Why October Might Be the Best Month to Adopt a Shelter Dog!

There’s by no means a improper time of 12 months to present a canine in want a loving residence, however in the event you’ve been searching for an indication that it’s time to undertake a canine, then Undertake a Shelter Canine Month is it. All through October, animal shelters, pet charities, and canine rehoming organizations are going to be going the additional mile to make it possible for the thousands and thousands of stray, deserted, and surrendered canines dwelling in animal shelters throughout the nation are on everybody’s radar.

Yearly, round six million canines and cats enter animal shelters throughout the nation, with lower than half of them being rehomed or adopted¹. No surprise these organizations are stretched to breaking level. For a lot of potential canine house owners, the simple attraction of an lovable pet will be tough to withstand, that means that breeders hold breeding, and canine shelters hold filling up. And the longer a canine stays a resident of a shelter surroundings, the harder they’re to rehome, with many growing well being and behavioral points on account of their lengthy incarceration, regardless of the very best efforts of the employees and volunteers who dedicate their time to taking care of them.

What Is “Undertake a Shelter Canine Month”?

Together with demise and taxes, one thing that may be a unhappy certainty is that there are at all times going to be canines in want of loving properties. Undertake a Shelter Canine Month is an opportunity for animal shelters and charities to spotlight these animals by way of quite a lot of open days, promotions, fundraisers, celeb appearances, and discounted adoption charges. A fast search on-line will little doubt convey up dozens of occasions deliberate in your native space.

Even in the event you’re not at the moment ready to present a canine a house, don’t despair. All through October, there can be loads of alternatives so that you can get entangled, unfold the enjoyment of canine companionship, and assist out your native animal shelter.

man in volunteer shirt petting a dog in a shelter — Picture Credit score: Max kegfire, Shutterstock

How You Can Get Concerned

Undertake a canine! Ask anybody who has given a second probability to a shelter canine, and they’re going to inform you that it is without doubt one of the most rewarding issues you are able to do.
Foster a canine! Animal shelters at all times want skilled canine lovers to absorb canines that want a while in a house or with a household earlier than they’re prepared for a eternally residence. In some ways, fostering dogs is even more important – and rewarding – than adopting.
Volunteer – one factor that animal shelters hardly ever have sufficient of is volunteers. There are at all times pens to be cleaned, canines to be walked, and even puppies to be performed with and socialized.
Donate – toys, meals, tools, and naturally, chilly exhausting money. Even a small donation could make a giant distinction.
Fundraise – set up an occasion, raffle, and even simply hit up your family and friends to place in some cash to donate to a neighborhood shelter or charity of your selection.
Unfold the phrase – each time you share a publish, reel, or video about adopting a dog from an animal shelter, you might be getting the phrase on the market, so carry on sharing!

Undertake, Don’t Store

In fact, there’ll at all times be breeders, and puppies, and purebred canines, and we’re not condemning individuals for selecting to go down that route, however we do suggest that if you determine it’s time to convey a canine companion into your property, you think about the next:

There are accountable breeders and there are opportunistic, unethical breeders – learn how to tell the difference between the two
Shopping for a pet doesn’t assure a wholesome, problem-free course of – many breeds have well being circumstances that will not develop into apparent till later in life
Once you undertake a canine from a acknowledged animal shelter, they’re often well being checked, temperament examined, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and handled for parasites, for an adoption charge that may be a fraction of what a purebred pup will set you again
Many canine rehoming organizations will assist with transportation, so you may develop your search past your rapid space

Two womans volunteering in a dog shelter — Picture Credit score: hedgehog94, Shutterstock

Adoption Saves TWO Lives

It’s a unhappy actuality that most of the canines that discover their method into shelters are euthanized resulting from well being or behavioral problems, or much more devastatingly, overcrowding. Each time a canine is adopted, it not solely saves their life, nevertheless it additionally makes room for one more canine in want, so by adopting one canine, you might be successfully saving the lives of two; doesn’t that hit you proper within the feels?

So in the event you’ve been ready for an indication that you must undertake a shelter canine, that is it!

Characteristic Picture Credit score: hedgehog94, Shutterstock