This Year Make a New Years Resolution You Can Keep

Please Help Me. If not you, Who?

We all do it. It’s really nothing new. We all sit around during the holidays and proclaim that “This coming year it’s going to be different. This year I’m going to ….” and then we go into detail about what we are going to do different and how our life will be different because of it.

But by the end of January the “resolution for change” has been put on the back burner (so to speak) or forgotten completely. But that’s OK. No one got hurt, no one’s life was harmed because of it … it’s just something that never got done. Right?

Well it might not be that simple! Lives might actually be hanging in the balance, be lost, or at the very least, they might be changed for the worst.

I’m not talking about humans here. I’m actually talking about the pets that live in shelters and with rescue groups across our great land. Millions of shelter pets are counting on us to look after them and to provide the much needed resources that they need so that they can live long enough to find great homes.

So this year, why not make a resolution you can easily keep? Resolve to help your local shelters and rescues … and then do it.

It’s actually very easy! Just search Google or Yahoo for “Animal Shelter” or “Animal Rescue” and then put your city or state behind it. When the results page is displayed, simply click on the links and pick the one (or more) groups that you like the best.

Then contact them and give them a few dollars. Any amount will be helpful. You can also take them some old blankets, towels, a few gallons of bleach or some cleaning supplies. Every shelter and group has something that they need. All you need to do is ask. Better yet, why not give them a few minutes of your time once in a while. They can always use an extra hand so help out where ever you can. They will really appreciate it!

If you can’t decide, just drop us an email and we’ll help you figure out which group is the best fit for your assistance.

Remember … Donate Locally or Your Donation will NOT Help Local Pets In Need!

Humane Society of the United States: Not About Helping Shelter Pets

I recently read a post from someone who works for Humane Society of the United States. In it this person stated that HSUS is not now, nor ever was, about helping local animal shelters.

This person went on to say that the focus of the HSUS is to help animals by focusing on “The Big Picture” and using their money and power to changes laws effecting animals. But when asked why they didn’t spend ALL of the money they received by donations and fund raising to “help the animals” (instead of using it to pad retirement accounts and pay the HSUS leadership’s big salaries) the answers quit coming.

It is important to note that the HSUS spent $126 million last year. Yet less than 1 percent of its budget was grants to support pet sheltering.

While I agree that laws need to be changed to protect animals, the immediate problem is that we have more animals than we do homes for them. With proper funding, shelters and rescues could take more time to find owners for these homeless animals. More funding to local shelters and rescue groups could also be used to educate the public about pet ownership, training and spay and neuter programs. Education is also needed to teach people about building a proper bond with animals instead of participating in animal abuse.

Around 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters every year. HSUS only provides support for about 1 percent of them. Currently it is estimated that about 500 of these animals are put to death every hour of every day. And the reason they are killed is not because they are sick or unfit for adoption! The reason is that the shelters just don’t have enough money, room or resources to keep them.

So if you really want to help dogs and cats, give ONLY to your local shelters and rescue groups. This will assure that your donations will do the most possible good and help the most effected animals.

Related Articles:

• Press Release: HSUS Still Stiffing Nation’s Pet Shelters (musingsfrommain.wordpress.com)
• Humane Society misses mark (nypost.com)
• Adopt a Shelter Pet, You’ll Be Glad You Did! (iowadogtrust.wordpress.com)