Celebrate Change a Pet’s Life Day January 24 Each Year

• By NSC
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Change a Pet’s Life Day is a day to spread awareness of the plight of homeless pets and to encourage people to adopt one of them.

Adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue organization can change your life and the animal’s life. These animals have lots of love to give. And they’re incredibly grateful for your love. There are many stories of animals at death’s door that started responding to treatment only after being being showered with love and attention.

Not only that, but by giving a rescue animal a forever home, you’ve opened up space for another homeless animal to take his place … so you’ve really saved two lives!

Hill’s Pet Nutrition organized the first Change a Pet’s Life Day (as far as we can tell) in 2009. For this event hundreds of shelters and humane societies offered reduced adoption fees. The company also paid the adoption fees for the first 10 pets adopted from each shelter and donated food to adopters.

We have not been able to confirm that the company has an ongoing relationship with the day/event. But shelters appear to be continuing the annual event.

And it’s a worthwhile one.

Every pet deserves a warm, loving home. Not a cold cage in a noisy shelter. No matter how good the shelter or how attentive the staff and volunteers, it’s never the same as a real home.

And sadly, many shelters are poorly run and have a high kill rate. No animal deserves to be in one of those places. And rescue organizations can’t get them out without your help. By

• Adopting and/or
• Fostering and/or
• Spreading the word and/or
• Neutering/spaying your animals

you can do your part to Change a Pet’s Life (or two, or three …).

Click here to hear Kyra Sedwick talk about the first Change a Pet’s Life Day.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this heartwarming unofficial holiday.

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Celebrating Change a Pet’s Life Day

If you’ve been thinking about adopting a new pet, today’s the day! Many shelters/rescue organizations reduce adoption fees in honor of this day. Some may request/require a donation in exchange. For example, one shelter has, in the past, asked for canned goods for a local food pantry (human) in order to get a pet for free. These shelters do not relax their requirements/screening procedures for allowing adopters to have a pet.

Can’t adopt? That’s ok. There’s plenty of other ways to help change pet’s lives.

Donate: Even $5 helps. Pick a local rescue and donate either money or supplies. Many welcome donations of food, toys or even old towels (usable, of course!). Ask and they’ll tell you what they need most.

Volunteer: Rescues are almost always in desperate need of volunteers to

• Clean cages
• Walk dogs
• Pet cats
• Transport animals to off-site adoption events, from shelters to fosters or vets, and more.

 

Foster: Many smaller rescues have very small facilities to house animals. Some don’t have any. They rely on people willing to take animals into their homes temporarily and foster them until they are ready for adoption. The more fosters they have available, the more animals they can save. You can be a hero to these animals.

A good rescue will screen potential fosters very carefully to ensure they’re putting their animals into a safe, loving environment. So don’t be offended if you feel like you’re having to jump through hoops. It’s for the animals, and the end result is worth it.

Spread the word: Let family, friends and other animal lovers know how they can help.

Don’t know where there’s a local shelter? Petfinder has a search function to help.

 

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