Helping animals in need is a beautiful way of giving back. Volunteering with animals can be a rewarding and fun experience, and it isn’t hard to see the difference you are making in their lives.
Contrary to popular belief, there are countless ways to make a difference in the lives of animals. While animal shelters will always need help, there are plenty of other opportunities if that isn’t the right fit for you.
Volunteering/Donating to a Shelter
The most obvious way to help animals in need is by volunteering or donating to your local shelter. Shelters commonly need more helping hands, from willing walkers to people comfortable with cleaning up after the animals in their care. All help is needed.
Unfortunately, not all towns have their own animal shelter. If this is the case for your town, try looking into the local human society, as they will be more significant and likely in dire need of some additional help.
Helping a Preserve
Nature preserves such as national parks and forests are another opportunity frequently overlooked. It may not seem like they need a lot of help – but they do. Preserves have to maintain a healthy and clean environment, and that’s where volunteers come in. Volunteers can help pick up trash, either as a regular event or as part of an annual facelift.
Become a Foster
Not all pets do well in a shelter environment. In other cases, shelters are too crowded to handle all of the animals they have. This is where fosters come into play. They are an essential part of the rescue process, as they provide a safe space for animals in need of a temporary home.
Join a TNR Program
TNR stands for Trap, Neuter, Return, and it is an effective way of handling local feral cat populations. However, these programs always need extra hands. Help can come in the form of maintaining/checking traps, transporting cats, and offering education to locals.
Help a Farm Sanctuary
It’s not just pets that need help and homes, but farm animals as well. There are locations known as Farm Sanctuaries that take in all sorts of livestock, from chickens to sheep and everything in between. If you’ve always dreamed about helping out on a farm, this may be the perfect avenue for you.
Article originally published on EkaterinaFields-Community.com