If you fancy a big change in your life this fall, why not open your home and heart to a canine companion? October is national adopt a shelter-dog month and there’s plenty of furry friends to be made out there. The strain on shelters increases each year as they do their best to protect unwanted, abused or abandoned dogs. According to the ASPCA, around 3.3 million dogs enter shelters each year — so they need all the assistance they can get. Read on and find out the best way you can lend, man’s best friend, a helping hand.
Adopt
Ideally, you could adopt a dog. It could be the best decision you’ve ever made. Adoption means giving an animal a chance at a life they might never have. Approximately 630,000 shelter dogs have to be euthanized each year according to the ASPCA. Adoption means saving a life. Beyond even that, you’ll have gained a loyal friend that’ll bring endless moments of fun and warmth. Welcome your new pet with some personalized goodies straight from Zazzle. We’ve got dog supplies to get you started and dog tags that can include all your contact details, just in case your new friend goes exploring.
Fundraise
If you can’t adopt or foster: fundraise! Get in touch with the pet charity or shelter you want to support beforehand and they’ll give you some tips and advice. Here are five of the best ways to raise funds for animal shelters across the country.
- Dog Wash Event – Set up in your local area and wash dogs. Get some volunteers and advertise in advance.
- Dog walk or Dog run – Organize a walk or run for people and their pet pals.
- Donation Stations – Ask local pet clinics and vets to set up donation stations in conjunction with your local shelters.
- Pet Photo Shoot – Find a good photographer and set up a dog photoshoot. Charge a base fee for each set of photos and all the proceeds can go straight to the shelter of your choosing.
- Dog Sitting/Walking – Just for this month, get involved with dog sitting or dog walking. Charge lower fees than professional services and donate the money to your animal charity.
Foster
Maybe adopting is too long-term for you but you still want to make a difference in a dog’s life. Fostering might be the right option for you. Take care of a dog until it’s ready to be adopted. Fostering is a lot of work, these dogs need help and training and might need to learn how to trust again. In some cases, the dogs might need physiotherapy, medicinal baths or other methods to recover from injury or illness. Shelters put dogs up for fostering that need special attention, so helping out at this time in a dog’s life is a rewarding experience. Check out your local shelters and contact them to see if they have a foster program set up. Don’t be too daunted, many shelters will provide you with training, equipment and the knowledge needed to take care of a foster animal. Just be ready for a very emotional goodbye when it’s ready for you to give the dog back for placement in their forever home.
Volunteer
Your local shelter needs all the help it can get. Depending on the shelter and what they need, you could be helping out in various ways. From helping with the day to day running of a shelter, like helping out with animal’s meals, cleaning enclosures or paying attention to an animal to see if they’re as healthy as they could be. You could even be helping out at charity events or helping with the general admin work of the shelter.
Raise Awareness
Tell your friends, family, and colleagues. Share information on social media. Share success stories, pictures, and links to shelters that need help. Put out flyers, posters and more. Get guest speakers from your local shelter to come and talk at your workplace or school. Get bumper stickers to raise awareness on the go.
Sponsor
If you’re not in a position to adopt or foster a dog you can always sponsor one or more. Sponsoring will helps cover the on-going cost of caring for the dog of your choice. This can help a dog get the support they need to get healthy or even to find a new home.
Donate
It’s not all about money, there’s a lot of things you can donate that’ll ease the burden on shelters. It might be worth checking with your local one to see what they need. In general, however, there are few items which can be very useful. Newspapers can be shredded for bedding. Clean towels and blankets for keeping animals warm and dry. Dog treats and food are a major expenditure for shelters, so they’re always a welcome donation. Toys, collars, bowls, crates, carriers and every day cleaning supplies can also go a long way in helping out.
Helping out animals in need is a rewarding experience. If you adopt a dog from a shelter this month you’ll have a friend for years to come. Celebrate that friendship by getting matching t-shirts or bandanas! No matter what way you decide to help out this month, every little effort can go a long way.
With a background in psychology and sociology, love of football, literature, travel and music, Aonghus had always tried to be trendy, but then the trends changed.
