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Tree of Life 2024

Contact:

Events Team (events@arl-iowa.org)

Give a gift to a pet in need this holiday season

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa’s annual Tree of Life event is an opportunity to leave gifts for homeless pets under the tree and help supply the shelter with items the animals depend on every day.

Make a difference this December. Leave a gift for a homeless pet. 

How to Make a Gift

Bring a Gift:

Choose an item from our Wish List and put it under the tree at one of our drop-off locations in the Des Moines metro.   

Contactless Gifting:

Give a gift with an online order! When you donate items from our wish lists, they ship directly to us. 

Amazon Wish List

Chewy Wish List

Walmart Wish List 

Gift a Day of Care:

It costs just $15 to gift 1 day of care to a homeless pet! Make a donation to a pet in need below and we’ll put an ornament on our tree as a symbol of your donation. Ornaments can feature your name, the animal lover in your life, in memory of a loved one or pet, etc. 

DONATE HERE!

Choose Items from our Fetch! List

We are thankful for your generosity, and so are the pets in our care! Here are some of our most-needed items to help us care for the animals this holiday season and into the new year.

Food for Dogs & Cats

Instead of bringing in a bag of food, please consider making a $10, $20 or $30 donation to our Full Bellies Food Fund. Our partnership with Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love program and Oxbow allows us to purchase food for the shelter in bulk, which means every dollar goes further.

For Dogs

Nylabones – large and XL
Benebones – large and XL
Whipped Cream
Hot dogs
Calming Supplements
Adaptil
Adaptil collars
Dog Treats
Easy Cheese (in a can)
Peanut butter (creamy, no xylitol please)
Chicken broth and Beef broth (low-sodium, for making pupsicles)
Bath towels (full-size)
Rope toys
Blankets
Dog crates, 42″ and 48″ (this is the exact item we need)
Canned pumpkin
Applesauce
Puppy Milk Replacer
Dog kennels (all sizes)
Slip leads (6 ft.)
Slip leads (10 ft.)
Chain leads
Flea and tick treatment
Joint Supplement
Lick Mats
Frisbees
Quart food storage bags (for holding dog treats)
Freeze dried beef liver
Freeze dried chicken
Freeze dried lamb liver
Dog bubbles (used for enrichment)
Wobble Wag Giggle Ball
KONG Balls – large
KONG Wobblers
Boomer Balls — 6″ or larger
Plastic containers with lids (yoghurt containers or similar) – for making pupsicles 
Ice cube trays for making pupsicles (bone shape and paw shape)
Easy Walk Harnesses (XL)
Easy Walk Harnesses (L)
Easy Walk Harnesses (medium)
Easy Walk Harnesses (small)
Poop bags 
Poop scoopers
Stainless steel food/water bowls 
Flat bedsheets (no fitted sheets, please)

For Cats

Glitter balls 
Jingle balls and pingpong balls 
Canned Tuna 
Cat Carriers 
Churu lickable cat treats 
Baby Food 
Water bowls
Heating Pads
Totes to make neonate kits for foster homes (this is the exact item we need)
Kitten Milk Replacer 
Miracle Nipples
Nursing bottles 
Snuggle Kitties and Snuggle Puppies
Kitten Wipes
Blender bottles 920 oz. (new or used)
Nutri-cal for kittens
Pedialyte (unflavored)
Rescue Wipes
Stainless steel food/water bowls
Fuzzy mice 
Vaseline
Back Scratchers
Cat Carrier
Flea Combs
Flea and Tick Spray
Stainless steel litter pans, full-size (this is the exact item we need)
Cat scratchers (13-pack is best for our kennels)
Lick Mats
Paper sacks
Community Cat Houses
Kitty Casas
Feliway
Feliway diffuser
Large litterboxes for foster homes 
Calming collars
Calming Supplements
Stools
Moist cat treats (no catnip, please) 
Crunchy cat treats (no catnip please) 
Cat Litter (non-clumping, unscented)
Da Bird cat toy
Da Bird cat toy refills 
Plastic treat balls 
Cat scales (this is the exact item we need)
Heating blankets 

For Small Animals

Timothy hay
Rabbit litter
Untreated wooden blocks for small animals
Water bottles
Kaytee Perfect Chew toys for rabbits and small animals
Small animal treats 
Hanging toys for birds 
Small wooden ladders for birds 
Pumice or rope perches for birds
Fruit (Bananas, blackberries, raspberries, watermelon, pumpkin)
Vegetables (Romaine lettuce, celery, collard greens, arugula, bell peppers, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, kale, watercress)

For Barn Animals

Lead rope
First aid items (Fly repellent ointment, rash cream, bandages, veterinary thermometer, wound care spray, wound ointment)
Chicken scratch grains
Horse feed (Amplify Supplement or Purina Enrich)
Senior horse feed (Purina, Triple Crown or Nutrena)
Horse spray-on fly protection
Sweet feed and alfalfa pellets (used for training)
Black rubber horse feed pans
Muck forks
Muck buckets

Gift Cards and Other Supplies

Pre-paid gasoline cards (for animal transport vehicles)
Gift cards to pet supply stores, Hy-Vee, and Walmart
Duct tape
Zip Ties
10×13 Mailing envelopes
Batteries – AAA, AA, C, D, 9V
Label-maker tape – white 
Sticky notes/Post-it notes
Carabiners
Pens 
Dry Erase Markers 
Command strips 
Paper – multicolor, cardstock for laser printer 
Paper – white, letter or cardstock for laser printer 
Exam gloves (large, XL or medium)
Trash bags – 60 gallon or larger 
Wild bird food 
Acrylic yarn or cotton yarn (no wool blends, chunky yarns or fun-fur yarn, please)
Tape rolls
Binder clips
Scissors (this is the exact item we need)
Screwdrivers
Can openers
Pill bottles

Tree of Life Drop-off Locations

Des Moines

ARL Main
5452 NE 22nd Street (map)

ARL Des Moines Animal Services
1441 Harriet St (map)

Bomgaars
5049 NE 14th Street (map)

Hiking Dog Co
3800 Merle Hay Rd #1235A (map)

Blue Pearl Pet Hospital
4631 Merle Hay Rd (map)

All Pets Hospital
1330 2nd Ave (map)

Franklin Plaza Family Dentistry P.C.
4944 Franklin Ave. Suite A (map)

Bone-A-Patreat
4110 University Ave (map)

Dough Co.
2330 University Ave (map)

Confluence Brewing
1235 Thomas Beck Rd (map)

Clive

Zoom Room
13101 University Ave Suite 4 (map) 

Des Moines Cosmetic Dentistry Center
2375 Berkshire Pkwy (map) 

Urbandale

Bone-A-Patreat
3735 86th St (map)

Johnston

Rocket Carwash
6035 Merle Hay Rd (map)

Waukee

Rocket Carwash
1400 SE University Ave (map)

Grimes

Bomgaars
2151 SE 11th St (map)

Starbucks
2255 E 1st St (map)

Rocket Carwash
301 NE Cypress Dr (map)

Ames

Greater Iowa Credit Union

801 Lincoln Way (map)

Greater Iowa Credit Union

2623 Northridge Pkwy (map)

Greater Iowa Credit Union

200 Airport Rd (map)

West Des Moines

ARL West
Inside Iowa Pet Foods & Seascapes
1500 22nd Street (map)

ARL Club WDM
Inside Canine Country Club
2150 Delavan Dr Suite 1 (map)

Coffee Cats
312 5th St (map)

Motion Lab 
2700 University Ave Suite 332 (map)

Camp Bow Wow 
2900 University Ave Suite 250 (map)

Animal Doctors
4800 Mills Civic Pkwy (map)

Petco
6805 Mills Civic Pkwy Ste 140 (map)

LaFleur Chiropractic 
5465 Mills Civic Pkwy #230 (map)

Bone-A-Patreat
9250 University Ave Suite 103 (map)

Ankeny

Ankeny Animal & Avian Clinic 
742 S Ankeny Blvd (map) 

Zoom Room 
1875 N Ankeny Blvd Suite 105 (map) 

Dough Co. 
2405 SW White Birch Dr Ste 100 (map)

Uptown Garage
305 SW Walnut St (map)

Stewart Sport and Spine Physical Therapy
502 N Ankeny Blvd Suite 4 (map)

Rocket Carwash
3301 N Ankeny Blvd (map)

Denny Elwell Company 
2401 SE Tones Dr #17 (map) 

Ankeny Art Center 
1520 SW Ordnance Rd (map)

On With Life Neuro Rehab Center 
715 SW Ankeny Rd (map)  

Altoona

Bone-A-Patreat

550 36th Ave SW Suite Q (map)

Pet Supplies Plus

120 8th St SE (map)

Rocket Carwash
737 34th Ave SW (map)

Interested in having your business host a Tree of Life this year?

Call (515) 473-9109
or email events@arl-iowa.org
 

Watch pets pick out gifts during last year’s Tree of Life: