100 Ways to Help Animal Rescue

I know, you wish you could donate but money is just so tight right now...

I know, you wish you could man the table for that adoption event but your son has baseball practice every Saturday...

I know, you wish there was something you could do to help, but you don't know what it possibly would be...

Well...

Can you...
1. Transport a dog?
2. Donate a dog bed or towels or other *bedding* type items?**
3. Donate MONEY?
4. Donate a Kong? A nylabone? A Hercules?
5. Donate a crate?
6. Donate an x-pen or baby gates?
7. Donate a food dish or a stainless bucket for a crate?
8. Donate a leash?
9. Donate a collar?
10. Donate some treats or a bag of food?
11. Donate a halti or promise collar or a gentle leader?
12. Walk a dog?
13. Groom a dog?
14. Donate some grooming supplies (shampoos, combs, brushes, etc.)?
15. Go to the local shelter & see if that dog is the breed the shelter
says
it is or go with rescue to be a second opinion on the dog?
16. Make a few phone calls?
17. Mail out applications to people who've requested them?
18. Provide local vet clinics w/contact info for educational matls on
responsible pet ownership?
19. Drive a dog to and from vet appointments?
20. Donate long distance calling cards?
21. Donate the use of your scanner or digital camera?
22. Donate the use of a photocopier?
23. Attend public education days & try to educate people on responsible pet ownership?
24. Donate a gift certificate to a pet store?
25. Donate a raffle item if your club is holding a fund raiser?
26. Donate flea stuff (Advantage, etc.)?
27. Donate HW pills?
28. Donate a canine first aid kit?
29. Provide a shoulder to cry on when the rescue person is overwhelmed?
30. Pay the boarding fees to board a dog for a week? Two weeks?
31. Be a Santi-paws foster to give the foster a break for a few hours
or days?
32. Clip coupons for dog food or treats?
33. Bake some homemade doggie biscuits?
34. Make book purchases through Amazon via a web site that contributes
commissions earned to a rescue group?
35. Host rescue photos with an information link on your website?
36. Donate time to take good photos of foster dogs for adoption flyers, etc.?
37. Conduct a home visit or accompany a rescue person on the home
visit?
38. Go with rescue person to the vet to help if there is more than one dog?
39. Have a yard sale and donate the money to rescue?
40. Be volunteer to do rescue in your area?
41. Take advantage of a promotion on the web or store offering a free
ID tag & instead of getting it for your own dog, have the tag inscribed with your Club's name & ph # to contact?
42. Talk to all your friends about adopting and fostering rescue dogs?
43. Donate vet services or donate a spay or neuter each year or some
vaccinations?
44. Interview vets to encourage them to offer discounts to rescues?
45. Write a column for your local newspaper or club newsletter on dogs on dogs currently looking for homes or ways to help rescue?
46. Take photos of dogs available for adoption for use by the Club?
47. Maintain web sites listing/showing dogs available?
48. Help organize and run fundraising events?
49. Help maintain paperwork files associated with each dog or enter
info into a database?
50. Tattoo a rescued dog?
51. Microchip a rescued dog?
52. Loan your carpet steamcleaner to someone who fostered a dog that
was sick or marked in the house?
53. Donate a bottle of bleach or other cleaning products?
54. Donate or loan a portable dog run to someone who doesn't have a
quarantine area for quarantining a dog that has an unknown vaccination
history and has been in a shelter?
55. Drive fosters' children to an activity so the foster can take the
dog to obedience class?
56. Use your video camera to film a rescue dog in action?
57. Pay the cost of taking a dog to obedience class?
58. Be the one to take the dog to its obedience class?
59. Go to the foster home once a wk with your children & dogs to help
socialize the dog?
60. Help the foster clean up the yard (yes, we also have to scoop what foster dogs poop)
61. Offer to test the foster dog with cats?
62. Pay for the dog to be groomed or take the dog to a *Do It Yourself* Grooming Place?
63. Bring the foster take out so the foster doesn't have to cook
dinner?
64. Pay house-cleaning service to do spring cleaning for someone who
fosters dogs?
65. Lend your artistic talents to your club's newsletter, fundraising
ideas, t-shirt designs?
66. Donate printer paper, envelopes and stamps to your club?
67. Go with a rescue person to the vet if a foster dog needs to be
euthanized?
68. Go to local shelters & meet w/shelter staff abt how to identify
your breed or provide photos & breed info showing the different types of that breed may come in & the different color combinations?
69. Go to local businesses and solicit donations for a club's
fundraising event?
70. Offer to try and help owners be better pet owners by holding a
grooming seminar?
71. Help pet owners be better pet owners by being avail to answer
training
questions?
72. Loan a crate if a dog needs to travel by air?
73. Put together an Owner's Manual* for those who adopt rescued dogs of your breed?
74. Provide post-adoption follow up or support?
75. Donate a coupon for a free car wash or gas or inside cleaning of a
vehicle?
76. Pay for an ad in your local/metropolitan paper to help place rescue dogs?
77. Volunteer to screen calls for that ad?
78. Get some friends together to build/repair pens for a foster home?
79. Microchip your own pups if you are a breeder, and register the
chips, so if your dogs ever come into rescue, you can be contacted to take responsibility for your pup?
80. Donate a small percentage of the sale of each pup to rescue if you are a breeder?
81. Buy two of those really neat dog-items you "have to have" and
donate one to Rescue?
82. Make financial arrangements in your will to cover the cost of
caring for your dogs after you are gone - so Rescue won't have to?
83. Make a bequest in your will to your local or national Rescue?
84. Donate your professional services as an accountant or lawyer?
85. Donate other services if you run your own business?
86. Donate the use of a vehicle if you own a car dealership?
87. Loan your cell phone (and cover costs for any calls) to s/one
driving a rescued dog?
88. Donate your *used* dog dryer when you get a new one?
89. Let rescue know when you'll be flying & you'd be willing to be a
rescue dog's escort?
90. Donate a doggy seatbelt?
91. Donate a grid for a van or other vehicle?
92. Organize a rescued dog picnic or other event to reunite rescued
dogs that have been placed?
93. Donate other types of doggy toys that might be safe for rescued
dogs?
94. Donate a roll-a-treat or Buster cube?
95. Donate clickers or a video on clicker training?
96. Donate materials for a quarantine area at a fosters home?
97. Donate sheets of linoleum or other flooring matls to put under
crates to protect fosters floor?
98. Donate an engraving tool to make ID tags for each of the rescued
dogs?
99. Remember that rescuing a dog involves the effort and time of many
people and make yourself available on an emergency basis to do *whatever* is needed?
100. Do something not listed above to help rescue?
**gently-used dog equipment is always welcomed.

Borrowed Time

I will lend to you for a while
a pup, God said,
for you to love her while she lives
and to mourn for her when she is gone.
Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,
or maybe for two or three,
but will you, till I call her back
take care of her for me?

She'll bring her charms to gladden you
and (should her stay be brief)
you'll always have her memories
as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise that she will stay,
since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught below
I want this pup to learn.

I've looked the whole world over
in search of teachers true,
and from the folk that crowd life's land
I have chosen you.
Now will you give her all your love?
Nor think the labor vain.
Nor hate me when I come to take my pup back again.

I fancied that I heard them say
"Dear Lord Thy Will Be Done."
For all the joys this pup will bring,
the risk of grief you'll run.
Will you shelter her with tenderness?
Will you love her while you may?
And for the happiness you'll know forever-grateful stay.

But should I call her back
much sooner than you've planned,
please brave the bitter grief that comes
and try to understand.
If, by your love, you've managed
my wishes to achieve,
in memory of her that you've loved,
cherish every moment with your faithful bundle,
and know she loved you too.

I Rescued a Human Today

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt
her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too
exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't
want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers
get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only
have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's
life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.
Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I
instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would
promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to
see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. I was so fortunate that she
came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the
corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today. 

By Janine Allen

Save Our Strays

For every person that is born, 15 dogs and 45 cats are also born. You do the numbers …

There aren't enough homes for them all. You can solve the problem. Spay or neuter today.

Only 1 in 9 cats and dogs born in the U.S. will find a home. The rest will be destroyed because nobody wants them. Could you choose which animal will live? It's a choice no one should have to make. But your local animal shelter makes this decision every day. You can help stop the killing. Spay or neuter your pet.

1 + 1 is 420,000. How's that? One female cat and one male cat and their offspring results in 420,000 kittens in 7 years. The solution to the problem of pet overpopulation is for you to spay or neuter your cat.

1 + 1 is 67,000. How's that? One female dog and one male dog and their offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in 6 years. The solution to the problem of pet overpopulation is for you to spay or neuter your dog. (The 67,000 number came from the HSUS Pet Overpopulation Estimates.) 

If that isn’t enough to convince you of how crucial it is to spay and neuter, there are also serious health risks to your pet. Spaying and neutering can also drastically improve your pet's life expectancy.

In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostate disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors.

In Females, spaying decreases the incidence of breast cancer (the rate goes down to almost zero if the spaying is done before the first heat cycle!). It eliminates the chance of developing a serious and potentially fatal infection of the uterus experienced by many mature unspayed animals (pyometra). Spay surgery also eliminates the heat cycle and associated mood swings and undesirable behaviors, messy spotting (in dogs) and the attraction of all available males to your yard.

The simple fact is that spaying and neutering greatly increases the lifespan of your pet and increases quality of life as well! 

1) Spaying or neutering increases your pet's chances for a longer, healthier life.

• Spaying your pet before her first estrous cycle (that is, before she reaches sexual maturity) greatly reduces her chances of developing breast cancer and completely eliminates the threat of uterine and ovarian cancer and uterine infection, which are common occurrences in unaltered females.

• Neutering your male dog or cat prevents testicular tumors and may prevent prostate problems. Neutering also decreases the possibility of perianal tumors and hernias, which are commonly observed in older, unaltered dogs. Because neutered cats are less likely to roam, the threat of abscesses caused by bites and diseases transmitted by fighting are greatly reduced. 

2) No family wants to cope with an unwanted pregnancy.

Spaying prevents your pet from giving birth to unwanted puppies or kittens.

3) An altered dog or cat is a better pet for your family.

• Males neutered early in life are less aggressive toward other males and are not distracted by females in heat. Therefore, a neutered male will be less tempted to leave your property and cross that dangerous highway searching for a mate. Neutered males also are less likely to mark every one of your (or your neighbor's) expensive shrubs with his urine as well as inside the house.

4) Spaying results in a cleaner female dog and home.

Because female dogs pass bloody fluid for about ten days, twice a year, as a part of their estrous cycle, constant care must be taken to avoid carpet stains in homes with such animals. Spaying your dog eliminates this problem.  Spaying your female pet also eliminates the problem of stray males camping in your yard and decreases her desire to roam and breed.

5) You are helping to alleviate the dog and cat overpopulation problem.  YOU ARE SAVING LIVES!

  

Don't Let the Cost Stop You

If you are in need of financial assistance to have your pet spayed or neutered, help is available.  This link lists, by state, a phone number and website for clinics which provide those services for extremely low costs.  

http://www.spayusa.org/search/default.asp 

I Died Today

Dear Mom and Dad,

I died today.

You got tired of me and took me to the shelter.  They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number.  I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now.  Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left.  My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge.

Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed you shoe?  I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather and it was on the floor.  I was just playing.  You forgot to get puppy toys.  Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken?  Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed that I had to go at all.  There are books and obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door.  Would I still be at home if I hadn’t brought fleas into the house?  Without anit-flea medication, I couldn’t get them off of me after you left me in the yard for days.  Would I still be at home if I hadn’t barked?  I was only saying, “I’m scare. I’m lonely, I’m here,  I’m here!  I want to be your best friend.”

Would I still be at home if I had made you happy?  Hitting me didn’t make me learn how.  Would I still be at home if you had taken the time to care for me and to teach manners  to me?  You didn’t pay attention to me after the first week or so, but I spent all me time waiting for you to love me.

I died today.

Love,

Your Puppy

Pit Discrimination

The wandering 65-pound Pit Bull mix might have seemed menacing to some passerby, but one woman will always remember him as her “guardian angel.” The dog, which authorities think is lost and not a stray, successfully thwarted a robbery attack on a mother and her 2-year-old son, who were held at knifepoint Monday afternoon.

The Florida woman, who has been identified by authorities simply as “Angela,” was leaving a playground with her toddler son in Port Charlotte when a man approached her in the parking lot with a knife and told her not to make any noise or sudden movements.

Angela didn’t have to do either to protect herself and her child — a dog mysteriously ran to the scene and charged the man, who quickly fled.

“I don’t think the dog physically attacked the man, but he went at him and was showing signs of aggression, just baring his teeth and growling and barking. It was clear he was trying to defend this woman,” Animal Control Lt. Brian Jones told Pet Pulse.

“I don’t know what this man’s intentions were, but it is very possible this dog saved her life.”

The exceptional part of the story, Jones said, is that the dog had never met or even seen the people it quickly jumped to defend.

“You hear about family dogs protecting their owners, but this dog had nothing to do with this woman or her kid,” Jones said. “He was like her guardian angel.”

After the alleged thief ran away, Angela quickly placed her son, Jordan, in the car and tried to drive off. Before she could, though, the dog jumped into her backseat, waiting with her for the police and animal control officers to arrive at the scene.

The dog was transported to a local shelter and if his owners don’t step forward within five days, Jones said, Angela and her family plan to adopt the savior she named “Angel.”

Animal control officers and shelter workers believe Angel is lost, and not a stray, because of his good health, sturdy weight and mild temperament.

“It’s funny, that someone’s irresponsibility could have saved someone’s life,” Jones said of Angel’s possible owners.

For Angela, it doesn’t matter where the dog came from, just that he was there when she needed him most.

“I don’t know what his [the thief's] intentions were — I don’t know why he did it, but I’m glad that — we call him Angel — I’m glad that Angel showed up because I don’t know what would have happened,”

Some People are Still Human!

I want to tell you about an exceptional human being. Her name is Jackie. She has an extreme love of animals and a while ago she realized with the amount and dedication of animal rescue organizations growing, there was a large hole in the system. While there was incredible work being done, rescuing homeless and abused animals and bringing them to safety, there was a large epidemic that was being completely unseen. The homeless weren't the only ones suffering. At an alarming rate, due to the high cost of veterinarian services, there were many families being hit by unexpected bills as a result of an unforeseen illness or injury to their pet. Often these situations were treatable, curable, but because of the astronomical cost families were being forced to either watch their love one suffer or give the animal up. Families were being torn apart. Jackie saw this. Instead of shrugging her shoulders and turning away, feeling that the problem was too large for one unemployed woman to do anything about, she stepped up to the plate and did an amazing thing. Jackie established a network that provided assistance to families in crisis. She spent hours and hours pouring all of her energy into this. Often times the entire amount of the hospital bill wasn't raised, but it was enough to keep a family together. Jackie's generosity has spilled over into numerous lives and has helped beloved pets stay in their loving homes.

Now it is Jackie who needs help. Her beloved Zen is dying and I can't express to you how important it is to her to have some sort of memorial for her. Without Zen Jackie would never have know the love and sacrifices that a family goes through to keep their beloved pet with them. Zen has taught Jackie the true love, faith and companionship of an animal and helps her everyday to keep raising funds for other families in need. Now it is Jackie who is facing the loss of her beloved Zen and no amount of money will help make her well. However, Jackie is currently not in a position to finance this on her own.. Never has she ever asked for anything in return for the endless hours she's spent collecting donations, conducting fundraisers to help others, but now it is Jackie who is in crisis. We are seeking donations, no matter how small to help her. I am embarrassed and saddened to tell you that so far the total amount raised is $110. I am begging for your help. If you have one dollar to spare it would be as much appreciated as if it had been $500. If you aren't able to contribute financially, please, spread this story as wide and far as you can. I am pleading for your help.

For those who are able to contribute you can go to the bottom of this page and make a simple donation using the Chipin.

Please don't let all Jackie's generosity be in vain.