HOV in the Community
Outreach Events
HOV's Food Assistance Program expands to local Food Bank
In hard economic times, many local families are having to make difficult decisions. Whether or not they will be able to keep their pets shouldn't have to be one of them! In partnership with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, Heart of the Valley has launched a support system for folks who may be having to choose between feeding their families or feeding their pets. In addition to our regular food donation program at the shelter, we are also supplying the Food Bank with donated pet food to distribute for free to their clients. To find out more about the Food Bank, click on www.gallatinvalleyfoodbank.org. And if you have some dog or cat food of any brand to donate, we will happily accept it during any of our open hours at the shelter!
Class Presentation at Ridgeview Elementary School
Education is the only way to control the pet overpopulation crisis, and Heart of the Valley is pleased to offer classroom presentations in order to spread the messages of responsible pet ownership and the role of the animal shelter. Kids love to meet adoptable shelter pets, and learning just a little bit about pets now will help make them the best pet owners of the future! To book a classroom presentation from Heart of the Valley, or to help out at an upcoming presentation, contact us at volunteer@heartofthevalleyshelter.org.
Dog Swim Day at Bogert Park
What a wonderful, wet and silly thing: every year on the last day the pool is open at Bogert Park, the dogs are allowed to take over for some seriously good times! This year, Parks & Recreation invited Heart of the Valley to bring a couple of adoptable shelter dogs to join in the fun for free, and the offer was too good to pass up for shelter dogs Moose and Princess Buttercup! Though neither decided to take the plunge with the other doggies, they had a great time meeting new friends - canine and human alike! The best part? As of today both of these awesome dogs has been adopted!
Summer Day Camp at Heart of the Valley
This year at the shelter, Summer Day Camp went to the dogs...and the cats and rabbits too! We had a blast romping with the dogs, cuddling the cats, making treats for the rabbits, playing fun games, and creating wonderful craft projects. And we learned a bunch about animals and kindness along the way! Our first year of Summer Day Camp at Heart of the Valley was so successful that we'll be expanding the program for next year, so stay tuned!
Kid Power! 
Many thanks to the Montana Behavior Initiative students at Chief Joseph Middle School for putting on an Adopt-a-thon for Heart of the Valley on May 17th! It was a gloriously sunny day and the dogs had a blast while getting viewed by potential adopters and socialized with this fantastic group of kids! To date, two of the dogs at the event have been adopted, so kudos to the hard work and enthusiasm shown by the MBI students! This event was planned and executed entirely by these kids, whose generosity of time and spirit are much appreciated by all of us at HOV!
Bobcat Basketball "Hoops For Hounds"
On March 1st, seven adoptable dogs from the shelter took center court as part of the half-time entertainment for an MSU Bobcat Basketball game! This was a great way to get these great dogs some exposure with a new audience, while promoting goodwill toward the shelter and getting more socialization. Plus it was just plain fun!
Wild West Winterfest
Heart of the Valley shelter dogs had a big presence at this year’s Winterfest. Several adoptable dogs strolled around the grounds with volunteers, some had a presence at the HOV booth in the mercantile, and others were competitors in the Dog Conformation Show and the Keg Pull! It’s always great to get out in the public and demonstrate the quality of the shelter dogs HOV has to offer!
