4 Ways You Can Help on Change A Pet’s Life Day
Atticus (Adopted by Jake Gyllenhaal)
Today is an important day! Let’s make a difference for pets. “Change a Pet’s Life Day” is devoted to encouraging animal adoption and spreading awareness about animal welfare issues.
It was started in 2009 to specifically draw attention to the enormity of homeless animals and to encourage adoption. There are several things we can do to honor our fur friends in need, and to change some lives. Here are just a few:
- Adopt a pet today. Many pet shelters across the country will celebrate by offering incentives, like free vaccinations and no adoption fees.
- Volunteer. Animal shelters need dog lovers to walk dogs to help socialize them and teach them manners. Cat lovers can contribute their love and gentle touch to comfort kitties waiting for adoption.
- Spend some time helping clean cat and critter cages. Your help may be needed to transport animals to off-site adoption events.
- Become a foster parent.
“Saving one pet won’t change the world, but for that one pet the world will change forever.”
If you, like me, are the parent of a rescued pet, you know the many advantages of adopting from a shelter. If you’re considering adding a pet to your family, please think about this:
When you adopt an animal from a shelter, you’re saving two lives: the life of the animal that you adopted and the life of the animal that’s going to take its place at the shelter. What greater gift could we give than the power to save lives?
Many celebrities are adopting pets from shelters. Jake Gyllenhaal, Miranda Lambert, Ryan Reynolds, Channing Tatum…the list is very, very long.
Our man, Jasper, on New Year’s Eve
If you want a pure breed dog, just about every one has a rescue associated with it. Personally, I’m so happy we went to a kill shelter to find Jasper. Just remembering that scared little face behind the bars of his cage and seeing him now, happy, playful, cuddled up with us and Sophie in bed at night makes me so emotional, tears comes to my eyes. My heart feels full.
So, I encourage you to look to the kill shelters first, where these kids are on a time clock for survival. So many amazing, smart and loving animals are waiting there. To find out more about a shelter in your area, go here.
What can you do on Change A Pet’s Life Day to help?
