 |
|
BANG FOR THE BITE
If you've got even an extra couple of hours to spare, volunteering at a shelter could better the life of shelter animals as well as your own.
COCKTAIL FACT
For every person born in the United States, 15 puppies and 45 kittens are born.
| SAVE TO MY BITES |  |
FORWARD TO A FRIEND:
RATE THIS TIP:
How useful is this tip to you?
(5 is the highest)
home › tip library › Animal Rescue Shelters
Don't have time to have a pet?
The Bite
We beg to differ. Volunteer at your local animal shelter - it's a great way to get a quick fix with four-legged friends. Plus, research shows that spending time with pets leads to a longer life, so spending time could mean gaining it.The Benefits
- Fuzzy love without a full-time commitment.
- A longer life. A study by the U.S. Department of Health found that 28% of heart patients who spent time with pets survived serious heart attacks, compared to 6% of patients without.
- Saving lives. Shelters have to turn away many animals due to lack of resources and help, so giving your time can save lives.
- Gaining experience. Employers and college admissions officers like to see that you're helping in the community.
Personally Speaking
Jen loves volunteering at the local Humane Society, but it's a little dangerous since she often ends up bringing animals back to live with her, and she already has enough animals to fill an ark.Wanna Try?
- Pets 911 - enter your ZIP to find a shelter near you.
Jul 27,2007
Sponsor
All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Never Mind the Pink Sea Snail
There are a lot of real animals who need people out there, and a lot of people who need animals. Sometimes it just takes an introduction. For some time, I worked as a docent at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum - an organization that treats injured wildlife and re-releases them. In cases where the animals will never be fit for release, the museum employs them as wildlife ambassadors through educational programs, visitor interaction, and natural history exhibits - all with a mind to keeping the animals stimulated and comfortable (raptors, for example, sit on perches high above visitors and get several months time away from the museum each year). Now and then, I'd get to jess up the resident barn owl and share his unique life story with visitors. And although I grew up surrounded by pets, it was always a miraculous thing to earn the trust of such a grand and beautiful creature and to see how he made the faces of others light up.
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. Volunteer. Connect.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to chat to a chimp in chimpanzee...
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. Volunteer. Connect.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to chat to a chimp in chimpanzee...
Biter Comments...
Finally, a bite that's not about shopping. Bravo!
Volunteering at my local Humane Society is by far the most mutually beneficial volunteering possible! I'm working on getting my five hours of dog-walking in, so I can qualify as a "paw-jama party" host, aka fostering a dog for a weekend!!
I loved this tip! Unfortunately our local shelter doesn't let people volunteer anymore due to liability issues...:(...but they did tell me I could spend as much time as I wanted to there. I like to try to take extra goodies for the animals at holidays.
I'm with you, Jen. I would take them all in if I could. (My husband is SO inhibiting that way!;) One of the things that just INFURIATES me is that so many people are willing to pony up hundreds of dollars for a purebred dog or cat while thousands of them are put to sleep. I've loved animals my whole life and I think they (and children) are the most precious things on earth. It breaks my heart that the whole world doesn't feel that way.:(
Awesome tip today! I love volunteering at the local (no-kill)shelter: I know we're not ready to take on a little kitten at home, but at the shelter I get my kitten fix every week! Also, seeing a cat that's been around for a few months finally go to that perfect home is the ultimate in warm-fuzzy feelings.
Our county run shelter doesn't take volunteers except for special events. A shame really. I have noticed that most of the private shelters and rescues have taken to securing their compounds and even moving them into the mountains to hide them from the general public in order to reduce the amount of animals left at their doorsteps. Seems getting ahold of them to volunteer is a nightmare.
My wife used to volunteer at an Exotic Feline Breeding compound nearby. I used to work 7 days a week to support that effort. She did enjoy being around the panthers, tigers and other cats though.
Thanks for this great tip! My daughter and I have been volunteering at our the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society (CA) once a week for the last three years (since she was 7). She is the most dedicated volunteer I have ever seen; on the days when I'd rather just sit on the couch, she's the one who says we have to go keep the dogs & cats company.
So many added bonuses to this volunteer opportunity: spending time with my daughter, showing her how wonderful it is to volunteer, feeling like we're really making a difference.
And we've only come home with one new dog (to add to our first dog, cat, hamster & snake)!
Great tip! And thank you for not suggesting that everyone just run down to their local animal shelter and adopt a pet! While many people have wonderful intentions of adopting a pet and showering him or her with love and attention, the reality is that many homes are not ideal for pets for many reasons: owners with long work hours, extensive travel schedules or children with allergies. If you have the time and ability to care for a pet, great! But if you don't and you really need a pet fix, voluteering is a great alternative. It's a win-win, you get your pet fix and the animal gets your undivided, loving attention! I volunteer at a large animal shelter that "employs" over 250 volunteers. I work a three hour shift once a week, helping to socialize or train dogs to become better canine citizens. Sometimes it breaks my heart but every week I fall in love.
FYI - you urge people to volunteer at their local humane society and give a link to www.hsus.org which, actually, is not directly affiliated with local "humane societies" but rather works to protect animals through legislation, litigation, investigation, education, advocacy and field work. HSUS (The Humane Society of the U.S.) is a great organization in that one of the many things it does is provide training programs, outreach, disaster assistance and more to local animal shelters. Not all organizations with the name "humane society" are related to each other. Anyone can open an organization and call itself "The Humane Society of (fill in the blank)". Just thought I'd share that bit of info with you and, if someone is interested in finding the nearest shelter to volunteer, Pets 911 (also given in the bite), is the best link to use. Spay and neuter everyone! And adopt from your local shelter rather than buying from a pet store or breeder! Thanks!
I recently started volunteering for the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and it has been so rewarding!!!! Not only do I get to spend time around animals, but I am helping to control the feral cat population, which in turn helps to control the amount of cats that end up in shelters. I strongly recommend volunteering for the FCCO or a similar program in your area.
http://neuterscooter.com/ns/index.cfm
This is a lowcost spay/neuter program for cats only. It is $40 in advance & $50 on the day of surgery. It is a mobile vet clinic & appts must be scheduled. Feral cats are $20 to keep the cost down. It is in 6 states so far but is expanding. I plan to use it with my next cat.
It only cost us $35.00 at a local vets office to have one of our male cats neutered. I am not talking years ago either. I am talking the beginning of this month.
OK, so I am technically supposed to log into our magic publishing tool to post "Biter Staff" comments so that the text would be set off with pretty orange borders. However, I'm trapped in an airport for the 12th straight hour, and that whole process just seems too complicated after my 12th cup of coffee. So bear with me...
Just wanted to drop a note to you all and say "welcome" to our newest Biters. Yes, we do read each and every comment all of you make. Wayne, Evelyn, Gloria, et al... you bring great insight to our conversations and we're so glad to have you here, joining the ongoing green discussion.
Happy Friday, all...
-Heather
yeh, here something interesting, someone abandoned a 5 month old kitten, and the shelter wont take her. i have been feeding her, but now she tries to get in my house, which she did, and she antagonizes my to male cats by laying on the chair out by the window on the porch, and now my cats have figured out how to open the screens and the get out. so i cant open the windows there now. help????
We rescued a cat and when we tried to give her to a local rescue and they told us that they only get their animals from the County Animal Control. We don't have the ASPCA locally. It might be the same thing with the shelter you contacted.
yes i know, it sucks right, they ask you to support them to protect animals, so what are they protecting. this cat is antagonizing my cats, and now i cant open the new windows, because they figured out how to get the screens open, and then that cat ran in the house yesterday. and today, she tor my screen and my cats got out. there males, and she is killing me HELP??? PLEASE what do i do? I was going to take her and drop her off at the animal shelter, i dont care any more, my cats are at risk here. and there not outside cats either.
Sherry-
I know our local shelter won't take just stray cats because there is no leash law on cats in my city. In my job I work with the shelter quite a bit, and people get very irate about it, but it is just their policy. I know that they will take "nuisance" cats (one of my 3 cats was one) or sick/injured kitties. You might call them back to see if they have a live trap to catch the kitty...or explain the situation (and you may have - I don't know) and maybe they would take her.
I hope this helps.:) I know just from working with our shelter that people get really frustrated with them. However, they are bound by their policies and budget and insurance just like everyone else!:) It's good to remember that if they seem like they're being difficult.:)
Oh, and Leigh? AMEN all the way!:) We could solve the problem of too many unwanted animals if everyone would only work together. I get so mad when people just let their animals have babies and then I read the local shelter stats of how many of those get put to sleep.:( Spaying and neutering is a small price to pay for sparing animals a great deal of pain!
yes, people dont care. would that be the same if there kid had a baby and did the same thing. so why would they do that to an animal. thank you shelly
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Jess | July 27, 2007 at 07:29 AM