Lots to Wag About is a collection site for donations of food for the pets of Columbus' homeless.

It is estimated that between 5 and 10% of the homeless have pets. In some areas that number is as high as 25% (http://www.petsofhomeless.org/). Pets represent a number of different things for the homeless. They are their friends, their family, a source of warmth (literally and figuratively) and in some cases, they're all they have. Sometimes, they had the pets when they became homeless. In some cases, they met on the street after the dog or cat was abandoned and they found they have a lot in common. There are families that are without housing as well. What parent wants to take away their child's pet after having just about everything else taken away from them?

At Lots to Wag About, we care about not just our customers' pets, but about all of the animals in our community. So, we've started taking donations of dog and cat food to be distributed to the pets of Columbus' homeless. We are working with The Open Shelter (http://www.openshelter.org/) to make sure the food gets to the pets that need it. We're doing this year round as well. So if now isn't a good time for you to make a donation with the holidays coming up, please remember us in the upcoming year.

We actually got a call from a man named David today. He was given our number from a Veterinarian in West Jefferson who got our info. off of the Feeding Pets of the Homeless website. He had recently lost his home and was living with his dogs in his van. We directed him to The Open Shelter and he called back before he headed out to the shelter to say thank you. So, to everyone who has donated and to everyone who may be thinking about it, a really big THANK YOU!