Millions of dogs need homes and medical care. Not enough resources and a general lack of awareness has fueled the problem. Despite the scope of the problem, kind people who recognize the urgency of helping the homeless dog population can make a real difference. Every dog who their efforts help has a new chance to be healthy, happy, and loved. If you want to help dogs, here are some ways that you can make a difference.
Help With Fundraising
Work with an established shelter or humane society that has permission from the state to solicit donations. Help them get the word out about what they need via digital marketing tactics.
Good fundraising technology can make it easy for people to donate when they go to an organization’s website or view its social media page. In lieu of giving donations, helping an organization drive its fundraising efforts is a great way to use your skills to contribute to the cause.
Grant writing is another great way to support your local shelter. You can apply for grants that are administered by governmental entities, or you can apply for funding from private foundations. In addition, many large companies have corporate giving departments. They can be a good resource for monetary contributions or dxqxonations of the goods or services that they sell.
Give Goods
If you don’t have funds to donate to a local shelter or rescue league, consider what pet care items you have in your home and don’t particularly need. The items that tend to be high up on shelters’ donation wish lists include bedding, toys, and cleaning items.
Adopt
Giving a shelter dog a permanent place in your home and heart is one of the best things that you can do to help the homeless dog population. While owning an animal is no small responsibility, caring for a dog can bring you a lot of joy.
Consider adopting a dog who desperately needs a home but may not be super adoptable. A lot of adopters look for puppies in perfect health. Consider an older dog. One advantage of adopting an older dog is that you basically know what you’re going to get, whereas puppies have a lot of x-factor in terms of their health and personality.
Foster a Dog
If you’re not ready to make an adoption or you’re already pretty full up on household pets, consider fostering a pet for adoption. Foster care providers can help dogs recover from the trauma of being homeless and help them reorient themselves to household living. Also, being in a foster placement spares a dog from being in a shelter situation, which can be extremely stressful for dogs. In particular, timid and fearful dogs don’t fare well in such close quarters. Likewise, dogs that don’t have behavioral issues but are simply high-energy can experience anxiety in confined settings. As a foster care provider, you’ll help your furry charge get a forever family by bringing it to adoption events.
The relationship between people and dogs is probably the most fantastic interspecies connection on earth. While it’s heartbreaking that people have allowed these wonderful animals to become homeless, what you’re doing will inspire hope that widespread change is possible.
Lastly, remember the importance of spaying and neutering for the homeless dog population, and be sure to make appropriate plans for any animal that you adopt or help someone else adopt. In fact, many shelters require you to spay or neuter an animal as part of an adoption agreement. Be aware that some large dog breeds should be at least one year old prior to being spayed or neutered for health reasons. For the most part, however, spaying and neutering pets helps to keep the animal population under control.
photo credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/4OFU9yxUvLc
Love our content? Share it with a friend or link it to social media. Like short clips of cute household pets? Training tips? Follow us on instagram @nydognanny or on YouTube at nydognanny. Have some news you needs to get to dog and cat parents stat? Email info@newyorkdognanny.com with your article pitch.
