes your mood for the day."
Not only are pet food and supplies given to vets, but through the association's Pet Promise Program, medical bills can be covered.
"We had a veteran come in and he couldn't take his dog for a wash because it didn't have vaccines," he said. "We're like ‘why?’ So then we started looking into it and said ‘this is something that we need to look into and something we need to address.’"
The pet food drive takes place at MOMMS Premium Pet Foods, located at 755 Lake Bonavista Dr. S.E., on Saturday, Nov. 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Newly purchased bags of pet food, open bags that are properly sealed and cash donations will be accepted. Organizers will also accept dishes, collars, harnesses and toys for pets.
Learn more about the event on MOMMS Premium Pet Foods’ Facebook page.
