What you can do to help rescue dogs in 2023 – Dogster

This year has been off to a bad start for rescue dogs, especially large breed rescue dogs.

“Overcrowded animal shelters are turning away owners who want to surrender their dogs because there is no room,” says Maria Dales, founder and director of California’s German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County. “With nowhere to bring their unwanted dogs, owners seek the help of rescue groups; When rescue can’t help, there’s no other choice. We cannot ‘rescue’ ourselves from this situation.

The best thing you can do when feeling frustrated about your situation is to make a change. Julie’s castleCEO at a leading animal welfare organization Animals’ best friendsshare four ways you can help to have the most positive impact on shelter animals.

What can you do to help rescue dogs in 2023

Helping a local overcrowded animal shelter doesn’t always mean adoption.

Here are 4 ways to help your local animal shelter:

1. Take care of a dog. Fostering dogs can reduce stress on shelters and rescue groups that are helping them. Julie says: “By freeing up space in a show, you are allowing another animal to be saved, reducing the need for human resources and helping to prepare the dog for its next home.
2. Volunteering by dog ​​walking, feeding, and cleaning is a great way to help with shelters or rescues, but many shelters and rescue groups need volunteers from afar to help with chores. administration or social media, to name just a few.
3. Transport drivers, who move dogs from where they need to go, are a big help.
4. Finally, go viral on social media. Help your local shelter announce the pets they’ve adopted — you never know who’s scrolling your feed, says Julie.

“Contact a local rescue group to find out where your efforts can have the greatest impact — find one that is making progress and add to their track record,” says Maria.

How did animal shelters become so crowded?

Julie says:

2021 is more challenging for shelters, Julie said, with slightly higher admissions, reduced staffing, reduced operations, and even fewer adoptions, leading to shelters. Animal shelters are overcrowded and thousands of pets have to wait longer to find homes, says Julie. “The number of dogs and cats killed in U.S. shelters increased for the first time in five years (from 347,000 to 355,000), largely because the number of pets entering shelters declined historically in year 2020.”

“While we don’t have the full data set for 2022, we see adoption not keeping up with consumption,” Julie said.

Julie explains: “In 2023, shelters across the country are struggling with higher intakes, while adoptions, foster care and rescues are not keeping up. This population imbalance means there are more animals in shelters (especially dogs), which is causing increased stress on shelter staff and the current shelter crisis.

“With most U.S. facilities operating at or beyond capacity, dogs in overcrowded animal shelters are more at risk of being killed,” she said.

Do you volunteer at your local shelter? Share your experience with us and how our readers can help.