rescue – Fur Star Pet Care

The bond between the animal kingdom and humans is sacred. The way we care for animals is a beautiful facet of humanity. Those who have stepped up to create organizations with a steadfast commitment to helping animals survive and thrive are our unsung heroes.

However, these Columbus area animal care organizations stay afloat and prosper only with community support. The time is always right to find ways to pitch in and help your community care for the beautiful creatures who also call Columbus home.

Donate Money

Of course, every organization needs money to make ends meet. There are at least 10 in the Columbus area, so perhaps you could make one time donations in a monthly rotation or you could commit to donating monthly to one of them.

Another way to help financially is to attend fundraising events. This way you can socialize or win a prize.

Upcoming 2019 Fundraising Events:

One meaningful way to donate is through a memorial gift. In honor of your pet who has crossed the rainbow bridge or in honor of a loved one who loved animals, a donation can be made in their name.

The CHA has a hall dedicated to symbolizing donations made in the name of someone who has passed on. There are four tiers for the Tree of Life starting at $100: leaf, butterfly, bird, and squirrel. These symbolic options are engravable.

As for the living, donations can be made in honor of a birthday, anniversary or other notable events. The CHA will issue a Certificate of Caring to the gift recipient.

CHA also allows you to sponsor a pet. For $25 you can endorse a pet who is waiting for adoption.

If you can spare some money, these local organizations will put it to good use!

Shop for the Cause

Did you know that merchandise can be bought directly from our local pet organizations? A Cat Welfare Association t-shirt or a something from the Hop Shop at Ohio House Rabbit Rescue would make a great gift for the animal lovers in your life.

Next time you are looking for a special gift or want to treat yourself, check out what these worthy organizations have to offer!

Amazon Smile, Kroger Community Rewards, Good Search/Good Shop, eScript, will each allow you to kick a percentage toward the non-profit of your choice!

Speaking of Amazon, some animal shelters have set up an Amazon Wishlist where you can go ahead and buy items that they are in need of.

Alternately, you can see if a needs list is provided on their website or you could call them. It’s probably best to find out what exactly the center is in need of before purchasing anything.

Shopping is part of our routine anyways. Why not make it more rewarding by shopping to benefit animals?

Host a Fundraiser

Donations are great. Getting others to chip in is even better! If you’re particularly gifted with organizing and emceeing events, you could really make an impact for the organization of your choice.

Columbus Humane makes such a solicitation on their website. They’d be honored for you to raise money for them!

Notice a lot of animal lovers in your workplace? You could put together a fundraiser at the office and maybe even get your company to match donations!

If you have a business or have a special trade, you could perhaps donate your products and services for a silent auction.

Events are a very popular way to generate revenue for nonprofits, and a great party could start with you!

Manage the Demand

It can be a real challenge for shelters to be able to handle all the intake of needy domesticated animals. With everyone doing their part, the influx would be more manageable.

Adopt, Don’t Shop

If you’re ready to add a pet to your family, please consider adopting first. There are so many animals waiting to go to their new home.

Find out which shelters are the most overwhelmed and see if you can find a good match for your family.

Foster an Animal

Taking in a homeless animal is another way you can lighten the load on local shelters. Being the temporary caretaker for a needy animal can be a much-needed relief for the shelter staff and a nice retreat for the animal. You may even get some nice cuddles from your new friend!

Spay or Neuter Your Pets

Another way you can help make the demand more manageable is to make sure your animals are spayed or neutered, especially if you have male pets who wander.

Everyone can do their part to reduce the number of homeless animals that unfortunately fall through the cracks.

Lend a Hand

For many non-profits, volunteers are the vital component of carrying out a mission.

Cleaning cages, giving baths, walking dogs, providing transportation, cleaning the facilities, helping with paperwork are various tasks that you could help with. The staff would certainly appreciate handing off these tasks to someone else.

Perhaps you have a professional service you could offer, like web design, marketing, photography, handyman, landscaping, etc. Offering to do these services for free could offset some expenses to make the funds go a bit farther.

Money is not the only resource that matters for non-profits. Your time and talents are also resources you can contribute.

Social Media Promotion

Everyone is on social media. People, businesses, and non-profits are all on board. These pages are live and ready to promote, promote, promote.

You can help them by liking and following their accounts. Reacting and commenting to posts on Facebook actually improves the visibility of their accounts. You may think you’re just wasting time with those habits, but they do help.

Many organizations now post their events on Facebook. You can see what they have coming up as well as share the event or invite others to come. Events are very important and a great deal of effort goes into planning them. Helping to spread the word could mean a better turnout.

Local shelters will feature animals who are ready for a new home via social media posts. If you see an animal that your friends may be interested in housing, share that post.

Social media managers put a lot of planning and thought into their posts. Sharing posts that you think will attract attention to these pages is the desired outcome of social media content.

Being an active part of their social network community is a small but important way to help these organizations gain exposure.

There are so many ways to help these missions stay alive and thrive, even beyond these tips. Get started this week with the starter list below!