Purina Donates $20,000 to Northeast Georgia on Domestic Violence

Nestle Purina is donating monies to help women in crisis keep their pets.

At their ribbon cutting on Monday, Nina Leigh Krueger, president, Nestlé Purina presented a check to Katherine Reusing, executive director, Northeast Georgia Council on Domestic Violence in Hartwell.

In making the presentation, Krueger said the funding comes from the Company’s Purple Leash Foundation.

“We truly believe that pets and people are better together,” Krueger said. “For more than six years Purina has been supporting domestic violence victims with pets after learning that half will not leave or delay leaving an abusive situation if they cannot bring their pets along. And only 10% of domestic violence shelters allow pets. That gap is the reason why Purina has launched the Purple Leash Project in partnership with Red Rover that supports this critical cause of domestic violence and pets.”

Krueger said Purina’s Purple Leash Project provides grants to domestic violence shelters so they can build kennel areas where the pets of domestic violence victims can be housed.

Krueger said in addtion to the grant funding, volunteers from Red Rover and Purina will build the kennels for the Northeast Georgia Council on Domestic Violence.

“Red Rover will begin a renovation project at your shelter to add four new new kennels with indoor and outdoor dog runs,” Krueger said. “Purina associates from Hartwell will be lending a hand to make all of this happen. In addition, I am pleased to announce a $20,000 Purple Leash grant as well as a lifetime supply of nutritious, high-quality Purina products for the pets who stay at your shelter.”

In accepting the grant money, Reusing said there is a great need for kennel space for the pets of domestic violence victims.

“We are very, very excited about this project and we thank you so much. We have a little annex at our shelter that enables us to take in a few pets, but certainly not the numbers we need to. With this project, we will be able to take as many pets as we have pet owners who need our service,” Reusing said.

To learn more about Purina’s Purple Leash project, you can go online to: https://www.purina.com/about-purina/purple-leash-project.