Adoption and Fostering Adopting a pet from a shelter is one of the most direct ways to make a difference. Approximately 4.1 million shelter animals are adopted each year, but many more still need homes. Fostering is also crucial, as it opens up shelter space for additional animals in need.
Volunteering and Community Involvement You can support animal welfare by:
Volunteering at local animal shelters (walking dogs, socializing animals, helping with paperwork)
Participating in community animal welfare programs
Double Your Impact Today to Keep Cold Dogs Safe This WinterUntil midnight on December 31, every dollar you donate will be DOUBLED—up to $50,000—by a generous donor. That means your gift can go two times as far to protect vulnerable dogs enduring freezing temperatures around the world. But this matching opportunity won’t last, and neither will the time to help.Countless cats and dogs are facing brutal winter conditions—they’re cold, hungry, and alone. But your donation can change that. Together, we can provide them with the warmth, safety, and love they desperately need to survive this season.But we must act quickly. We can’t let this gift matching opportunity slip away. Right now, your kindness goes two times as far, reaching even more animals in need. Please help us meet our goal—without you, we can’t continue to save lives.Don’t miss the last matching gift challenge of the year. Donate now and make two times the impact!
All of us can make a difference for animals in our everyday lives, whether it’s by adopting a pet, choosing products not tested on animals, eating a humane diet or engaging your community in animal protection issues. With so many widespread problems facing animals, it takes all of our collective efforts to confront these cruelties and change things for the better.
Here are 50 ideas for ways you can help animals in your community and across the country. Please share this list with any of your friends and family members who are also interested in advocating for animal protection.
14. Join us in applauding pet stores that have taken a stand against puppy mills—support the more than 1,000 stores that have joined our Puppy-Friendly Pet Stores initiative. Encourage local stores that do sell puppies to stop.
27. Shop our Amazon storefront for branded apparel that lets you wear your support on your sleeve.
28. Purchase pet health insurance from Petplan and receive a 5% discount—and with each completed application, Petplan will make a $20 donation to our Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association’s Rural Area Veterinary Services program. Use code HSUS20.
All of us can make a difference for animals in our everyday lives, whether it’s by adopting a pet, choosing products not tested on animals, eating a humane diet or engaging your community in animal protection issues. With so many widespread problems facing animals, it takes all of our collective efforts to confront these cruelties and change things for the better.
Here are 50 ideas for ways you can help animals in your community and across the country. Please share this list with any of your friends and family members who are also interested in advocating for animal protection.
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1. Sign up for email alerts to get the latest news and quick, simple actions to help animals straight to your inbox.
2. Sign up to receive text message alerts to do the same right from your cell phone.
14. Join us in applauding pet stores that have taken a stand against puppy mills—support the more than 1,000 stores that have joined our Puppy-Friendly Pet Stores initiative. Encourage local stores that do sell puppies to stop.
27. Shop our Amazon storefront for branded apparel that lets you wear your support on your sleeve.
28. Purchase pet health insurance from Petplan and receive a 5% discount—and with each completed application, Petplan will make a $20 donation to our Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association’s Rural Area Veterinary Services program. Use code HSUS20.
What can you do today? Animal shelters are the cornerstone of animal welfare in our communities and are often times the first point of rescue for lost, injured and stray animals. While awareness of their extraordinary work is growing, they need our support. Public animal shelters have to fight for every penny they receive, and private shelters struggle to find enough donor support to keep their doors open. Yet day in and day out, staff stretch their limited resources and work tirelessly to save as many lives as possible. We believe that these unsung heroes deserve our appreciation and support, and we think you do too! Here are somethings you can do today to thank shelter workers for their unwavering commitment to your community’s homeless and suffering animals:
1. Send letters to the editor about the good work your community shelter is doing! Most people in your community likely do not know the volume of animals that enter the shelter, the number of animals nursed back to health from cruelty cases,or the community outreach that shelter staff is doing to keep pets in homes.Writing a letter to the editor can help change that, and highlight the great work your local shelter is doing.
2. Work with the shelter staff to set up an Amazon.com supply list. People often are willing to donate to their local shelter but they don’t know what’s needed. Helping your shelter set up an Amazon.com supply list not only makes it easy for people to help, it ensures shelter staff gets exactly what they need, when they need it. If your shelter already has such a list in place, help them by spreading the word, especially around the holidays!
3. Volunteer for a specific project.Shelters need regular volunteers to help with daily activities like cleaning and socializing animals, but there are often special projects they’d love to do but simply but don’t have the time for –things like building feral cat houses, creating play equipment for the dogs, even landscaping the outside of the shelter building. Ask the shelter what they’ve been dreaming of getting done, gather friends and knock a project off the list!
4. Bring the staff some treats.Imagine how good you would feel if someone stopped by your work just to quickly say thank you and leave behind some cookies or coffee! Remember that the holidays, July 5thand days after bad weather are the busiest days at the shelter. This is a great time to pop in, say thanks,and leave some much appreciated treats behind. And don’t forget to leave some special treats for the animals, too!
5. Do a community supply drive. There are certain times of year when shelters need blankets, towels, kitten and puppy food, etc.. Check in with the shelter and get to know the times during the year when a supply drive for specific items would be helpful. Leave bins in local pet stores, places of worship, clubs, and the local coffee house. Before you know it the demand for supplies will be met! • Attend a local government meeting and speak up!In most meetings of local officials, the general public has the opportunity to make comments for the record.
6. Take a minute to talk about the good work the shelter is doing or the value to the community. Not comfortable speaking in public? Write a letter and ask that it be read into the record.The people in your local shelter are saving lives every day, often under incredibly difficult circumstances –they’d love to know their hard work and dedication is appreciated by their community.
The smallest act of appreciation from you may be just the boost they need to keep going. For more information: http://www.humanesociety.org
What does it take of us to help an animal in need? A bit of time, perhaps, and some inconvenience. We’ve helped one animal to suffer less. This small victory does not have a widespread impact, but it certainly changes the world for that one animal.
It’s easy to bypass an animal in distress, a lost dog, a stray cat, injured creature, a starving animal. It’s easy to turn away and to assume that others will do something. Most of us don’t do anything. It requires giving of ourselves or our time in some small capacity, and we’re busy, busy, busy. I believe that each time we turn away, some small portion of our humanity is eroded.
Years ago I made an agreement with myself: when I see an animal in need, I will do whatever I can to remedy the situation. I’ve found that “whatever I can do” is generally more than I had originally thought. This has led me to capture stray dogs and humanely trap stray cats and deliver them to the SPCA, to gently instruct children and others in kindness to animals, to intervene when I see human cruelty to animals, to become a vegetarian, to inconveniently arrive late at meetings when I’m rescuing an animal. I sleep better at night for all this.
My dream is to have a widespread impact on humane treatment of animals. If each of us engaged in some small gesture of kindness, of help toward animals, so much suffering could be reduced. Will you join me?
You’re here to help animals. So are we. Join the Humane Society of the US in their efforts. http://www.humanesociety.org/ Click on any of the links below to make a difference.
Untold Animal Stories 