How Can I Help Shelters That Take Care Of Dogs And Cats?

Helping shelters that adopt disadvantaged dogs and cats that do a beautiful job, on a voluntary and non-profit basis, can be a great activity for everyone involved. In them, caregivers invest time, effort, energy and money. If you are an animal lover, it is certain that on more than one occasion you have wondered how these shelters could help.

To answer all your questions about helping shelters, we’ve decided to dedicate this article to explaining to you what you can do if you want to volunteer.

How do these shelters work?

These shelters can be informed about cases of stray animals thanks to the help of neighbors. Typically, residents call or email the guardian warning of a missing or abandoned dog that is found somewhere.

At these times, volunteers from the shelters mobilize and look for the lost or abandoned animal. Afterwards, they ask the residents to help put up posters in the area where the animal was found to see if the owners show up.

Then, once at the shelter, the animal is examined by a veterinarian to ensure that everything is fine and that the animal does not need special care.

However, the newly arrived animals will spend a period of between 12 and 18 days apart from the other canine inhabitants of the place, while they vaccinate, deworm and sterilize them. This period also allows you to know the animal’s personality before taking the risk of letting it live with other beings, whether dogs or cats.

How can you help shelters

There are different ways to help shelters and associations, let’s list them:

• Notify me when you find an abandoned animal. It doesn’t matter if he has a collar or not, because if he does, he could be lost. Try to entertain him in some way to give the volunteers time to get to the site. If they ask you to help hang posters or put up notices in newspapers or radios, give them a hand. This will ease their work and you will be doing some good with it.

• With food. There are many animals that live in these shelters and they have to be fed. Maybe you don’t like to donate money, but you can collaborate by buying bags of food for dogs or cats, choosing between the varieties, according to age, for example. There are rations for puppies, adult dogs, the elderly… in the shelters there are animals of all kinds, so any type is welcome.

• Money. These shelters need money for veterinary consultations, vaccinations, food, toys, blankets, beds, feeders and a multitude of items that the animals need. Your money, no matter how small your contribution, can be of great help to these kind-hearted people who dedicate part of their lives to help these wonderful beings. If you wish, you can accompany an animal to the veterinarian or a pet store and pay the expenses.

• Time. Volunteering and contributing your time and work at the shelters is a great way to help. People who work in these types of protective associations do not receive any economic compensation for this, so they have to work elsewhere. Perhaps you can top them in caring for the animals during the hours they are at their professional jobs.
• Company. Animals not only need economic help, but also love and care, especially if they have been mistreated or abandoned. Just visiting them once in a while, playing with them, pampering them and giving them affection, even you can take them for walks, will be an excellent way to make them feel better and to lighten the task of those who take care of them.
• Adopt. This is the primary way to help. If you are likely to have an animal that you want to offer love and affection, adopt an animal from these shelters. The animals will thank you and so will the volunteers who take care of them.

Thank you for your intention and your help.