AniMeals

Our primary goal is to serve thousands of western Montanans each year, especially those in crisis, the elderly, marginalized and those with special needs, and to help as many animals as possible. AniMeals places companion animals in loving homes, with compassionate people, who will make lifelong commitments to them by accepting them as a member of their family. We provide many excellent programs that aim to help pet owners keep their beloved pets, regardless of financial distress, lack of pet food/supplies, new medical diagnosis, behavioral issues, or any other challenges.

Through our Animal Food bank, we aspire to fill the need caretakers have for pet food in order to continue to care for animals. Every day we work to get as much food as possible into the hands of those that need assistance in order to keep their pets, those that are fostering animals waiting for their forever homes, those that provide care for community colonies, and other shelters and rescue organizations. We also provide pet food to older adults and those in need so that they do not have to share their own food and go hungry.

One of our most fundamental and proactive goals is to provide spays/neuters within the communities we serve to stop the puppy and kitten explosion every spring, as thousands of babies are born to homeless mothers.

We aim to teach children about kindness and responsibility through pet ownership. Children learn lifelong lessons from their pets and early learning matters. Educating kids to care for pets teaches responsibility in a way little else can. It creates a sense of empathy, respect for life, commitment, consistency and builds self-confidence.

In order to stop the annual explosion of hundreds of animal babies being born to homeless mothers we have implemented a targeted trapping project. Our plan is to trap, spay/neuter, vaccinate and release animals back to their homes. Their caretakers will then continue to feed and watch over them for the remainder of their lives. We also work closely with our local Animal Control to save the lives of animals they are not equipped to handle. We take the community (feral) cats that are trapped and brought to them. We spay/neuter, vaccinate and relocate them to barns where they are wanted, valued and cared for with limited human interaction. Those that are more social are vetted, tamed and placed in our Adoption Center where they find their new forever homes.

AniMeals Animal Food Bank is a vital part of our strategy to provide direct community service and responsible pet ownership education to all Montanans. We provide pet food, along with supplies, educational materials and resources about responsible pet ownership.

We purposefully engage our community through social media with 20,000+ followers, events like Farmers Markets, Pet Fest and the western MT Fair, and through tours to educate adults and children about kindness, responsible pet ownership and animal welfare.

AniMeals provides critical community services to enhance the quality of life for thousands of people. Populations served include people with special needs, those economically and socially disadvantaged, the disabled, homebound, older adults, those in crisis, families, children and many communities as a whole. AniMeals is called upon daily to help solve community problems such as the recent Missoula Reserve Street Homeless Camp Cleanup. To improve community health, we trapped 70+ community cats and newborn kittens, provided exams, spay/neuters, microchips, necessary medical care, bottle feedings, food, shelter and found many loving homes to enhance the lives of individuals and families with children. Programs include the Homebound and People of All Abilities Program which is designed for the elderly, disabled, special needs and homebound. A companion animal is sometimes the only family member they have, providing friendship, joy, love and a reason for living. We can provide vet care, medicine, food and supplies which results in a substantially improved mental state, and allows continued emotional support/comfort of their pet. We receive referrals from over 7 social service agencies and currently 130+ seniors receive free pet food.

AniMeals’ excellent staff, over 600 dedicated volunteers, engaged Board of Directors, hundreds of partners and a diverse array of programs meets our goals and fills many needs in our community. By proactively eliminating situations that cause people to surrender or abandoned their animals, less animals end up in shelters. Our programs address both the animal and the human components of rescue, and our commitment creates results.

AniMeals is a firmly established Animal Food Bank and critical resource primarily for western Montana. Many organizations within the animal welfare community have a long-standing relationship with AniMeals and depend on us to provide assistance in times of need. In our first year, AniMeals fed over 15,000 meals to hungry animals. To date we have distributed over 900 tons of food and supplies throughout Montana, Washington, Idaho, and North Dakota.

With the support of our community, relationships with veterinarians that give us deep discounts, and suppliers of donated food, AniMeals continues to be a valued resource. Partnerships and collaborations include volunteers, thousands of donors, local and statewide social services agencies, corporations and businesses, foundations, media such as NBC MT/ABC MT/CBS MT, plus local and statewide newspapers.

AniMeals has had and continues to have a measurable impact and tremendous difference in the world of animal welfare. AniMeals has created change through providing free services to tens of thousands of Montanans, serving as a voice for animals that have no voice, proactively providing community education, distributing over 900 tons of food, disseminating free material about responsible pet ownership, and increasing spay/neuters, especially of community cats.