Tag Archives: humane societies

What Does Your Local Humane Society or Shelter Need?

Do you know what kind of things your local humane society or shelter could use? I know shelters can always use food, money, and volunteers but on a recent trip to the Nashville Humane Society I was impressed to find flyers listing the things they needed. The Nashville Humane Society’s “Things We Need” List Small, medium and large Milk Bones Towels 13 gallon and 55 gallon trash bags Paper towels All sizes of collars 6 foot dog leashes Small, medium and large binder clips Rubber or plastic dog and cat toys Non-scoopable cat litter Purina or Meow Mix Kitten Chow … Continue reading →

Tragedy: The Jacksonville Humane Society Burns to the Ground

Photo by Jakub Alaborski Today I logged onto the computer and checked my email like I do every morning. I had a surprise waiting: an email from my good friend Karen in Jacksonville, Florida. (a.k.a. Aunt Karen to Murph, Kitty, and now Tabby. She’s also the mom of Tucker, the 80 pound wonder dog, Murph’s all-time best friend.) Karen and her husband Michael are busy people. (They’re pet photographers who are usually either busy planning a shoot or traveling to one.) So I’m always delighted when she finds time to write. Except, today’s news broke my heart. According to the … Continue reading →

Ten Questions To Ask About Starting A Shelter

Think you might want to get involved with animal rescue? Excellent! But you may find that starting your own animal shelter is a very involved process. You’ll need more than just the desire to help homeless animals; you’ll need management experience, accounting and marketing skills, community contacts, and much more. Ask yourself these questions if you are starting to think about opening a shelter. Does my community truly need an animal welfare organization? If there is already a shelter in the area, opening another shelter may be a bad idea. Two competing shelters may be more than your community can … Continue reading →

What Makes A Good Shelter?

In a perfect world, all animal shelters are a loving place for animals to wait while their forever families find them. The shelter should be involved in the community, make constant efforts to educate the public, and fight dog and cat overpopulation. And they can do it all effortlessly, wearing blue spandex tights and a cape. And fight crime in all their spare time. Right? Well, the world isn’t perfect. No person is, and no organization is. So what important things could your shelter do (or try to do) in order to be the best they can be? Provide a … Continue reading →

Ten Ways To Help Your Shelter

Maybe your schedule doesn’t give you the time to volunteer every week. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable talking to potential adopters. Here are ten great ways for you to help your local shelter that you may not have thought of! Take a shelter dog to obedience classes. This is a great one for college kids on summer or winter break; obedience classes can be done in just a few weeks. Help socialize the animals. Just spending time in the cat room or playing ball with a frisky pup can help increase their chances of being adopted. Help your shelter create … Continue reading →