Celebrate National Pet Day
April 11 is National Pet Day, an annual celebration for all pets. National Pet Day was founded in 2006 to raise awareness for pet adoption, foster care, and responsible pet ownership. The day shines a light on less-fortunate pets, giving them a chance to find a loving home.
Pets are an important part of many people’s lives, bringing joy, companionship, and improved health to their owners. Here are several ideas to celebrate National Pet Day and brighten an animal’s day.
Adopt from a shelter
Adopting from a shelter is an excellent option if you want a new pet to add to your family. Adoption has several benefits to owners and pets, including saving a shelter animal’s life, lowering medical costs, and encouraging others to do the same. The latter can have a domino effect by helping more animals find forever, loving homes.
Volunteer at a shelter
Due to the high population of unwanted animals, shelters and rescues are often overwhelmed and cannot operate without volunteers. Many animal care facilities require volunteers to perform tasks such as walking dogs, socializing pets, cleaning kennels, and promoting the business. Volunteering for an animal care facility can help the animals become more trusting of humans and increase their chances of adoption.
Foster an animal
If you have space in your home, fostering animals is an excellent way to help animal care facilities free up space for animals. Fostering animals goes one step further in preparing them for home life by allowing them to stay in someone’s home. Some of the animals in foster care require round-the-clock care, including pregnant animals, puppies, kittens, and pets with special needs.
Before fostering, ensure that your home is safe for additional pets by considering other pets you may have and evaluating whether you can dedicate sufficient time. Moreover, receiving foster training is a good idea if you want to start fostering.
Donate supplies
Many shelters can use help getting supplies, toys, and food for their animals. You can contact your local animal shelter or rescue group to determine which items they most need. If you are having trouble deciding what to donate, food is always an excellent choice for donation, as animal shelters tend to go through food quickly.
If you have extra gently used toys, blankets, collars, and food and water bowls, you can donate them to your local shelter or animal rescue to improve shelter animals’ quality of life. Be sure to clean any used items before donation.
Promote the holiday on social media
Pets are a popular topic on social media among people from many backgrounds, making it a great platform to promote National Pet Day. You can post a picture or video of your furry friend with the hashtag #NationalPetDay to share your appreciation for them. Another option is to share a post from a local animal care facility to raise awareness and potentially increase traffic to their business.
National Pet Day is an excellent occasion to share your love for pets. All these ideas will positively impact animals’ lives and remind us to appreciate our pets.