How can each of us help abandoned animals in real terms?

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Detailed instructions on how to proceed and what your options are. Which dogs are looking for their homes now? My personal experience

Maybe each of you has ever wondered how you can help abandoned animals in shelters? Many people imagine that if one does not have a large amount of funds, his help will be meaningless or negligible. Maybe I will surprise you, but this attitude is not correct. Each one of us has an opportunity to support the shelters in different ways. Any help from the thrown out, lost and abused animals will be of great help.

In this article, I would like to focus on various forms of helping shelters. Even a small regular sum of money helps the shelters to survive. In this way, they save a large number of abandoned dogs and cats from Slovakia.

How is the funding in shelters? The shelters and civic associations (CA) are often left only to financial and material assistance from individuals and companies. We can decide how we want to help. Either we donate a lump sum of 10 € (everyone according to his own possibilities) or we can place a standing order in our bank, for example 3 € per month. We may have the impression that 3 € is a negligible contribution, but it is not. I would like to highlight that standing orders are one of the main sources of financing for shelters. The more people contribute to the shelter on a regular basis, the higher the amount is accumulated in the shelter per month. These are the funds that the shelter may have available in the future, which it can invest in the construction, purchase of feed, veterinary accounts etc. It is exactly within the framework of the CA Trenčianske labky 333×3 project that deals with finding 333 people who give a standing order to the shelter in the amount of 3 €. Subsequently, the association will have at its disposal 999 € per month and you can already plan something real with that amount. It would not only be a month-to-month survival and fear of paying veterinary and feed bills. In my opinion, this is a really great project, because this is how the shelter / CA becomes able to function in the long term even without everyday begging for individual dogs on social networks (Project 333×3 or There is a force in unity, CA Trenčianske labky, 2016).

So why did people (volunteers) embark on such an animal aid project, knowing beforehand that it would not be easy to get funding every month operation?

“Helping animals is our mission, not work. We help voluntarily and pro bono. We want continue with helping, because the feeling when you save an animal from certain death and you see its glowing eyes in a new home, or blowing in duvets, is indescribable … ˝ (Trenčianske labky, 2016).

How can we help?

The purpose of this article is to provide people with information on how individuals and companies can help animals in real terms. Just choose one or two civic associations (preferably the ones you have the highest confidence in) to help them on a regular basis.

I am very glad when all the necessary information is in one place. I will update the article over time, so if anyone comes up with an idea of what else I could add here, just comment on my article (on social networks) or write to me at dp@imp.sk.

So I will get to the point, and in a few points I will mention 18 ways how you can help (not just during Christmas).

Your options to help animals are as follows:

Use one of the websites through which you can donate directly to the shelter /CA of your own choice. Find the page you like best. The procedure is very simple. You pick one of the things the shelter wants and needs mostly at that particular time directly through the page:

www.paf.sk

Exact instructions on how to proceed:

Choose the products you want to donate
When ordering, choose a shelter that you would like to help
After completing the order, your gift for the shelter will be delivered directly it for free

Or here:

www.bestof.sk (they have also a 1st feed bank, from which the feed will be redistributed into shelters, which have the least feed in Slovakia)

www.preutulky.sk/wishlisty

www.granulkypreutulky.sk

To help shelters, you can choose from the following categories:

Purchase of feed: granules, rice, pasta, oatmeal, tins for animals (monthly, shelters consume for dogs 450 kg of granules and more)
Donation of blankets, mattresses, sheets, towels and carpets
Purchase of means for fleaing and deworming, other medicines as required by CA
Donation or purchase of animal transport crates, plastic dog dens (crates are very important for CA, all dogs must be transported in crates, injured dogs or cats often sleep in them)
Collars and leashes, water and food bowls (bowls should be made of a more durable material, preferably metal, dog can bite plastic easily, or they are too light and during feeding they move with it on the ground)
Medical and disinfectant material

Other means of assistance are:

Adoption of the pet (the condition is to sign an adoption contract and to pay the adoption fee, every found dog needs basic vaccination and deworming, I recommend going to the event Nájdite sa, which was this year held in September at Námestie slobody in Bratislava)
A standing order (for example, 3 euros per month), one of the most important forms of aid, since shelters can count with the amount of money that they regularly receive on their account in advance (some shelters also have transparent accounts where you can see exactly how much money left the account and compare it to their invoices, which they regularly publish)
Donation of 2% of the tax (there are a lot of shelter that survive thanks to these 2%, they would not be able to finance veterinary treatments or feed in the long run without this contribution)
One-off financial aid to a bank account
Provision of temporary care (by doing so, you will save 2 dogs right away, the one that you temporarily (or if you want also permanently) take home and who will free up space in the shelter/CA)
Donation of things that you no longer use to internet auctions that are held on the Internet, whereby the entire collected amount goes directly to the animals
Walking the dogs (if possible, depending on the type of organization)
Media and advertising assistance, adjustment of shelters’ websites
Legal assistance in dealing with various situations where it is necessary to act in order to save an animal (volunteers often do not know how to proceed within the legal system in Slovakia)
Volunteer assistance (volunteer assistance is of use in each shelter)
Visiting events aimed at helping animals (e.g., yoga where the entire proceeds of the entrance fee goes to CA, eventually other cultural events and concerts)
Transports of animals (you often travel throughout Slovakia and you would take a crate with a dog in your car? In that case, we are looking precisely for you), (CA Psia duša, 2017)

Everything you want to donate to the animals you can take them personally, send it directly to them, or use one of the websites that specialize in such assistance.

My personal experience with shelters and CA (civic associations):

You don’t you which shelter to pick, because you don’t even know it?

I recommend you, for example, CA Záchranný Koráb with Mrs. Hambalková, Združenie ochrancov a priateľov zvierat with Mrs. Karsli, CA Pomoc psíkom in Eastern Slovakia.

It goes without saying that you can help another association (shelter) from your area as well, only I have a personal positive experience with these associations. I met Mrs. Hambalková and Mrs. Karsli personally and I saw where they have animals for adoption. Although the conditions are not ideal, they manage it with bravura and there are a lot of dogs going to new owners every month.

There are also a lot of CAs, shelters and quarantine stations that may be precisely in your area. Therefore, I also recommend that you find an association that you can sometimes visit in person. Talk to the operators (if possible) and perhaps even walk their dogs.

Here comes the story of thrown out Darwin and his happy ending:

Saving of abandoned Darwin:

As part of the company’s philanthropy, we once participated in helping the skinny Rottweiler named Darwin. They found him in 2016. Mrs. Hambálková from the CA Záchranný Koráb was willing to come after him, even though she did not know how she would pay for his treatment. Nobody wanted him, since adopting a larger dog is more difficult than small puppies and smaller dogs (especially financially demanding). But she didn’t leave him on the street and decided to help him. She dealt with the funding of his treatment only later. The dog was under-nourished and suffered from skin disease. Taking into account his height, he was supposed to be weight 50 kg, but he weighed only 33 kg at that time. Darwin was ready for adoption after 5 months of treatment. He put on weight and looked healthy and happy once again. Also such a personal experience often changes your perspective on what is important. At that time, finances for quality feed and veterinary treatment were of primary importance. If we hadn’t started with it at that time, Darwin would not have looked as happy as he does now. The 2 photos are different to such an extent that it is hard to believe it is the same dog. Yes, you can see even such results with your CA, for example, a standing order for 3 euros a month will be very helpful.

Therefore, please spread what you have learned here, you never know how many lives you will save.

The biggest reward will then be the stories of saved dogs we will be a part of. I think it is worth it.

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