With over six million companion animals entering rescue facilities annually, community aid is vital. These non-profit shelters often struggle to handle intake rates. According to the American Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), in 2019 around 920,000 animals admitted to shelters were euthanized annually, which equated to 13% of sheltered dogs and 17% of sheltered cats.
Many of the dogs and cats who enter shelters were either surrendered by their owner, found stray, or rescued from cruelty (such as puppy mills and hoarding cases), and volunteers work to make the environment at their hopefully temporary home safe and ideal for these likely traumatized animals to heal in.
Protectors of Animals is a nonprofit animal rescue organization based in East Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1975, they aim to save stray, abused, and abandoned cats and dogs. A member of the Hall Community, who prefers to remain anonymous, described her experience with Protectors of Animals after discovering them at an event located at the Avon Valley Show Stables, in Avon, Connecticut.
“It felt like they cared,” she said. “I remember the volunteers were nice, and the dogs all seemed happy.”
Volunteering isn’t just beneficial for the animals, though. It provides a space for people to expand their social networks, participate in physical activity, and be role models all while making a difference in their communities.
Animal shelters don’t always stop at the border of their city or state, with some expanding their network across state lines or even nationwide. As of 1984, the Best Friends Animal Society has been at the forefront of the no-kill movement, which was developed to bring an end to the euthanization of animals in shelters.
Since then, the amount of animals killed in shelters has decreased significantly, and as of 2021, the Best Friends Animal Society reports on their website that “the national save rate is now 83%,” with almost half of the United States shelters no-kill.
If you wish to take action in your community, non-profit organizations are a space with vast opportunities. Through searching online, there are plentiful animal shelters in need of assistance across the country, whether that means volunteering, donating, or even adopting.
