3 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without Adopting

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3 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without Adopting

Adopting a dog or cat is an awesome thing for you to do, but it’s not always doable. Seeing ads and pictures of adoptable animals and wanting to give them a home but knowing you can’t because of your current situation can be really discouraging. Maybe your apartment doesn’t allow pets, or you can’t afford to care for an animal right now. It could be that you’re just not ready for that much of a commitment. It’s okay, though, because you can still help them! Check out these three ways you can make a difference without adopting:

1) Volunteer

3 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without AdoptingVolunteering is a very rewarding way to spend quality time with animals while bettering their lives. Most shelters and animal organizations wouldn’t be able to help as many homeless animals as they do without the countless volunteers who work together to make this possible.

According to the ASPCA, close to 8 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters every year.  Most shelters don’t have the funds or enough staff to give each of those animals the care and attention they deserve, so volunteers play a very important role. They provide the furry residents with much-needed care and affection until they find their forever homes.

Contact your local shelter or organization to ask how you can volunteer. If you aren’t sure where you can volunteer in your area, visit the Shelter Pet Project and enter your zip code to find animal shelters, groups, and rescues near you.

2) Foster

3 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without AdoptingA big reason why animal shelters and rescues are able to keep taking in more animals is that there are people who are willing and able to temporarily keep some of the animals in their homes until they are adopted. This frees up room for new animals coming in and lets the fostered animals experience the comfort of home life while getting socialization and love from their foster family.

If you’re thinking about adopting in the future, this is also the perfect way to find out if living with a dog or cat is a good fit for you, no strings attached! Most shelters and organizations will provide you with all the supplies you’ll need to take care of your foster, so there’s no need to worry about money. If you’re interested, contact your local shelter or rescue and ask how you can become a foster for them.

3) Donate

It’s nice to be able to volunteer or foster, but for some, free time is hard to come by. Where you can’t offer your time, though, you can offer your generosity and donate to the shelter or group of your choice. You also have more options than only giving money – supplies like food, beds, and toys are always in high demand and are appreciated just as much as cash donations!

3 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without AdoptingThere are also some very easy ways to donate without having to spend any extra money. If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, you can do your shopping through the AmazonSmile page and the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate a portion of the price of eligible purchases to the organization of your choice.  You can read more about AmazonSmile here.

An absolutely free way to donate is to go to the Animal Rescue Site and give a click! Find the “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button toward the top left of the page and each click generates money (paid for by the site’s sponsors) to donate food to national and even international animal organizations. The best part is that you can click every day!

Even when you can’t adopt a dog or cat, you can feel good knowing that you’ve done your part to take care of them and help their chances of finding a forever home by volunteering, fostering, or donating to shelters and animal organizations.  No matter how small of a difference you think you’re making, just remember that you are making a difference for animals in need.

What have you done to make a difference without adopting?  Let us know in the comments below!