Guest Post by Allison Morgan

We all know how much proper love and care can change an animal’s life. However, there are many pets out there who haven’t received that care. Neglected and abandoned pets need our help in order to recover and receive the love they deserve. Consider these ideas for how you can help support neglected pets in your community.

Photo by akın akdağ from Pexels

Adopting and Fostering Neglected Cats and Dogs

A loving home can change a pet’s life.

• Fostering pets helps shelters accept more animals, and ensures pets get the one-on-one care they need to thrive.
• Adopting is a great way to welcome an animal into your life and give them their forever home.
• Older pets and those with medical issues are great to adopt since they’re often overlooked by families looking for a new pet.

Fundraising for Neglected Cats and Dogs

Animal welfare organizations need funds in order to function — here’s how you can help.

• When gift-giving events come up, ask friends and family to donate to an animal shelter rather than give you a present.
• Petition local businesses to get them to add your shelters to their donation lists.

Volunteering

Want to work with animals directly, or help shelters to function? Here’s how.

• Are you a social media pro? Help shelters to come up with a great online marketing plan or run their page as a volunteer.
• Many shelters need dog walkers to help dogs work out excess energy and become fully socialized.
• Reach out to some local shelters in order to figure out what types of volunteers they need most.

Creating Your Own Nonprofit

If you don’t have a nonprofit organization you can support in your area, you could always look into starting one of your own.

 Budding philanthropists can look into starting a nonprofit. Just be sure to consider what steps you’ll need to take in order to start a nonprofit specifically for animals.

• Going back to school and taking an online accounting course can help you prepare for starting your own nonprofit organization.
• If starting a nonprofit isn’t for you, consider starting a business that serves animals or pet owners or that simply regularly donates a portion of profits to neglected animals. Just be sure to take the necessary steps to register the business in California.

When we all work together, we can make a huge difference in the lives of abandoned and neglected animals.