International Rescue Cat Day

International Rescue Cat Day is March 2nd

International Rescue Cat Day is the day to bring a new member into your family by adopting at cat! There are so many cats out there just waiting for a home, so make sure to rescue when you decide to adopt a new cat.

The first Humane Society was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) founded in 1867, by Henry Bergh. Bergh founded the ASPCA on the clear belief that all animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment and must be protected under the law. Overall, ASPCA plays a major role in the rescue and adoption of animals and working toward better laws toward animal welfare.

Reasons Why Animal Rescues/Shelters Are Important

Animal rescues play a vital role in our communities as they continuously work to reunite pets with their owners, shelter those in need, and find new homes for animals that are lost without a permanent home or for those animals that, for our own security, shouldn’t be roaming our streets.

Animal rescues and shelters also enable better overall health and well-being of animals in the community and they also help the issue of the rising tide of unwanted animals with a spay and neutering program.

Animal rescues and shelters also provide us with loving connections and also allow us the ability to learn and grow by providing education around animals and care.

How Adopting/Rescuing Makes an Impact

By adopting or rescuing cats you provide several benefits - here are the top eight reasons you should be rescuing animals:

1. You save a life.

All animals at our shelter are in need of a second chance. Many are animals that have been lost, given up or abandoned. You are giving them the best chance at having a new life in a loving home.

2. You help break the cycle of pet overpopulation.

There are simply not enough homes for all the animals that are born every year. Adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle. Every year around 2 million animals in the U.S. are euthanized due to overpopulation.

3. You help stop cruelty in mass breeding facilities.

Throughout the country, there are thousands of commercial pet-breeding facilities and backyard breeders producing millions of animals for sale. More often known as puppy and kitten mills, these facilities repeatedly impregnate female animals that spend their entire lives in a cage.Adopting a shelter animal means you don’t support these cruel practices.

4. You take advantage of adopting an adult animal.

Adult pets are great! Often they are already house trained and you don’t have to deal with the “kitten phase” which means less of that youthful energy such as biting, chewing, clawing, etc.

5. You get a lifetime resource with shelter employees and volunteers.

People who work at the shelter are a great resource to help you find information or other resources for your pet.

6. You adopt a pet who has received good care.

All animals that come to the shelter are admitted by experienced staff. They are given vaccinations upon arrival and go through a behavior screening process. (Please ask your Adoption Counselor for details). There are several vet partners that come to visit shelters weekly and are there to assist with health care issues and concerns.

7. You support a valuable charity and community institution.

Every community in the U.S. is required to have an animal shelter. When you adopt animals from a shelter you are supporting a non-profit organization, but you are also sending a message to others that there are more positive and uncruel practices for animal care and resources to find a pet. Shelters also improve the community by mandating that adopted animals be spayed or neutered. This requirement remedies the issues of over population and the amount of unwanted pets that don’t have homes.

8. You pay less.

Most adoption fees are quite a bit less than fees you would pay for a breeder.

How to Help Your Shelter

There are copious ways you can help your shelter, but here is a list of just a few ways you can lend a helping hand.

• Adopt a pet
• Donate
• Volunteer at the shelter
• Become a foster 

Other Resources

A list of national non-profit shelters and information

There are a thousand reasons why you should be adopting/rescuing animals. But it starts with you making that choice. In large over 50 million people live in communities saving at least 80 percent of animals in their shelters, and 65 percent of households have animals in their home.

The choice is yours. Find out your own reasons why adopting/rescuing an animal is so important to you.