April - Homeless Animals
- As mentioned back in March, animals can also be the victims of being made homeless, they may be abandoned, abused, neglected, become stray and end up at the pound / in the animal shelter system.
- If you are considering getting a new pet, please, please go to your local animal shelter / sanctuary first. The staff there will be able to help match you with the right dog, cat, bunny, rat, bird etc for you, and YOU WILL SAVE A LIFE. Many shelters are over-run with animals looking for new homes and often have to turn away animals that need their help, or send otherwise healthy, ideal for companionship animals to be destroyed as there is no where else for them to go... humane death or die on the streets is a sad factor facing thousands upon thousands every year. Adopt a pet - save a life, but please remember that a pet is not a gift for a special occasion to be traded in for an upgrade like an object. They are a life time commitment.
- If you would like to help out an animal shelter or sanctuary, then go look for one close enough for you to travel to, and take part in one of their open days or fundraisers. You could donate old (but clean) blankets, pet beds, foods, toys for the animals, or bric-a-brac for table-top sales at these events. My favourite local shelter is called Bleakholt http://www.bleakholt.org/ It is based in the north west of England, near to my home town. Their spring open day is at the end of April, so as part of that week's activity, my blog update will feature Bleakholt and some of the animals there. The open days calendar can be seen here: http://bleakholt.org/coming-soon.html I would like to invite any guest bloggers to post details of their own local shelters, to visit those when they have open days and post spotlights for those too.
- Sponsor an Animal! Yup, you can help an animal right there from the comfort of your own home. you don't need to travel to an event, you don't need to feed it by hand or clean up after it, as that is done for you by the care team of that particular animal. I, myself, purchased two animal sponsor packs, a chimp and a wolf pack as Christmas gifts for my family in 2013 (these were done through the Born Free Foundation http://www.bornfree.org.uk/) I also currently sponsor a dog named 'Scooby' through The Dogs Trust. http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/
Another way to help animals is quite simple, and all you will need is a pair or rubber or safety gloves, sensible shoes and a bin liner (rubbish/refuse sack) - Clean Up Crew!
- get together a group of your friends, and go for a walk on your nearest beach, woodlands or nature park /river or stream. It is an unfortunate fact that people like to dump trash in local areas rather than dispose of it properly, and anybody who has watched any animal rescue tv programs will have seen footage of birds who have gotten fishing hooks caught on their beaks or wings, or fish that have swam into trash and can't get out of it, or animals who have become sick from the water being polluted in their natural habitat.
- So get together a group of your friends, go for a walk or a picnic, and take what you need with you, then when you get there, let the clean-up commence!
- collect any rubbish you find that is safe for you to remove - don't want anybody to get stabbed with glass or a drug user's needle, and then dispose of it properly. The animals and the environment will thank you for taking away anything that will continue to pollute their area. You might even find some beautiful pebbles, feathers, shells or drift wood to take home as a souvenir!
I was inspired to add this as an April activity after watching a trailer for the film 'Midway' which focuses on the rather cute Albatross (bird). One image on screen does show the inside of a dead albatross that has died from ingesting trash when trying to feed :(
to view the trailer, or to support the 'Midway' film project, please visit: midway film - view trailer or follow the progress of Midway film project
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