Editor's note: A photo gallery from the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless is available online.

As valley temperatures dip near freezing and life on the streets becomes harsh, community members are invited to add a touch of warmth to the holidays for the pets of Sacramento-area homeless people by donating toward holiday gift baskets, prepared by volunteers at UC Davis' William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Each year around the holidays, the hospital’s “Voice” newsletter committee members and Mercer Veterinary Clinic student officers fill some 130 "baskets" with gifts for pets of the homeless. The baskets are actually decorated boxes, filled with canned and dry food, treats, toys, leashes and pet-care products.

The boxes will be provided to homeless clients who visit the December Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless with their dogs and cats. The clinic is located next to the nonprofit Loaves & Fishes facility for the homeless in Sacramento.

The holiday pet baskets will be assembled from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, at the veterinary hospital and distributed Saturday, Dec. 11, at Mercer Clinic.

"We really depend on the generous monetary donations of the community to help purchase pet toys, which are such a source of joy for the animals and their owners," said Eileen Samitz, a clinical microbiologist at the veterinary teaching hospital. She noted that pet supply companies provide pet food and some of the other items for the holiday baskets, but the monetary donations to purchase the toys and treats come from the community.

Checks donated for the holiday pet baskets should be made out to "UC Regents — Mercer Holiday Pet Baskets" and sent to UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Office of the Dean, P.O. Box 1167, Davis CA, 95617-1167, Attn. Mercer Holiday Pet Baskets. More information about the holiday pet basket project is available online at: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/clubs/mercer/donation_holiday/index.cfm.

Since 1995, the staff of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's newsletter, "Voice," has organized holiday pet boxes for Mercer Clinic, which was started in 1992 by UC Davis veterinary students. Samitz annually uses vacation time to coordinate a team of volunteers that carries out the longtime holiday tradition. For more information contact Samitz at http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/clubs/mercer/.