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Sunday, January 24, 2016

5 Ways You Can Help Change a Shelter Pet's Life

Today is Change a Pet’s Life Day!  It is a day dedicated to encouraging shelter pet adoptions as well as spreading awareness of shelter animal issues. 

One of the best ways to help a shelter pet is to adopt one and give it a loving, forever home.  I know everybody cannot adopt a shelter pet right now for various reasons but there are still ways that you can make a difference and change a shelter pet’s life.

Oz the Terrier 5 Ways You Can Change a Shelter Pets Life

5 Ways You Can Change a Pet’s Life

Financial Donation.  As a former professional fundraiser, my motto is “Give What You Can, Whenever You Can”.  In the nonprofit world, there really is no gift too small so no matter at what level you can give, know the gift will be appreciated.  You can make a one-time donation, smaller monthly donations and even Leave a Legacy with estate planning giving.

WishList Donation.  Go to almost every shelter website and you will find a page with a WishList of in-kind donation items that they need to care for the pets in the shelter.  Many items for donation you can pick up on sale when grocery shopping; you can even donate old towels and blankets.  Get your friends and family involved by holding a collection drive and make your donation even bigger!

Foster.  A great way to help a shelter pet become a forever pet is to become a foster family.  You can help train that pet to be a great family pet while getting them out of the shelter.

Volunteer.  If you cannot foster, why not volunteer at your local shelter. It takes many hands to care for so many paws and there is usually a job for every skill set, whether it is helping to clean, walking or playing with the animals, answering phones…there are so many ways you can help a shelter help the animals in their care.

Share.  Do you have a blog?  Are you always on social media sites?  Why not start sharing some of the animals from your local shelter on your timelines to help encourage their adoption?  Your influence could be the spark needed to help a pet get out of the shelter.

How can you help change a pet’s life today and every day?

Thank you to Sugar the Golden Retriever and Dachshund Nola for hosting Black & White Sunday!




21 comments:

  1. We support our shelter with donations and we spread the word via sharing. My grampy always brings the updates from the shelter to the news board of the pet-store, so the people who look for a furfriend are always well informed.

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  2. Those are all great ways to help.

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  3. Good tips. We adopt cats when we need them which helps the shelter, but I'm not sure I like having these pesty cats around.

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  4. Those are great tips. We need to do more to help.

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  5. there is always ways to help - even in the smallest ways

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  6. Speak up. Speak out. Tell someone when you suspect neglect and abuse of any animal. It is better to be wrong than to allow an animal to suffer. Your local Sheriff's Office has an animal section. Call the non - emergency, dispatch number and they will connect you with the right person. Saving a life is changing a life whether it is in or out of a shelter.

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  7. OZ WHAT A WONDERFUL POST. MOM TAKES OUR OLDER SHEETS AND TOWELS AND FOOD.
    MY SISSY'S KITTIES FRISCO AND MIA WERE ADOPTED FROM A SHELTER AND I HEAR THEY ARE EVER SO GRATEFUL FOR THEIR NEW HOME AND TO HAVE EACH OTHER
    HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF

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  8. Kaci and Kali were in shelters (and at one time on "the list"). I came from the bird store.

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  9. Those are five great ways to help out a shelter that they would really appreciate. Have a wonderful Sunday.

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  10. PAWsome OZ! Mom plans to sign up as a volunteer to the GR rescue group. We can never forget fostering Bailey - its was hard but a great experience. Golden Woofs

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  11. we volunteer!
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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  12. There is a desperate need for more volunteer rescue transport drivers. What does it entail? If you have a safe, running vehicle and are willing to volunteer a 2-3 hours and some gas, and don't mind having rescue animals in your vehicle, there are always transports needing drivers. Having some dog/cat crates is a definite plus, since it's not advised to transport multiple dogs without being able to separate them (even the best behaved animal can get stressed during transport, not to mention that the crates can save the animals' lives in the instance of an accident). It's like "passing the torch", but instead you are handing off rescue animals. Each driver takes a "leg", which can be anywhere from 25 miles to a couple hundred (even more, if you are a willing driver). Some drivers take multiple legs, too, but typically the transports are broken into legs of no more than 100 miles. You can find transports coming through your area needing drivers by signing up for various Yahoo groups. One Yahoo groups, just search using terms like rescue transport, and either the highway numbers near you or your state. I know in my area, one of the hardest legs to find drivers for is between Lafayette, IN and Crown Point/Merrillville. I've driven that leg for four separate transports in a single weekend on more than one occasion. I'm not able to drive as much as I used to, unfortunately, but I'm a regular driver for a rescue from Indy. Why transport the animals? Some shelters further south kill hundreds of dogs every week, and yet when you go up north, there are shelters and rescues that don't even have enough animals for people to adopt. In large part it's because more animals up north are spayed/neutered. Anyway, I'm always more than happy to talk further to anyone interested in driving. My email is urdchan@gmail.com

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    1. Very interesting idea. I wonder if there's a need in my area…will google it. Thanks for the suggestion.

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  13. If everyone did a little, we could accomplish a lot. Great post, Oz. ☺

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  14. Shelby was adopted from a rescue group in Florida-the Scottish Terrier Rescue of the Southeast. It is now known as STROF- the Scottish Terrier Rescue of Florida.

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  15. Great reminder, especially with the holidays over and the thoughts of giving are lower.

    Great pic of you Oz. You are adorable!

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  16. Great tips with great reminders of all the ways we can help!!

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  17. All are great ideas Oz.

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  18. Excellent ideas, these are all so helpful. You can also sponsor a dog or several dogs' adoption fee making the dog free to adopt. You can pay for microchipping which isn't usually included in adoption fees. You can even day foster at some shelters, getting a dog out of the shelter for the day. Its really helpful, especially for long timers or high energy dogs. Great post!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  19. Excellent ideas, these are all so helpful. You can also sponsor a dog or several dogs' adoption fee making the dog free to adopt. You can pay for microchipping which isn't usually included in adoption fees. You can even day foster at some shelters, getting a dog out of the shelter for the day. Its really helpful, especially for long timers or high energy dogs. Great post!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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Thank you for stopping by and leaving a pawprint. I enjoy reading each and every one!
Cairn cuddles,
Oz the Terrier