Wednesday, November 5, 2008

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week

In 1996, The HSUS launched National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week (based on an idea from the Capital Humane Society in Lincoln, Nebraska). This campaign was designed to acknowledge and promote the invaluable role shelters play in their communities and to increase public awareness of animal welfare issues and shelter services. During National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, the first full week of every November, The HSUS promotes and celebrates animal shelters across the country through media and public outreach.

You can find materials here to help you celebrate National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week in your community. The materials also can be customized to promote the important role of shelters any time of the year.


As you probably already know, two of my three dogs came from an animal shelter (the third came from a rescue group that found her at a shelter).

Adopting from a shelter saves lives. Millions of perfectly adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized every year solely on the basis that there aren't enough adopters for all of these animals. Some communities are fortunate enough to have the support from the public to create no-kill shelters.

If you can't adopt a new friend, shelters offer a variety of volunteer opportunities. In the past, I've: walked dogs, helped socialize cats, cleaned cages, participated in adoption events, wrote newsletter articles, washed, dried and folded cage towels and more. There are many more things to do: write thank-you notes to donors, become an adoption counselor, participate in grief counseling for those who've lost a beloved pet, take photos for the shelter's web site and more. It's a lot of fun! Any little bit of help they can get is truly appreciated

I've very thankful for all of the people who have volunteered/worked at shelters along with those who've adopted from them.

A great big "thank you" from me! :)

6 comments:

Kaitlyn said...

It is so nice that you adopted your pets! I want to volunteer so badly but I would hate to be picky about my duty and I'm very allergic to most dogs and cats :( So my money will have to be the aid I give! Thank you for being so compassionate.

Mandi @ Sweetly Home said...

I've always wanted to volunteer at a shelter but never actually called to see if they needed volunteers. Thanks for telling about what they do. I had no idea! Hey - total sidenote - I have the same pillows for my couches that you do! How funny!

Lisa said...

Love that you posted about this and what a wonderful cause!

Candy Allen - Junk Sophisticate said...

Thank you for the reminder of this great cause.

Anonymous said...

yay for shelter animals!

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

That's great! Our Maxie (Golden Retriever) was from a shelter too. Also if you don't feel you can volunteer at a shelter, you can donate food, blankets (if you knit there's a special organization for knitting little blankets for the cages- name escapes me right now), toys etc. So many people are giving up their pets when they lose their homes - it just breaks my heart!

Manuela