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Five Simple Things You can do

July 23rd, 2010

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” ~ Dr. Seuss.

Our new BBD, Chloe

Last week we began at the root of the problem in Animal Lover Action with my post about establishing a low cost spay/neuter clinic in your area.

There’s many, many other things you can do to help homeless pets and sometimes it’s as simple as punching a few keys on the computer.

Here’s 5 small things you can do to help in a big way:

• One of the greatest advantages for animal lovers, rescuers and advocates has been the Internet. Thanks to this medium, thousands of pets have been “networked” via social media sites, allowing rescues and animal lovers to be alerted to pets needing to be pulled from kill shelters. There are hundreds of rescues involved in networks on Facebook. You might start by putting in the name of your favorite rescue or no kill shelter and linking to them and some of their “friends.” Through these links, you can become a part of the network, helping to find fosters, adopters or donating money. Be careful though, about your donations, remember, this is the Internet.

• Get involved with your local municipal shelter to make things better. Co-K9 Cuisine blogger, Allie Johnson, who writes Pet Tips and Tails, volunteers as a dog walker each week at her local municipal shelter. She says it’s very rewarding making sure these canines have some quality exercise and love while in such a stressful environment. She’s also dedicated to one day seeing her shelter become a no-kill shelter. A couple of weeks ago, she plucked a dog from death row (a BBD!) and fostered him, attending adopt-a-pet events until he found his forever home! She’s also very involved in networking pets on the Internet as well.

• Make phone calls to see what your local rescues and shelters need. Sometimes it’s food, blankets, toys or cat litter. Call your local grocery, pet supply and farm and home stores. I learned one of our local stores was throwing away outdated pet food. While this food cannot be sold, rescues and shelters can still use it. It took one simple phone call to the manager and now that store is donating their food to a local rescue. Another good place for this food is food banks. So many people are struggling to feed themselves and their pets, food banks are now also distributing pet food.

• Foster a dog or a cat through a local rescue. I’ve written about fostering before and while you can become attached, it really is very rewarding loving and nurturing a homeless pet. The best part is seeing it go to its forever home. Sometimes, the sponsoring rescue will pay for the food and most always pay for the vet bills while the animal is in your care.

• If you can’t foster or adopt, a great way to help a rescue or some shelters is to sponsor a pet. Sponsorships give rescues the money they need to pull animals from death row and to care for them until their homes can be found. Sponsorships also make a great gift for animal lovers who have enough stuff (don’t’ we all!?)

You can be that one big difference in a pet’s life.

What do you think you can do for a homeless pet today?

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Tags: animal lover action, donating, Five Simple Things you can do, fostering pets, pet tips and tails, rescuing pets
Posted in K9 Rescue | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Five Simple Things You can do”

1. Allie Johnson says:

   July 23, 2010 at 6:54 am

   Wonderful post, Kerri! I am sure some readers will be inspired by your great suggestions!
2. kerrifivecoatcampbell says:

   July 23, 2010 at 7:22 am

   Thanks, Allie!
3. Kathleen Winn says:

   July 23, 2010 at 7:41 am

   These are great ideas, Kerri. I suspect there are lots of people who don’t know that you can sponsor an animal, if you’re not in the position to be able to take one as a pet. I have saved info from your previous blog regarding how to set up a spay and neuter program in your community, and hope to work on that when we move. Thanks for your ongoing efforts to improve the lives of helpless animals!
4. kerrifivecoatcampbell says:

   July 23, 2010 at 8:22 am

   Thanks for reading and fighting the good fight, Kathleen!
5. Doreen says:

   July 29, 2010 at 10:01 am

   Great post!!
   At Doggies and Stuff blog we donate any monies we receive through our Amazon Affiliate program to our local pet charities. In addition, we donate ALL pet beds we review to a local foster care program. At this moment, I am also raising money to buy 25 new pet cots and dog houses for one of our local shelters. The shelter is concentrating on raising money for food and medicine. Beds and dog houses are the last thing they will ask for, so I made it my mission to help. I added a PayPal donation button to my blog, so my readers can make donations to help my mission. We have a long way to go but we will do this. You can see how that started by reading my review of a Kakadu Pet Cot here:http://doggiesandstuff.com/doggies/kakadu-pet-cot-review-and-giveaway-ended/
   It’s important for me as a pet blogger to use my blog as a way to help!
6. Kerri says:

   July 29, 2010 at 6:15 pm

   Those are wonderful initiatives, Doreen! Thanks for sharing.