May 20th is an annual holiday known as National Rescue Dog Day! This holiday was first created by Lisa Wiehebrink (from Tails that Teach) as a way to bring awareness to the overwhelming number of homeless and rescue dogs in shelters and on the streets. It has continued as such a holiday over the past few years, and this year, we’ve cultivated a list of ways you can join in and participate with your local community! 

According to ASPCA, more than 3 million dogs are admitted to shelters each year. Together, we can lower that number and bring change to our communities. Below are five ways you can contribute to the well-being of rescue dogs in your community! 

What can you do? 

Celebrate Your Rescue Dog: If you already have rescue dogs, take a day to celebrate them! The best work you can do always starts in your own home, so celebrating your own dogs is a perfect way to start off celebrating National Rescue Dog Day. You can treat your dog to a new toy, a treat, or a fun day outside! Post about your dog online to spread awareness for National Rescue Dog Day and inspire others to become rescue dog parents as well. 

Adopt: Any pet you welcome into your home requires love, care, and attention. If you choose to adopt, take the time to get to know your dog so that you understand the best ways to care for and bond with him/her. Adoption offsets the shocking number of dogs without homes, and is the best way to give a dog a chance at a better life. Dogs need love, care, and attention, especially after transitioning from the shelter life to home life. Adopting a rescue dog isn’t only great for the dog, but it’s also great for you! Rescue dogs are known to be sweet and loving creatures, who often have just as much to teach us as we have to teach them. As wonderful and tempting as adoption is, please only adopt if you are able!

Foster: If you’re unable to adopt, but still have space for a pet in your home to care for, fostering is the next best thing! Fostering provides a temporary home for a rescue dog who needs a stable place to be cared for until they find their forever home. 

Volunteer at a Shelter: If you love dogs but are unable to take on the responsibility of adopting or fostering, a great alternative is to volunteer at a local shelter. Volunteering is a wonderful way to be involved in your local community and invest in the future of the many shelter and rescue dogs in your neighborhood. 

Donate: The best option for those who aren’t able to make the adoption commitment and are unable to volunteer at a shelter is donating! There are many options for donating– you can provide financial aid, or you can package together a bundle of things to donate! Check out our blog post about what to donate to local animal shelters for more ideas. 

Alexa Highsmith

Writing Specialist at Lilly Brush Co.

The post Celebrate National Rescue Dog Day on May 20th! appeared first on Lilly Brush.

One of the best ways to get involved with your local animal shelters is by donating whatever you can! Shelters are always accepting donations of all kinds. Aside from monetary donations, shelters often accept homemade crafts, pet food, and unused items you might already have in your house. Listed below are the best items to donate to your local shelter today! 

Things You Can Make 

Shelters often accept various home-crafted items. Be sure to check with your local shelter for what they will and will not accept before donating. For shelters that do accept homemade goods, compiled below is a list of easy-to-make toys and crafts that will bring joy and comfort to shelter pets. 

Crocheted dog mats 

Toys:

• Cat wands 
• Kitty cork toys 
• T-shirt knotted rope 
• Braided dog toy 
• Tug-o-war toy
• No-sew cat toys 

No-sew fleece blanket 

Bandanas 

“Snuffle” mat

Kennel mats for cats

Things You Already Have In Your House 

Many shelters will take items you already have lying around your house– however, they don’t accept just anything. Whatever goods you have stored in your home, make sure they are unopened, unused, or untouched by your and your own pet! Shelters will often accept items such as:

• Unopened dog and cat food 

• Cat litter 

• Unused toys 

• Newspapers 

• Towels and blankets 

• Leashes, collars, and leads

• Bandanas

It’s always a good idea to check with your local shelters before donating to see what their needs are, so that you can meet them! Many shelters will still accept whatever you take in for donation, but to be the most helpful donor you can be, always check first to see what your local shelter is in need of. 

Alexa Highsmith

Writing Specialist at Lilly Brush Co.

The post Best Items to Donate to Local Animal Shelters appeared first on Lilly Brush.

Not so fast

CACC has made it clear that their current status will quickly change, as dozens of homeless animals are brought to Chicago’s largest no-kill shelter every week. “We are amazed at the outpouring of people wanting to help” they claimed on their Facebook page, while maintaining the position that they will continue to rely on volunteer support throughout this entire quarantine process.

Luckily, shelters were deemed an essential business and are continuing to take care of the animals that are still without homes. Even still, they have had to drastically cut back their staff and their hours of operation. Having city wide support has made a large impact in the city of Chicago. We can only hope that more communities follow suit and continue to bring these homeless animals into their families.

Adopt now?

Even with the craziness in the world right now, this is a surprisingly good time to adopt a new pet. We know that not everyone is in a position to adopt a pet, and that is okay! Fostering is still an option, and even just donating a few dollars can go a very long way. Creating a close bond with your pet is a very important part of bringing them into your family. Shelter pets, even more so than others, can be wary of new people. They need time to adjust to their new family, as well as their new home.

Weirdly enough, right now is likely the most time any of us will be spending at home in a very long time. (We can only hope!) It’s quite frankly the perfect time to add a cat or dog to your family if you have the means to love and take care of one. If you were in the market for adopting a pet, consider looking into it soon to make the transition from shelter to home as easy for these animals as possible. You’ll never have this much time to train and bond with your animal again.

No Pressure

If you don’t feel like you are ready or capable of adopting a dog, then don’t! This isn’t meant to pressure anyone into thinking this is the right thing to do. Simply sharing an article or telling your friends about shelters can make a big difference. Spreading awareness is a major key in finding as many proper homes as possible for animals as shelters continue to do their very best with the limited resources they have right now. Hopefully stories like that of the CACC keep coming, it’s always great to see some good news scrolling across our timelines!

Sincerely,

The Lilly Brush Team

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post Good News from Chicago Animal Care and Control Adoptable Pets appeared first on Lilly Brush.

Fostering Animals

Emergency foster homes are the biggest thing shelters need right now. With so many shelters on the verge of being shut down, the number of animals without homes drastically outweighs the resources available to take care of them.  What we can do is sign up with a local shelter and register as an emergency foster home for shelter animals. Every animal that can find a temporary foster home is a life saved if these shelters are eventually forced to shut down entirely.

Donate money

Any amount helps! It doesn’t matter if you can spare $5 or $500, every dollar donated to these shelters goes towards food and supplies to care for these animals in need. Animal shelters are non-profits as it is, and are always relying on donations to help them operate as efficiently as they can. In these trying times, they need the help more than ever. Much of their money comes from fundraising efforts, which are all of course shut down for the time being.

Donate Supplies

If you have extra pet supplies laying around, consider donating them to local shelters! Anything from food, beds, leashes, bowls, or even toys! Whatever you can spare to help care for these animals will go a very long way. Oftentimes an old dog bed or toy can hold sentimental value and are hard to part with. In times like this just try to imagine the joy it could bring to a lonely animal. We encourage you to part with whatever you can to make life better for those in need.

Spread Awareness

Lastly, help spread awareness. Follow your local shelters on Instagram and Facebook, and share their posts with your community! Spreading awareness is a huge part of helping these shelters, the more people willing to help the better!

This is a trying time for everyone, and we know that not everyone has the means to donate to shelters. Simply doing your best to spread awareness can go a very long way, and we encourage everyone to help to the best of their abilities. Together we WILL get through this!

Sincerely,

The Lilly Brush Team

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post Helping Shelters in This Time of Need appeared first on Lilly Brush.