Perhaps you have pets you love. Maybe you hope to have a pet one day. Or maybe you can’t reasonably foresee a pet in your life, but you love animals and you want to make life better for them. Either way, you may be considering ways to help shelter animals, and fortunately, there are many ways that you can do just that. Whether you have a lot of time at your disposal, or just a bit, there are things you can do to help your animal friends who have the misfortune to be living in shelters.

In 2014, an animal shelter in Australia developed a Human Walking Program for shelter animals in Melbourne. People were encouraged to devote their lunch hour to walking dogs in Flagstaff Gardens. This was a winning situation for everyone involved – shelter dogs got exercise, people got exercise, and some people even fell so in love with the dogs that they were walking, they ended up adopting them. Other shelters all over the world got on board, and now there are Human Walking Programs in many cities.

If you don’t have the time to set up a Human Walking Program, there are still things you can do to help animal shelters, and the animals who live in them. Here are five great ideas.

Dog in CarOffer a Ride

Sometimes, animals find a home that is right around the corner. Other times, an animal has to be transported to his forever home. It might just be a drive of an hour or so, or it could be halfway across the country. Can you give an animal a ride? Or even part of a ride? Often, people cooperate, each one taking a certain leg of the journey. If you can drive for even a few miles, you can help to get an animal to a home where he will be loved forever. You really can make a difference!

Do Your Spring Cleaning

This works for both you and shelter animals. If you’ve been putting off your spring cleaning, do it now – weed out all those sheets and towels you no longer want. Shelters always need bedding.

Maybe you also have leashes, collars and toys from a pet that you loved very much and who is no longer with you. You wonder why you’re keeping them. If it would break your heart to let them go, then by all means, hold onto them. But think about how proud your lost loved one would be of you if he knew that you were giving his possessions to another animal who has nothing.

Donate

You know how, around the holiday season, everyone wants you to donate to the food bank or the homeless shelter? We’re not suggesting that you don’t do that, but think about animals, too, whose only home is a shelter. A toy or a bag of dog food can make a huge difference to a shelter animal.

Man With DogFoster

Can you take an animal, even temporarily? Fostering can open up another space in a shelter. If a pet is living with you, there is room for another homeless animal at the shelter. You don’t have to be in it for the long term, just long enough – just until that animal finds a forever home. And who knows? You might find that your lifestyle really can accommodate an animal permanently.

Read to a Dog

Okay, this isn’t as crazy as it sounds. You have heard of therapy dogs who go to libraries so that kids with reading difficulties can read to a non-judgmental dog. Have you ever wondered why that works so well? It’s because it goes both ways. Dogs love to be read to as well. They love the sound of a human voice. So why not go to an animal shelter, and read “Goodnight Moon” to a dog who is starved for human attention and the sound of a kind voice?

These are just a few ideas. You may have thought of other ways that you can help shelter dogs. Now, stop thinking about it and just do it.

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