This past week I spent three nights in St. Louis to visit the Purina headquarters with other dog and cat bloggers. I had the chance to learn more about the company’s work with shelters and animal welfare organizations (more on that in a future post…it’s huge with over $39 million in donations last year.)
On Saturday, our group attended the Purina Pet Project Event, one of my favorite parts of the trip. The annual event, now in its second year, invites community residents to come out and take part in fun crafts to benefit local shelters. The project evolved from an annual in-house event that Purina hosted for its employees to create items for local shelters; when employees got feedback from friends and family members that they’d like to take part, they decided to launch a free public event. The result has been incredibly popular, and I saw so many people of all ages enjoying themselves and taking a few hours out of their weekend to help shelter animals in a fun, happy setting.
The event took place at the Purina Event Center, a spectacular facility that hosts dog and cat shows plus other special events:
Inside, the large hall was buzzing with activity as community members painted dog houses…
…assembled Kuranda dog beds and cat towers…
…and decorated dog bandanas to brighten pups at adoption events…
Our #MeetNPPC group of bloggers got in on the fun, too; here Dan from Purina paints a doghouse with Diane from To Dog with Love and Stephanie from Catsparella…
I had to try my hand at crafting some pet beds; Joanne from The Tiniest Tiger and I made this cute cat bed (stay tuned and I’ll have more on this easy project on CatTipper!)
I also worked to assemble adoption kits for both cats and dogs (with Flat Inca’s help)…
At the other end of the center, local shelters and rescues had many super cute adoptable cats and dogs…
…and even puppies…
I had a great time at the Purina Pet Project Event! I think this could be such a great model for other communities and dog festivals to follow. With some simple materials and community effort, both residents and rovers benefit!
Disclosure: My travel expenses were paid by Purina for me to attend this event (but all opinions about how great Purina Pet Project Event was are entirely my own!)
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