Doing a search for adoptable dogs is a dangerous thing. Don’t do it unless you are ready and willing to jump in your car and go adopt a dog. I’ll show you why.
ANNIE – ID#A046574
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]My name is ANNIE.
I am a female, white and tan Labrador Retriever mix.
The shelter staff think I am about 9 months old.
I have been at the shelter since Nov 14, 2012.[/quote]
See that pretty face? Annie is a beauty. She’s young. And wants to come live at my house. Can’t you tell? She’s here in Tulsa. I found her photo on Pet Harbor. Pet Harbor is a beautiful thing because, not only can you find adoptable dogs, cats and other critters, you can look for an animal which you’ve somehow become parted from. Our city shelter uses the site.
Then there’s ARF of Tulsa, that rescues animals from kill shelters and finds them loving homes. Their site uses Pet Finder. You’ve all been to Pet Finder, right? Please tell me you have. ARF is a group which takes adoptable pets to PetSmart on Fridays and Saturdays for adoptions. Now I KNOW you’ve been to a PetSmart.
The Tulsa SPCA is always looking for volunteers. I nearly signed up, but they’re very far. The Humane Society I’ll be volunteering with is much closer to home. But the dogs at the SPCA – just look at cute Curly!
Isn’t he a doll? He wants to live with me. Since he can’t, maybe one of my Tulsa friends needs a gorgeous dog with big ears? Seriously. That’s a cute dog. And y’all, their site has an adoptable rabbits page.
Y’all want to hear a sad story? According to the local Humane Society site, Sandra is eleven months old now and was adopted through them back in March – just a pup. She was brought back by people who found her. The original adopter was contacted and wouldn’t take Sandra back. Sweet little thing needs a new home. And she’s a border collie mix, a very smart dog.
So many cats and dogs. And horses and bunnies. And what can we do? We can foster pets until they find their furever homes. We can adopt pets. Those options are somewhat limiting, but they may be all you can do. We can volunteer in a shelter every week, or every other week. We can volunteer with the organizations who take adoptable pets to PetSmart and local craft fairs on weekends, trying to find homes for them.
These options may seem overwhelming. But wait! There’s more! We can donate money to a shelter. We can donate supplies – paper towels, old towels, bleach, cleaning supplies, chew toys, cat and dog food, anything which might be useful in a shelter, especially consumables. I took in several large squares of fleece I’d found on deep discount at the fabric store. Doesn’t need hemming and makes cute blankets. The point is, there’s a lot you can donate which will help.
What else? The ASPCA site lists ten ways to help your local animal shelters. I love the first one of the list – go to school! Volunteer to teach dogs in shelters things which will make them more adoptable, like sit, stay, come. I’m sure some Windee Rings from Jones Natural Chews will make a dog sit right up and beg, too. Photograph the animals for them. Take up money at work. Write a newsletter. Handy work which might need doing at the shelter.
There are so many ways to make a difference. Taking home a dog or cat in need is only one of those ways. And if you make New Year’s resolutions, maybe one can be finding a new way to help, to keep it local, to make a difference. And if you don’t? No guilt. But please, head back here every week and see what kind of fun I’ll be having at my local shelter. You just might change your mind.
Until I write again …
Flea