How to Help Pets in Need

Meet Scatterbug. Scatterbug came to the shelter from a breeder, after being too old to have more puppies. She had to have 2 mastectomies from ten years of breeding, and multiple teeth pulled. Luckily a rescue swooped in, and now Scatterbug is enjoying life in her forever home.

Overcrowded shelters, as well as breeding, has become a big problem. So, how can YOU help more pets like Scatterbug find their forever home?

Here are some ideas. 

ADOPT

Adopting your next furry friend from a local shelter or rescue is the way to go. Even If you’re looking for a specific breed, try checking rescues that specialize in certain breeds. Also, if you go back far enough, no pet is truly “purebred” anyway. Oftentimes, mixed breeds even have fewer health issues.

FOSTER

Fostering truly helps a lot more than you think. Not only does it save the dog or cat, but it makes room to save another animal, as well. Even just for a short while, it gives them such a break from the loud shelter. Depending on the organization, they might even cover food/vet bills. Even if you’re not looking for a long commitment, you can be a temporary foster when a foster family goes out of town.

VOLUNTEER 

If you can’t adopt or foster, volunteer! Volunteering helps so much, and there’s something for everyone. You can help clean, give baths, walk the dogs, socialize cats, read to the animals, and more. Even if you can only come for 15 minutes, that’s one dog that wouldn’t have gotten a walk, or a cat who wouldn’t have gotten cuddled.

DONATE

If you have extra funds, please donate! But even if not, just cleaning out the garage can help. You can donate old newspapers, cleaning supplies, old dog/cat toys, leashes, towels, blankets, or other things. You can donate other household items, like old books, that lamp you got as a gift, the old vacuum that you don’t need, and other things to the shelter’s thrift store!

EDUCATE 

If you really can’t adopt, foster, volunteer or donate, please share this! At least spread the word,  and don’t support breeders. Even if it’s a “responsible breeder,” it’s still adding more to the animal population, while more pets are dying.

I hope you learned something about how to help homeless pets!