I’ve totally been hit with a case of puppy fever! However, I’ll have to live vicariously through those of you who are able to add a new furry family member into your lives. Two high energy, high maintenance, dogs are my limit, at least for now. Despite not technically being puppies anymore, my two manage to keep me plenty busy!
On the bright side, I feel so blessed to have Kit and Fen in my life. I know not everyone is as lucky. Some rentals don’t allow pets. Some people may love animals but be allergic to them, or financially unable to care for one of their own. Whether you’re like me and already have your hands full with the animals you already have, or adopting a pet isn’t in the cards for you for other reasons, there are still some amazing things you can do to help animals in need!
- Foster: Many animal shelters utilize a network of foster families to help care for homeless animals. Caring for animals in foster homes means that they are not submitted to the stress of living in a cage at the shelter. It also opens up more space in the shelter so they are able to take in and care for more needy animals. Having animals live in foster homes can help them get used to living in a home environment. If you can’t afford to adopt an animal of your own, fostering might be a great way for you to help out. The shelter or rescue you foster for usually pays for fees associated with the animals care. All you usually have to provide is your time and love.
- Donate: Donations are always welcome! Donated money can go a long way towards helping to pay for the care of homeless animals. If you are unable to donate money, consider donating items such as pet food, toys, and supplies. Even things like paper towels, old blankets and bath towels, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, or office supplies are usually highly appreciated.
- Donate services or your time: Volunteer! If you’re unable to spend time working with shelter animals directly, considering offering your services to help instead. For example, if you are an electrician or a plumber, see if the shelter can use your services. You could also help advertise, run a donation drive, or use your creativity to make things to sell then donate the proceeds. The possibilities are endless! See if you can find a way to use your talents, hobbies, or skills to help out.
- There’s an app for that: With the world becoming more and more connected through the internet, lots of people are finding ways to help animals in need without ever even leaving their computer desk. Whether it’s organizing online donation drives, or sharing information about your local rescue with your friends/followers, every little bit helps! On of my all time favorite phone apps, for example, is WoofTrax. WoofTrax helps you track your stats while you walk your dog- things like how far you traveled, maps of your routes, and how long you walked for. It also allows you to raise money for a rescue of your choice just by walking! What’s better than being able to raise money to help homeless animals by going for a walk!?
There are plenty of ways to make a difference in the lives of homeless animals. I’m currently not able to foster or adopt. I donate what I can, volunteer, and spend a lot of time raising awareness about responsible pet ownership. I’m happy that there are ways I can make at least small differences in the lives of homeless animals. Can you think of any other ways to help besides those I mentioned? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
16 Comments
Great ideas! I would take in all of the animals too if I had the ability. My two kitties are my limit right now. The one idea that I don’t think you mentioned was to make sure that your current pets don’t create a further burden on the system – spay or neuter! It’s a little thing, but it can save a lot of lives (and expense).
For sure! Making sure you don’t irresponsibly contribute to the pet overpopulation problem is so important.
Many animal lovers want to help and have no idea how they can help with a limited budget or resources. Fostering and volunteering are great options. People often don’t think about donations beyond monetary as well. Shelters and non-profits can always use things like blankets/sheets/ extra canned food. Collectively every bit helps.
I so wish I could foster. Maybe someday, but it’s just not realistic until we own our own place vs renting. Volunteering is awesome! I wish more people knew that donations don’t necessarily have to be money, and volunteering doesn’t necessarily have to mean working directly with the animals. That’s why I mentioned that stuff in my post 🙂
This is great to provide ways to help even if you’re unable to adopt an animal. I’ve seen several people post to donate to their favorite shelter for their birthday. I think that’s a nice idea. I’ve used wooftax and that’s a fun way to contribute. I wish I could rescue all the animals. I suspect most animal lovers feel the same way. These ideas are a way to do a bit more than we could otherwise.
I’ve seen those birthday donation drives too! Wooftrax is a lot of fun, especially since I already love to walk/hike with my dogs. Animal lovers are, generally, such a caring bunch – it’s awesome. I’m glad there are ways to help animals even when we’re not in a position to adopt.
These are all great ways to help shelters & rescues – they need all the help & support they can get. I have volunteered at a shelter, fostered, help run events, taken photos of adoptable dogs and shared on my social media. I also share shelters’ posts of adoptable animals to help find them homes. Currently, I’m a volunteer for Best Friends animal sanctuary, helping to moderate Facebook comments on their site – it’s so time consuming, they need volunteers to help out.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
That’s so cool! I love that there are so many different ways to volunteer, some of which you can even do from home.
We foster and are happy to play our part in getting a homeless or abandoned animal into a good home. Someone asked a fellow fosterer once ‘How can you bear to let them go?’ and the foster replied that that one foster moving on makes room for another life to be taken to safety off the streets and saved.
Sure there will be foster fails but the chance to get another life safely into a home outweighs that 1,000,000%
I would foster if I could, and have in the past, but we rent our house and are only allowed our two dogs. Someday, when we buy a house, I really want to foster senior and special needs dogs. One of my favorite rescues local to us specializes in rescuing senior animals and I’ve always been really interested in the idea of fospice. Until I can foster, though, I’m so glad that there are so many other things I can do to help.
These are great suggestions to help homeless pets! Even small donations can make a big difference when added all together!
Isn’t that awesome? Such an amazing example of the power of team work 🙂
I love this post so much! As someone who worked in a non-profit for years, I cannot express how much we love our volunteers. And though I no longer work in the space, I have a goal to volunteer once a week once my human kids are in school. Volunteering and fostering are such special experiences, though they are not always easy – they are worth it.
They really are! You’re right about them not being easy, which is why I’m glad there are other ways people can help too if they decide that volunteering directly with the animals isn’t right for them.
A lot of people allow themselves to get hung up on whether or not they can adopt while overlooking the fact that there are SO many different ways that you can make a difference. Take a look at your skill set, you might have something to share that a local rescue organization needs. For example, I have helped by doing paperwork and making fundraiser posters for local rescues over the years. These behind-the-scenes jobs are important to keep the whole organization moving forward and may just be the perfect fit for you.
They so are! And you’re right, a lot of people would overlook helping by doing things like paperwork and other ‘behind the scenes’ type jobs.