Helping Animals
Volunteering to help animals is a rewarding experience and one that can be accomplished in a variety of ways. You can work with animals in your backyard or sponsor an endangered species a continent away. While volunteering at an animal shelter is a popular activity, you can also care for a feral cat colony or foster a litter of kittens of puppies. Fundraising volunteers are seemingly always need by animal organizations, no matter their size.
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Instructions
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Volunteer at an animal shelter. Shelters need volunteers for things like walking dogs, cleaning cages, feeding and watering and socializing animals. Even if you would rather not work directly with the animals at a shelter, you can still help by working on the shelter’s website, staffing a table at a community event, making repairs at the shelter or doing office work.
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Take on the responsibility of caring for a feral cat colony. Feral cats are cats that have been born in the wild, did not have any human interaction when young and cannot be socialized to live in homes. Caretakers are needed to feed colonies of cats and trap them for spaying and neutering. Once the cats have been spayed or neutered, they are returned to the colony where they live out their lives under your care.
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Keep up with proposed legislation regarding animals. Write to your representatives and share your opinions on bills proposed to assist or regulate animals. The majority of animal legislation is passed at the state level. You’ll find a listing of your representatives or assembly members on your state’s websites. Animallaw.com includes state-by-state listings of animal-related laws and bills.
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Hold a fundraiser that will benefit a shelter or animal group. Shelters are always in need of money to feed and provide for the medical needs of the animals. Perhaps you can donate the proceeds of your yard sale or coordinate a walkathon to benefit your area shelter.
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Foster a litter of puppies or kittens. Most shelters mandate minimum adoption ages and kittens or puppies that are not quite old enough must be fostered until they are old enough for adoption. Some puppies and kittens are so young that they must be bottle fed frequently and will need to stay with you during the day.
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Think globally and adopt a zoo animal or endangered species. Many zoos have programs that will allow patrons to adopt a particular animal for a specific donation. You can adopt endangered species through worldwildlife.org, defenders.org or worldanimalfoundation.homestead.com.
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Tips & Warnings
Spay or neuter your pets. Spaying, for the females, and neutering, for the males, will prevent your pet from having litters and reduce the number of unwanted animals in your area. Local shelters often offer low-cost spaying and neutering.
