☆ Ways to Help your Local Animal Shelter! ☆

I know, we all live busy busy lives. We want to help and volunteer but sometimes we just don't the time for helping out at our local animal shelters. However, because Animal Shelters depend on donations to save lives, there are always things you can do to help, things that require very little time and effort on your part. 

If you haven't started your spring cleaning, or if you haven't gotten around to the disposal part of your spring cleaning, then you use it to get rid of old things you’re not using any more and donate these items to animal shelters to help them not only save lives, but make the lives of those animals a little softer, warmer and more comfortable.

Things you can Donate:

Used pet toys or new eco ones

Used dog and cat sweaters and clothes or new eco ones

Used bedding or new eco bedding

Used towels or new, eco towels

Recycled paper and plastic bags

Dog food and cat food

Newspaper

Office supplies

Dog & cat beds (used or new and eco)

Kennels & crates (used or new and eco)

And then of course there's your time if you have it. These animals need love and attention and don't always get enough, so be sure to get in there and play and help out volunteering when you can. 

Other ways you can help Shelter Animals: 

Spay/Neuter!

A big thing you can do to help out animal shelters is by making sure more aren't going to end up there. How do you do this? By spaying or neutering your companions animals. This is honestly my biggest pet peeve, because people too often Don't do it when it is so so so important. I see people posting cute new photos all the time on Facebook of their cat or dog's new litter. Yes they're cute but do you have any idea how many animals are in shelters that will never ever have a family thanks to you introducing more and more puppies and kittens into the world when others are on death row waiting for their families. Seriously maddening. Please spread the word and get your friends and family to spay and neuter their pets. Please! 

Adopt don't Shop!

Exactly as I said above, there are so many animals in shelters that need homes that get neglected so please do not support breeders or buy from that fresh new litter your friend has. Please support your local animal shelters and give those animals a chance, you won't be sorry! 

Support Programs That Spay/Neuter at Low or No Cost

Some families don’t spay or neuter their cats because they can’t afford to. If you adopt from a shelter, they may spay or neuter the cat before you take her or him home. If your cat comes from some other source, look for programs that offer spay/neuter operations at low or no cost. You can find these services at the Humane Society’s handy webpage.

Cat lovers who can afford it can donate to these programs to help reduce the homeless cat population.

Support Programs that Trap-Neuter-Return Feral Cats

Many homeless cats are feral, meaning they are not tame and cannot be adopted. Feral cats can produce a whole lot of kittens who, if caught early enough and depending on their luck, will go either to a shelter or a foster or forever home.

There is another solution: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Cat rescuers trap feral cats, neuter them, clip off a corner of one ear to let others know that this cat has already been spayed or neutered, and then release them back into the colony of feral cats they live in. Colony caretakers bring the cats food and water and make sure they have adequate shelter from the weather. TNR has been proven to be the best method of reducing the feral cat population because it prevents colonies from reproducing.

So do what you can and, one last time, please spay and neuter and tell others to do the same. Adopt don't shop. Spread the love! :) 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

☆ The Importance of Neutering/Spaying, Adopting, and more! ☆

I don't usually like sharing graphic photos or stories, you know, being the happy place that ReLove Plan.et is. However, there are some topics that I feel like people ignorantly ignore and in these cases I think these stories and pictures provide a bit of a slap in the face to get their attention. 

The following story, and the reality of it all, is why it angers me to No End when I see people not Spaying or Neutering their animals!

The following story is taken from an anonymous author who works at an Animal Shelter. Please take the time to read. At the end I've provided suggestions and ways that you can change this so that dogs and cats can be happy and not share this heart-breaking fate. 

The Wake Up Call (aka Slap in the Face):

A Letter from a Shelter Manager - anonymous in North Carolina

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.

Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT.

~ UNKNOWN AUTHOR

How to find a true No Kill shelter or rescue group

http://www.examiner.com/dog-rescue-in-national/how-to-find-a-true-no-kill-shelter-or-rescue-group

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What You can Do! 

1) Don't buy pets from breeders or pet stores. ADOPT your pet. Always, always ADOPT your pet. 

2) Understand that when you take in a pet, you take on this responsibility FOR THE LIFE OF THAT PET. Not until it gets too big, not until you have to move, not until you don't like it any more. 

3) If you can't adopt - FOSTER, VOLUNTEER, DONATE, CROSS POST 

4) At the very least BE AWARE and encourage others who may be considering buying animals to adopt, or encourage those taking their pet to the shelter "to find a new loving home" to find other alternatives. 

5) and of course SPAY and NEUTER!!!

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

What's Going On: 8 Reasons for Animal Birth Control!

No, I'm not talking about putting your pet on the pill or getting them to use a condom ;). I'm talking about being a responsible pet owner and not contributing to the huge cat and dog overpopulation problem. 

I already wrote up a blog post about being a Responsible Pet Owner a little while ago, but here is a little extra quick read. 

6-8 million unwanted Cats and Dogs enter U.S. animal shelters every year. Most of those animals are put to death because there are not enough good homes for them; more than 900 animals every hour during open hours, and more than 10, 000 every day!

If that isn't enough for you to be responsible, here are 8 more reasons...

8 Reasons for Animal Birth Control:

#1. Because there are 8 million unwanted animals born, abandoned, or killed. That number is so high it's hard to wrap your head around. But it's not just a number, behind that number are animals with faces and a personalities. Every cat or dog waiting at those shelters are individuals that want love and want a good home.

#2. Because if you buy or breed her/him, a shelter animal will die. Even if you find a home for all your own dog's puppies or cat's kittens, you are still stealing homes away from those at shelters who are already born and waiting in shelters for homes. Bringing more animals into a world that puts to death more than 10, 000 homeless cats and dogs every day isn't just irresponsible, its cruel.

#3. There is no such thing is a responsible breeder. An estimated 25% of dogs abandoned at shelters are purebred. Breeding animals is still killing animals. 

#4. Because your pet has to battle with the uncomfortableness of being in heat and every time has to try to fight off other animals attracted to it. 

#5. Because your sexual hang-ups are yours, not your dogs! Yes, I'm talking to you Guys! Your dog doesn't have the same macho hang-ups that you do. You try being sentenced to a lifetime of humping sofa cushions and furniture and see how you like it.

#6. Because warehousing animals indefinitely is not the answer. Even in "no-kill" shelters, animals must live a lonely life without a true family, and sentencing them to a lifetime in a cage. To be happy, cats and dogs need love and individual attention. They need to run and play, and bask in the sun. 

#7. Because Animal Birth Control is Easy! Cats and dogs can be spayed as early as 8 weeks. And spaying or neutering your cat or dog is cheaper than having to feed a mother and all their young and getting all their shots. But it doesn't just save money, it also saves lives. 

#8. It's the right thing to do and you know it. In the time it took to read this blog, animal shelters were forced to end the lives of at least 71 animals. Please don't add to the cat and dog over-population crisis. Adopt. And urge others to do the same. 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.