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With the holiday season in full swing, the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island has announced its annual Santa Paws donation drive. Each year, the aquarium seeks community support to collect various pet items and pet food for the Outer Banks SPCA. As a “thank you” to guests for supporting the cause, the aquarium is offering one free ticket per reservation when a guest brings three pet items or a pet food item from the SPCA’s wish list. Santa Paws will run through December 31.

“The OBX SPCA moved to a new, beautiful state-of-the-art facility in March 2021. This building has taken us to the next level in terms of caring for our animals that rely on us every day and for that we are grateful,” said Chrissea Rothrock from the OBX SPCA. “Our adoptions have increased, which means this enables us to take more animals into our shelter and ultimately save more lives! Our main goal is to get every animal that comes through our doors any medical attention they need, care for their physical and behavioral health while they are with us and ultimately place them in a home.”

Rothrock touched on the impact of Santa Paws, saying, “Every year the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island hosts a Santa Paws Event for the OBX SPCA. This event from our friends has a huge impact on us. At this time of the year, we usually have a full shelter of animals to feed. Santa Paws collects lots of food and other donations and delivers them to us every year! The staff and animals at the OBX SPCA cannot thank the NC Aquarium and our community enough for their amazing generosity every year!”

The SPCA’s wish list of pet items and food items includes: microwaveable cat and dog heat pad, cat/dog toys, baby bottles (kittens/puppies), baby blankets, baby food (chicken or turkey), dish detergent, laundry detergent, bully sticks and/or buffalo horns, 50 gallon black trash bags with drawstrings, 20 gallon white trash bags with drawstrings, kitten/adult cat wet food (1 case or more), kitten milk replacement, dye-free kitten/adult cat dry food (7 lb. bag or more), dye-free dry dog food (7 lb. bag or more) and wet dog food (one case or more).

Advanced registration for guests with a Santa Paws donation, NC Aquarium members and general public can be made at this link. Pet items and pet food donations can be brought to the main entrance of the aquarium and shown to a ticket cashier to redeem reserved free admission.

The aquarium is located at 374 Airport Road on Roanoke Island and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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