Jonesboro Animal Services has launched an Operation Santa Paws donation drive to collect dog food and other pet supplies for local residents in need. The campaign runs Dec. 1–24 at the shelter’s facility at 6119 E. Highland Drive in Jonesboro, Ark., and organizers are asking community members to drop off unopened dog food, collars, old towels and even cat food to support families and animals during the winter months.

Mike Owens, the shelter’s adoption and rescue coordinator, said the agency regularly fields requests for pet food, a demand that grows as temperatures drop and household budgets tighten. “We have people come in and ask if we have extra dog food to give them, and we love to have it here,” Owens said. He added that pets can be overlooked when households face financial strain: “It’s one thing if they’re having a hard time feeding their family, but if they have pets, sometimes their pets may not get as much food as they need.”

The shelter houses dogs on-site and is using the Operation Santa Paws window of Dec. 1 to 24 to encourage targeted community support. In addition to food, the drive welcomes donations of collars and old towels that can be used for bedding and cleaning, and it accepts cat food to assist households with multiple pets. Donations can be brought directly to the Highland Drive location during the shelter’s posted hours.

Organizers framed the drive as a practical response to a seasonal uptick in requests from residents seeking pet food — a pattern Jonesboro Animal Services and many other animal shelters report every winter. Community donations, especially in-kind contributions like dog food, reduce operational costs for local animal shelters by directly supplying essential needs such as nutrition and veterinary supplies, allowing more funds to support medical care, adoptions, and outreach. Local shelters routinely rely on in-kind donations to offset operational costs and provide direct support to pet owners.

Beyond dropping off supplies, shelter officials and sector advisers say there are additional ways community members can support local animal services. Individuals can volunteer in roles such as animal care, transport, administrative support or event staffing, and fostering pets helps free space in shelters and improves animals’ chances of adoption. Six ways to support your local animal shelter beyond adoption are other effective contributions that extend the reach of donation campaigns.

Jonesboro’s Operation Santa Paws is part of a broader pattern of December drives promoted locally and regionally. For background on the initiative, organizers noted coverage at Altustimes and resources on how in-kind contributions support shelter operations are available through organizations such as Doublethedonation. Those resources outline best practices for accepting and deploying donated supplies to maximize benefit to animals and owners.

Owens characterized the goal simply: “We want people to take care of their dogs, too.” The shelter will accept items at its Highland Drive location through Dec. 24 as part of the campaign and encourages residents to check shelter hours before visiting. Community contributions during Operation Santa Paws will be used both to directly support pet owners who request assistance and to bolster the shelter’s stock of essential supplies for animals in its care.

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