June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month! Looking to add a new cat or kitten to your family? It’s not too late to visit your local animal shelter or cat rescue organization and adopt a homeless cat or kitten. Scotties Facial Tissues (currently in their 4th year of donating funds to support shelter cat adoption) has posted a very cute video on YouTube, reminding us that there are so many wonderful reasons to adopt a shelter kitty!
Have you ever gotten a message on social media, containing a heartbreaking image of a shelter dog or cat, urging you to donate money immediately to help save its life? The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has issued a fraud alert, warning animal lovers to take a closer look at who is asking for donations before sending any money.
According to the LADA’s website, so-called “animal shelter scammers” could be preying on your compassion. These people will actually visit shelters, take pictures of animals in cages, and then post them on social media, warning people that they are in danger of dying in a “high-kill shelter” unless they receive your money to help rescue them. Sometimes they also use old pictures of shelter animals that they have taken from animal welfare websites around the country.
Besides social media, these images can also be posted on flyers and could be sent to you via email or regular mail. Some scammers will even call you on the phone.
How can well-meaning animal lovers protect themselves from this type of animal rescue scam? The LADA offers the following common-sense tips:
Obviously, many legitimate animal welfare non-profits welcome your donation, but they certainly don’t want you to send your money to a 3rd party scammer using images of their animals to cheat you out of your hard-earned cash!
Interested in learning more? The LADA has created a video about animal shelter scams which you can see here:
Few things are more distressing to pet owners than losing a dog, cat, or other beloved pet. Unfortunately, pets go missing all the time, and the statistics show that un-microchipped animals that get brought to shelters only have around a 20% chance of being reunited with their families.
The internet has made it much easier to share information about lost and found pets than ever before. Besides social media, which can be a great lost pet resource, more and more people are also turning to lost pet apps. Here are a few of the most popular ones to check out:
Fur Alert: The Fur Alert app is promoted as a kind of Amber Alert for missing pets. Before your pet ever goes missing, you can download the app and create a profile for your pet. If your pet does get lost, you can activate a missing pet report that will send an alert to other users in your vicinity. You can also be a hero and help other people find their lost pets with the app.
Finding Rover: The Finding Rover app uses facial recognition technology to help find lost pets. You just take a picture of your dog, mark the eyes and nose, and they will keep your dog’s info on file in case he ever gets lost. If your dog does go missing, Finding Rover will alert a large network of shelters, vets, fellow members, and other organizations to help you find your pet.
Paw Boost: Paw Boost also helps users find lost pets via their app. They have a variety of free tools that enable you to spread the word about your lost pet. Notifications go out to shelters, vets, other members, and Facebook. You can even use it to create a quality missing pet flyer to post around your community.
ASPCA Mobile App: The ASPCA offers a free app that not only helps you find your lost pet by offering a personalized pet recovery kit and a digital flyer tool, they also let you store health record data on your pet and provide advice on how to keep animals safe before, during, and after a natural disaster.
PIP: Similar to Finding Rover, the PIP app uses facial recognition technology to help people find missing dogs and cats. The app analyzes photos of lost and found pets to find identifying features and make a match. They also alert a network of shelters, vets, social media, and other users to help you find your missing pet.
It’s very common to find baby wildlife this time of year. While you may want to spring into action and “rescue” baby squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc. when you don’t see their mom around, wildlife experts will tell you that well-meaning “rescuers” are actually “kidnappers”—taking babies away when their mother is alive and well.
The best advice from the experts is wait and observe…as this neat infographic from Colorado’s Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center explains:
Here in California, the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program has great information on its website about what to do if you find wild critters in your neighborhood that look like they might need rescuing, whether they’re babies, injured, or just made their way into your home.
As a general rule, when you see babies without mom nearby, don’t assume that they are orphans in need of rescuing. Keep an eye on them if you are not 100% sure that mom is really gone.
Defenders of Wildlife has these great common-sense tips to keep in mind if you find wild babies in your yard:
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Canon EOS Rebel SLR camera, the company held a “Rebel with a Cause” contest. The very deserving winner? Guinnevere Shuster, a talented animal lover and photographer who has been volunteering her time and talent to take professional quality photographs of shelter pets to help get them adopted.
Guinnevere created a beautiful video featuring a shelter dog named Willa using her Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR. The video—documenting Willa’s “Best Day Ever”—has been getting a lot of attention. And Willa’s temporary home, the Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, has been fielding many calls from potential adopters seeking to take Willa home!
You can read all about the contest and Willa’s photo shoot with Guinnevere at people.com. Here’s the adorable video…congratulations Guinnevere and Willa!
