How to Support Animal Shelters

Animal shelters could sure use all the help and support they can get. The public is their lifeblood. And with very little effort, you the public, can make a world of difference--here are some tips to get you started.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Adopt a dog or cat from a shelter. You can visit the shelter directly or attend one of their off-site pet adoption events. Most private shelters (and even some city shelters) have off-site adoptions at parks, pet supply stores and various other locations.
2. Find out what’s on your local shelter’s “wish list” and donate needed supplies such as food, toys and blankets, or of course, money. You can also sponsor a shelter dog or cat with a monthly donation to an organization such as the ASPCA for as little as $18 a month (60 cents a day). See Resources below.
3. Attend fundraising events for a shelter such as a concert or dinner, or participate in a fundraising event such as a walk-a-thon. Many cities have free local pet publications that list these types of events.
4. Organize your own fundraising event for the shelter such as a comedy show or bowl-a-thon. It shouldn't be hard to find participants or sponsors that want to help animals. There are also websites such as First Giving and Changing the Present where you can start an online fundraising drive for the shelter of your choice. Changing the Present also allows you to sponsor shelter pets with spaying/neutering, vaccines, microchips and care.
5. Volunteer at the shelter. There are a variety of ways to help, including walking and playing with the dogs, visiting with the cats, cleaning cages and volunteering in the office. You can also help out at pet adoption events.
6. Become a foster parent to a shelter animal. When shelters run out of space, they need good citizens to house pets temporarily until they can place them in forever homes. Both city and private shelters have fostering programs and reimburse for expenses.
7. Create a website or a newsletter for a shelter by taking pictures of the animals up for adoption and including a description and history for each. If you don’t know html, you can always connect with a computer-savvy animal lover and make the website a joint collaboration. You might also create a MySpace page for the shelter.
8. Spread the word about specific animals that are up for adoption by telling people you know, or by posting flyers at pet supply stores and various other places around town. If you have a MySpace account, you can also send out a bulletin to all your "friends" who are animal lovers.
9. Visit The Animal Rescue Site and click daily to help homeless pets. Your free click helps provide food and care for animals in shelters and sanctuaries. When you shop at the Animal Rescue Site store, a percentage of your purchase is also donated.

Tips & Warnings

• Visit a shelter to find out what's on their wish list and how you might be of help.
• If someone tells you they are considering getting a dog or cat, suggest they go to a shelter where they can find puppies and kittens as well as adult dogs and cats. If they have a specific breed of dog in mind, let them know purebred dogs average about 25 to 30 percent of a shelter's population. Petfinder.com lists thousands of dogs that are awaiting homes in shelters. You can search by area and by breed.
• Extol the virtues of mixed breed dogs, since they have a harder time getting adopted. Let people know that in addition to making wonderful and loveable pets, mixed breeds are unique and often mistaken for rare purebreds. They are also not as prone to many of the health problems of purebreds.
• October has been designated by the ASPCA as Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month in order to raise awareness and promote adoption of shelter pets.
• Never purchase a dog from a pet store. The vast majority obtain their dogs from puppy mills, which are facilities that mass produce dogs under inhumane conditions. The dogs used for breeding often spend the majority of their lives in cages and end up at shelters when they are no longer useful. Unsold dogs often end up at shelters as well.