There’s a reason why people say a pet is not for Christmas but for life. Animal Shelters often become crowded during the New Year, when people give up the pets they got during the holidays.  Since the Pandemic, animal shelters have seen an even higher uptick in the increase of animals that need adopting. Many people who adopted pets during the pandemic decide they don’t want pet companions when things get busy again.

What You Can Do for Shelter Animals in the New Year

• Shelters all around the US are reaching capacity. If you can’t adopt an animal you may be able to help shelters by fostering a cat or a dog. This will help them manage capacity until the animals in their care can find a new home. 
• Some animal shelters unfortunately euthanize animals in their care when they reach capacity. These shelters are known as “kill shelters.” If you can identify shelters where animals might lose their lives you can reach out to them to see if you can help to foster animals or negotiate to save the lives of animals.
• Educate friends who want a pet on the benefits of adopting a pet from a shelter rather than buying from breeders.
• Support animal shelters in your area by donating money or volunteering on the weekend. Working with animals can be its own reward but any volunteer programs also help the shelters to save money on staff costs and expand their capacity so that more animals can be housed.
• Get to know animals in the shelter and share social media posts to help find homes for them.

Shelter animals are often abandoned by people who can’t afford to house and feed them, or people who simply don’t want the responsibility of caring for an animal. Some of them have suffered abuse or been rescued from breeding programs. Some animals may have specific needs that the owner can’t facilitate. A good way to find out how to help is to follow the social media pages of the local animal shelters in your area so you can learn more about the needs of the animals and find out how to support the shelters.

If you care about animal rights, you might have countless petitions arriving in your inbox alerting you to the tragedy of kill shelters (that is shelters that euthanize animals they can’t find a home for). You could react by being outraged or you could stop to see a broader pattern.

Some shelters have a higher kill rate than others, such as this one at Randolph County, NC. There are usually several reasons for this – but one major reason is lack of money. Animal shelters just can’t handle the high volume of stray animals they accommodate. The aim is not to name and shame, the aim is to support and reform.

A very simple way of making a difference is to find out more about animal shelters near you and see what you can do. Do they have a high kill rate? Do they suffer from a lack of funding? Could more be done to connect animals with new owners via advertising, social media etc.?

You can volunteer for these shelters, support them financially and hold them accountable for their practices. By doing this you’ll be saving the lives of healthy, loving animals who deserve a chance at a new life.