April has been deemed “Prevent Animal Cruelty Month” and it reminds us to work towards the goal of relieving pain, fear, and suffering in animals — by teaching oneself and others about animal cruelty laws and supporting pending legislation. Here are some ideas of how you can help:
1. Don’t support puppymills! If you’re looking for a family pet, avoid pet stores and online sites that sell pets! Whether you wanna believe it or not, pet stores get their dogs from puppymills. I know it’s tempting to walk in and have your pick of many adorable puppies, but you have to think of the awful conditions their parents are in and will continue to be in if you support that industry. Check out your local shelter or www.petfinder.com, where you can type in the breed you want, age, and gender and then it will search for all the dogs available from shelters and rescues in your area.
2. Tell a friend. Help educate people you know about how to responsibly get a pet. I didn’t know about the connection between pet stores and puppymills when I got Zoey (heck, I didn’t even know what a puppymill was!) Some people still just don’t know, so help educate them about their options.
3. Teach your children to be kind to animals. Even if you don’t own a pet, help your child understand what is respectful and what is not when it comes to interacting with animals. This is the next generation that will hopefully change the future for animals.
4. Volunteer your time and/or money to your local shelter or rescue group. Even if you only have an hour a month, these organizations are always looking for extra help. It can be a great teaching moment to do it as a family also. Shelters are also always looking for things like toys, food, beds, blankets, bleach, cat litter, etc.
5. Report abused or neglected animals. If you saw a child being violently hit over and over by an adult, wouldn’t you report it? Why would it be any different with a dog? Call your local humane society or just the police. Don’t turn and look the other way.
6. Contact your local and state law makers to fight for more stringent laws for animals, especially when it comes to the regulations of “breeding facilities” (ie puppymills) The Humane Society of the United States is great about keeping people informed of upcoming legislation. It only takes a few minutes to write your local, state, and national lawmakers.
For more information, please refer to this great article from the ASPCA.
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Related posts:
- 9 Signs of Animal Neglect & Cruelty
- Animal Abuser Online Registry Proposed in California
- Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary
- Don’t Lick The Dog
- Breaking the Chains
Tags: animal cruelty, aspca, humane society of the united states, puppymills
