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Down East Animal Refuge

Choosing your pet can be very difficult. Whether it is your first pet or your third pet it all is a big decision. It is always good to have all your information that you are needing before you make this commitment. Finding the right fit with your family and the pet is the most important thing to consider. In the long run it will make theirs and your life a lot easier. Also, don’t forget to always ask lots of questions.

Here are some key tips on choosing your new pet:

Pets offer so much joy to a family, and can teach children to take responsibility for the well being of another living thing. However, it’s important that you give some thought to the type of pet you welcome into your home. You must select a pet that fits not only your lifestyle, but the size of your back yard and your budget.  

Here are the things to consider before you  choose a pet  to join your family.
1. How big is your back yard? If you don’t have a big area for your pet to play, or you live in an apartment, it’s not a good idea to choose a large breed of dog. Cats don’t need as much space, and may be a better choice under these circumstances.

If you would like to read more about choosing the right pet visit Barkley and Paws by clicking on the link above.

Visit Houston Dog Blog for the full article by clicking on the link above.

This topic is very dear to my heart and I hope that I can inspire someone looking for a pet to read this article and think about adopting a pet with disabilities. There is a little more work that goes into having a pet with disabilities but  the rewards will by far be worth it. One thing that  any dog with disabilities is able to show is Love. 

Here are some helpful tips about adopting a pet with disabilities:

Unfortunately dogs, like people, may need to learn to live with a disability. They may be born with the condition, such as those dogs with congenital blindness, or they may acquire it later in life. An example of this is when a dog develops hindquarter paralysis and needs a cart to get around.

Dogs who are disabled don’t appear to feel at all sorry for themselves. In fact, we are often more distressed about a dogs disability than they are.

If you’re going to adopt a dog with a disability, you need to have a little more patience than the owner of an able bodied animal. You’ll also need to be prepared for a bit more cleaning, if they aren’t able to make it to the right spot to go to the toilet. Depending on the disability, you may need to budget for more frequent veterinary visits, for example if your dog develops pressure sores.

Visit Jan’s Funny Farm for the full article by clicking on the adopt a dog with disabilities link above.

Supporting your local shelter or animal organization-whether by donating your money or your time-is a great way to help fight animal cruelty in your community. Shelters may offer opportunities to foster and socialize abused or frightened animals, or to assist humane educators in teaching kids why being cruel to animals isn’t cool.

But what can you do if your local shelter doesn’t have these programs-or if your community doesn’t even have a shelter?

For many animal advocates, starting a shelter is the ultimate in fighting animal cruelty. Every week, the ASPCA’s National Outreach department receives dozens of requests from people looking for ways to fight animal cruelty by improving the lives of animals in their communities. And every year the staff visits more than 150 shelters throughout the country, talking with directors, volunteers and employees, discussing their problems and assisting them with suggestions and resources.

The overwhelming conclusion? It takes a lot more than good intentions to run a shelter. It takes management experience, accounting skills, good contacts and the ability to get things done in the community. Excellent marketing skills are a big plus, too.

These 10 essential tips-gleaned from the pages of our comprehensive three-ring binder book, Keys to a Great Shelter: The ASPCA National Shelter Outreach Guide to Starting and Improving a Humane Organization-just might help change your dream into a reality.

1. Assess Community Needs
This could be the most important research you do, and it’s important to do it before you incorporate. Determine the problems of your local animal welfare organization. Does an existing shelter fail to meet the humane needs of your community? How is animal control handled locally? Visiting other shelters and networking with existing humane organizations will help you come up with ideas. Would another shelter drain the resources of your community and reduce the effectiveness of both? Do you have sufficient resources-not just in funds, but in expertise-to properly maintain a shelter? Can you develop community support for your goals? These are the types of questions you’ll need to answer before taking the next step.

2. Think Twice
The idea of your own sheltering facility is extremely enticing. But consider if a supportive or outreach program might not be of more immediate assistance. Many municipal shelters are greatly helped by Friends of the Shelter groups or by other humane groups who help provide for programs in foster care, low-cost spay/neuter, fundraising, education or legislative action.

3. Get Experience
If you and the members of your group don’t have experience in sheltering or a related field-become a volunteer! Seek out other opportunities to learn, too, such as attending conferences and online learning.

4. Form a Team of Go-Getters
Make the effort to assemble a winning team with the requisite expertise in management, fundraising, and accounting for your board of directors. A veterinarian, a lawyer and a teacher are also great allies, as are professionals in media, advertising and public relations. Everyone who is on the board should have and/or be willing to cultivate important contacts within the community. Look for people who can give, or get others to give, significant funding, and you’ll be well on your way.

5. Visit Other Shelters
Every member of your team should visit several shelters, and those on the shelter construction committee should visit many more. Take your architect and/or contractor along, too. Don’t look only at those in neighboring counties, but visit shelters in other states and other parts of the country to garner a wealth of ideas. Visit shelters large and small, both retro-fitted buildings and custom-designed facilities. Make arrangements to have the executive directors give you a tour. Ask lots of questions. Find out what their goals were in designing the shelter, what they feel has worked well for them and what they would do differently. Take photos, videos and notes to share with the board.

6. Decide What Type of Shelter You Want
Most shelters incorporate one or more of the following functions. Municipal animal shelters are funded by taxes and user fees, and often employ animal control officers. Privately funded non-profit shelters (generally called the humane society, the society for prevention of cruelty to animals or the animal rescue league) usually accept all animals and, as a result, are often forced to euthanize animals based on space, species, age and adoptability. They usually offer a variety of programs, such as animal rescue, cruelty investigation, and community education. “No-kill” shelters are generally privately funded and do not accept all animals brought to them. However, once accepted, animals are never euthanized unless they are incurably sick, disabled or display extreme behavior that makes them unadoptable. Sanctuaries specialize in offering lifetime care to animals, but must limit their admissions, and generally promote adoptions.

7. Come up with a Mission Statement and a Plan
Presumably, your group has already discussed its goals at length, but now it’s time to put your thoughts on paper for others to see. Write a mission statement that explains the purpose of your organization. This will help guide your development and is required for incorporation as a non-profit. The decision to incorporate or not, as well as the decision about what type of an organization you will be, are decisions you will need guidance to reach.

To incorporate, you’ll need to include the organization’s bylaws and articles of incorporation, as well as a list of those on the board of directors. Refer to the bylaws of other organizations for ideas; samples are included in the NSO Guidebook. There are a number of documents that must be filed in order to qualify for the IRS’s 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status. Mistakes in filing can mean lengthy delays in getting the shelter off the ground. That’s why it’s important to have an attorney help you navigate this legal process.

Once you’ve filed for incorporation, the next step is to develop policies and protocols-about adoption, euthanasia and volunteering, to name just a few. You’ll also to need to determine the future of your shelter. Where do you want the shelter to be in five years? In 10 years? What part will your community play in supporting the shelter? How will you develop supportive relationships with local and national vendors? Do you have people in your organization who can find and develop potential resources?

8. Raise Funds
The one inescapable fact of all non-profit humane organizations is the constant need for funds. Good intentions and hard work alone won’t cut it. Remember, running a shelter is a business, and developing sound and professional fundraising strategies not only has its obvious rewards, but is an indispensable tool.

Personal contact is the tried-and-true means to gain major donations. Many animal welfare organizations have also developed wonderfully imaginative and amusing ways to raise money and goodwill with special events. From dog walks and bake sales to corporate sponsorships, possible sources of revenue are readily available. Regardless of the size of your community, you’ll need to come up with your own sources of funding.

9. Toot Your Horn
When it’s finally time for the shelter’s grand opening, make it a major event-send press releases, advertise, have an open house party. It’s more than a celebration; it’s a promotion of all you will offer to the community. Develop sympathetic contacts with the press, send a regular newsletter to supporters, adopters and visitors, and be sure to include a donation envelope.

10. Don’t Forget the Animals
Buddy, Sweetie, Dudley, Flower… Whoever the animals are who have touched your heart, always keep in mind that they’re the reason that you’re doing this.

Starting a shelter is an exciting and complicated process, but it’s not for everyone. For those who embark on this course, we wish you every success. Fortunately, for the rest of us, there are other opportunities to help.

Mary Kirby, volunteer, and Lisa Saavedra, former assistant director, ASPCA National Outreach, worked extensively on compiling the guide, Keys to a Great Shelter. © 2002 ASPCA

To order their publication, please click Here.

The Ruth Steinert SPCA, located in Minersville Pennsylvania, houses many adorable but homeless pets. They need continous help, support and supplies whenever you may give. I personally, have rescued two kitty cats from there.

If you are local to the area, please stop by to adopt a pet, or donate food, litter etc. The animals would greatly appreciate it! You may check out there site as well at:

Ruth Steinert SPCA