Shelters

Four Ways to Help Animals this Holiday Season

Monday, November 26, 2012 - 4:15pm
Collie

The giving season is officially here! Check out four fun, effective ways you can make a difference for animals during the holidays.

Volunteer for animals in your community
Bring some holiday cheer to homeless animals in your community by volunteering at a local shelter. Find a shelter near you.

Shop ‘til you drop at our online thrift store
Make room for this year’s holiday booty and raise money for animals by donating your unwanted treasures to the ASPCA Web Thrift Store. Start selling and shopping for animals today.

Show them how much you care…about animals!
Nothing says holiday spirit like a good old-fashioned greeting card. Ours feature the photo and story of an animal rescued by the ASPCA, and they’re all completely adorable. Get ‘em while you can.

Enough stuff? Give the gift of helping animals
Perfect for everyone on your list, our new Symbolic Gifts allow you to donate on behalf of friends and family to the ASPCA program area most meaningful to them. Give today.

For more ideas, please visit our top ways to help animals in your community.

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Take Action
Volunteer

ASPCA Equine Fund Helps Homeless Horses!

Monday, July 9, 2012 - 9:45am
Horse Rescue

Guest blog by Jacque Schultz, Senior Director, ASPCA Equine Fund.

Do you care about homeless horses? We do, too! And we also care about those groups who give their all to help equines get a second chance—whether at a sanctuary or through adoption. 

The ASPCA Equine Fund provides generous grants to groups that care for rescued horses, mules, donkeys and ponies—both wild and domestic. We also offer a series of day-long workshops aimed at helping these rescue groups with fundraising, board development and assisting law enforcement with large-scale cruelty seizures.

Do you know any equine sanctuaries that could use our support? Ask them to keep up-to-date on workshops, webinars, grant opportunities and more by subscribing to ASPCA Hoof Beat by emailing equinefund@aspca.org. And remember to support your local horse rescue! 

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Equines
Grants
Shelters

ASPCA Supports New Bill to Turn Around NYC's Animal Shelters

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 10:15am

Guest Blog by Michelle Villagomez, ASPCA NYC Legislative Director.

We have some exciting news! After months of talking with representatives from the New York City government, the City has agreed to support legislation to improve conditions in our city’s shelters. A bill has been introduced in the City Council that would not only restore programs and services to our animal shelters, but increase funding for our animal care and control programs. The City has already agreed to raise funding so that by July 2014 the annual budget for Animal Care & Control will exceed $12 million—a 77 percent increase over the current budget!

Intro. 655, sponsored by Councilmember Jessica Lappin, would improve New York City’s animal shelter system by:

  • Requiring animal receiving centers in the Bronx and Queens, as well as field services, to operate seven days a week, 12 hours per day. (Currently the receiving centers are only open one and two days, and the field services program has been cut);
  • Ensuring the maintenance of full-service animal shelters in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island;
  • Requiring owners to spay or neuter any cats they own who are free-roaming outdoors;
  • Implementing trap-neuter-return (TNR) rules; and
  • Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to provide a report providing key data on trends on the progress and quality of care at each full-service animal shelter and animal receiving center.

Take Action!

This legislation, in conjunction with the increase in funding over the next few years, will allow the shelters hire as many as 100 additional staffers. If you’re a New Yorker, visit aspca.org/NYC_ACC to see how you can help make this happen!

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Advocacy
Shelters

Three Easy Ways to Help Homeless Kitties

Monday, June 27, 2011 - 10:45am
kittens

Okay, folks, here’s the deal: Millions of cats enter local shelters across the country every year. Even with these staggering statistics at play, people are still turning to classified ads and pet stores to buy their new kittens. What’s up with that?

Each June, in conjunction with Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, the ASPCA strives to promote cat adoptions. But here’s how you can help year-round!

  • Be their voice! Sure it sounds easy, but with so many more cats than there are homes, we need you to speak up…and loudly. Encourage folks looking for new pets to adopt an animal from a shelter. Try dedicating your Facebook status, Tweet or blog post to an adoptable cat each week.
  • Volunteer at Your Local Shelter. Volunteering at your local shelter is a great way to make a difference in the lives of homeless cats. From playing with kittens to organizing adoption events, shelters across the country are always in need of volunteers. Be sure to visit our Ten Ways to Help Your Local Shelter for more suggestions.
  • Promote Spaying and Neutering. It’s a fact: Spayed or neutered cats are generally happier, healthier and live longer lives. Plus, many communities offer low-cost or free spay/neuter clinics that help make it easy for everyone to do the right thing. Spread the word with our Top 10 Reasons to Spay or Neuter Your Pet.

Thanks for getting active for homeless kitties!

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Pet Care
Shelters

Easier Than Pie—Craft Catnip Toys for Your Local Shelter!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - 4:45pm

kittenIt’s no secret: Shelter cats get bored. What better way to keep them entertained than with a little nip? Crafting these easy-to-make toys is the perfect way for you (and your friends!) to feel good about helping homeless cats this summer. Did we mention it’s a kid-friendly project, too?

Gather Your Supplies:
- New, infant- or child-size crew socks
- Cotton balls or craft stuffing
- Dried catnip
- Non-toxic permanent markers
- Non-toxic washable fabric glue

Get Crafting:

1. Stuff the toe of the sock with 1 tablespoon of dried catnip.

2. Next, stuff the foot of the sock with cotton balls or craft stuffing.

3. Squeeze fabric glue on the inside of the sock’s ribbing to glue the sock closed, or knot the top of the sock.

4. Decorate with fabric markers.

Thanks for getting crafty for homeless kitties—after all, it’s Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month!

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Adoption
Shelters

ASPCA Travels to Texas for Shelter Visit

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - 3:00pm

A team of three ASPCA shelter medicine experts and one veterinary representative from Texas A&M are traveling to Austin this week to spend two days at the Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC), assessing the shelter's programs and working with leaders to develop a plan for the future. TLAC is a city-funded, open-intake facility and ASPCA partner shelter. The visiting experts hope to gain insight into the shelter's daily operations and a holistic understanding of its programs.

"An on-site visit provides a chance to explore together with the shelter opportunities that may improve animal health and welfare and ultimately save more lives in Austin," says Dr. Miranda Spindel, ASPCA Director of Veterinary Outreach and one of the attending experts.

This week's assessment is being performed as part of TLAC's participation in the ASPCA Partnership program, a collaboration with communities and shelters nationwide to save more animals' lives. The program emphasizes reuniting lost pets with families, increasing adoptions, promoting spay/neuter solutions and supporting feral cats. As part of the program, all ASPCA partner communities receive assessments at no cost to the participants. The other Austin partners—Animal Trustees of Austin, Austin Humane Society and emanciPET—will receive their assessments later this year.  

For more information about the ASPCA's work in communities across the country, please visit ASPCA Partnerships online.

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Pet Care
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