Nine Next Steps to Ending America's Homeless Animal Tragedy

As many of you know, 3 - 4 million animals enter shelters every year in our country; only half of them leave alive.  An animal dies in a shelter every nine seconds.

What can you do? The answers are simple, yet profound. Although the homeless animal problem in America is heartbreaking, there is also hope: this problem can be solved and everyone can help. In the actions you take and the decisions you make about companion animals, you will have an impact.

Moreover, solving this problem offers us the chance to become better people and to express the very best of our humanity. We believe this issue can be a stepping stone toward an expanding circle of compassion and action, and toward creating a society that is just and caring to all living beings - beginning with the precious ones "right in our own backyards."

Once you've learned about the issue, these are the next steps that, one at a time, will help bring an end to America's homeless animal tragedy. We offer them to you in gratitude for your concern, and in hope.  As always, please help us spread this info far and wide, by forwarding to your friends, family and acquaintances; please also ask them to sign up for our email list for future updates.

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Nine Next Steps to Ending America's Homeless Animal Tragedy

1) Be Heroic.

Adopt your next animal companion from a shelter or rescue group. You will be saving an animal whose life literally depends on getting a new home.

2) Be Committed.

Know the commitment when you bring an animal into your family, and follow through on it. Your animal companion is utterly dependent on you for his health and well-being. Commit to providing the care he needs, to working through any problems, and to being his guardian for his entire life.

3) Be Smart.

Before you adopt an animal, take the time to learn so you can make a good choice. Different types of animals and breeds have different needs - make sure you know enough to choose an animal who will be compatible with you and your lifestyle.

4) Be Responsible.

There are already more animals than homes available. Spay or neuter your animals so they don't add even more to the staggering animal overpopulation problem.

5) Be Identified.

Millions of animals become lost each year and never make it back home. Make sure your animal is always carrying your contact information, via an ID tag (which is visible and easy for anyone to use) and a microchip (which is permanent).    

6) Be Prepared.

Make plans now for your animals' care should something happen to you. Many animals are in

shelters because their guardians did not make such arrangements.

7) Be a Role Model.

Always demonstrate responsible and loving animal care, so that others will want to do the same.

8) Be a Supporter.

Volunteer, donate, and support your local animal shelter or rescue group, especially their programs that educate the community and prevent animals from becoming homeless and even needing to be in the shelter. These programs save lives.

9) Be a Teacher.

Many good-hearted people simply don't know about the homeless animal tragedy in this country, and would help if only they understood how their actions impacted the situation. Help spread the word; speak up and speak out for homeless animals.

What YOU Can Do....

In our everyday lives, in the choices we make and the actions we take, we can create change. These are the simple, yet profound, things we can do...

* Understand the commitment we are making when we take an animal into our homes and lives, be ready and willing to accept that commitment in our hearts and minds, and make it a lifelong commitment

* Protect our animal companions from becoming lost by keeping them safely confined and always wearing current identification.

* Spay and neuter our animals so that they do not contribute to companion animal overpopulation.

* Save a life by adopting our next animal companion from a shelter.

* Choose our companions thoughtfully and carefully to ensure we are making a good match that will last a lifetime

* Provide our companions with the basics of food and shelter and medical care, and also provide them with the love and companionship they need to be happy

Include them as part of our families, socialize them so that they are comfortable in human society, train them so that they are safe and good citizens

* Work through problems with them, and include them in our own life changes

* Always demonstrate responsible and loving companion animal care so that others may learn from our example, and so that such care becomes the standard in our society.

These actions honor our animal friends, and show gratitude for the love and companionship they give to us so freely. These actions acknowledge their intrinsic value, and express respect for them as living beings. Moreover, these are the actions that, one at a time, begin to bring an end to the homeless animal tragedy, and they are in your power.

If you want to do more...

Every community is different in its homeless animal problem - in its causes, as well as in its progress toward a solution. To find out how you can best become involved and help, find out what kinds of shelters you have in your community, and what kind of help they need. You may be able to foster an animal who needs extra care or time the shelter cannot give; you may be able to care for the animals in the shelter and give them the love and attention that will help them stay healthy while they wait for a home; you may be able to help the shelter raise funds or educate their community.

There may also be other organizations working outside the walls of the shelter - rescue groups, groups providing low cost spay/neuter, groups working to help feral cats, educational organizations, etc. - that can use your help.

Your time, your action, and your advocacy are incredibly valuable gifts to a shelter or non-profit organization, and to the animals themselves.

All of these organization sare playing a part in building communities that no longer have overwhelming homeless animal problems and have, therefore, no need to kill animals; they're working toward creating communities that find killing to be an unacceptable answer, and that see animals as having value and beauty, as beings with a sacred spark of life and spirit

Whatever you decide to do, we thank you for your compassion, your concern, and your efforts to bring about an end to the homeless animal tragedy and create a better world for animals.

Help us reach out: http://novoiceunheard.org/support.html

http://novoiceunheard.org/what_you_can_do.html

Reasons to Adopt

Animal shelters and rescue groups are full of wonderful animals, but nationally, only 20% of the dogs and cats in homes were adopted from these groups. Animals at your local shelter are eager to join new families and are waiting for someone just like you.

1) Be a hero. Adoption saves an animal whose life literally depends on getting a new home.

2) Adopting a homeless animal is a generous act of compassion, and an expression of the inherent value of animals.

3) You will be assured that you are not contributing to the homeless animal tragedy by encouraging the breeding of even more animals into an already-overpopulated world.

4) There's a large selection of animals to choose from (and not just dogs and cats!)

5) Looking for a purebred? If the animal you want is not at your local shelter, there is a rescue group for virtually every type of purebred dog and cat.

6) Adoption counselors have great expertise about animals, know the specific animals in the shelter, and can help you make the perfect match.

7) Many shelter animals are already housebroken and trained, and have some understanding of what living with a family is like and how to fit in. They have a "head-start" on animals from pet stores or breeders.

8) Most shelters screen their animals for good health and temperament.

9) Save money. Adopting from a shelter is usually less expensive than buying from a store or a breeder. Shelter adoption packages build in the cost of spay/neuter, vaccinations, and microchip identification into their adoption fees.

10) It's the right and ethical thing to do! You will be helping, one animal at a time, to bring an end to this nation's tragic homeless animal problem.

http://novoiceunheard.org/images/pdf/oaat_tipsheet_3.pdf

Everyone can help end America’s homeless animal tragedy