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Love it Forward: Valentines Day Ideas for Pets

Throughout the year animal lovers are always looking for ways to give back to animal shelters or charities according to animal rights advocate Igor Purlantov. Valentine’s Day is a great time for people to show their love by giving back to their favorite animal charity or shelter in honor of their beloved pet.

When researching an animal charity, a good place to start is Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org). As for animal shelters, it is always good to first ask family and friends as there is a good chance one of them has adopted a pet from a local shelter either directly or through wonderful websites such as Pet Finder (www.petfinder.com) says Igor Purlantov.

Once you have chosen an animal charity or local animal shelter that you would like to give back to, figure out how you can reasonably help, which can including donating time or money. Here is a list of ten great ways you can help out your local animal shelter or charity for Valentine’s Day or during any other time of the year according to Igor Purlantov.

10) Donate a bag of dry cat or dog food to your local shelter or charity. You can buy large bags of dry pet food at retailers such as Costco that should help feed the bellies of several animals.

9) Ensure that bedtime is extra cozy for shelter animals and donate old sheets, towels and t-shirts.

8) Raise awareness in your neighborhood on the importance of having pets tagged since animal shelters spend a lot of time and money trying to reunite lost pets with their families.

7) Post a photo of a shelter pet in need of adoption on your Facebook page or other social media page.

6) Make a financial donation to charities such as the ASPCA or to your local shelter to help ensure that all homeless pets find a new home.

5) Volunteer to help with assorted tasks including feeding the animals, keeping their kennels clean, walking dogs, and brushing and grooming cats and dogs so they look their best when they are up for adoption.

4) Offer to collect any supplies that a shelter may need including newspapers, books about animals and how to care for them, pens, pencils, and other office supplies.

3) Make sure your pet is spayed or neutered and encourage family, neighbors and friends to spay or neuter their pets as well.

2) Always mention your local animal shelter whenever you hear someone say they are thinking of adopting a pet, whether it is a cat, a dog or even a rabbit.

1) Make special toys to keep shelter animals socialized and happy which will in turn make it easier for them to be adopted. You can use tennis balls for puppies or pipe-cleaners to craft toys for kitties.