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This past weekend I attended Blog Paws, a first-of-its-kind conference for pet bloggers. Not only were there tons of wonderful, inspiring pet lovers there, I was lucky enough to moderate a panel about helping homeless pets called "Be the Change You Want to See." The panel included Lynn Haigh, creator of PawPawty on Twitter; veterinarian Jessica "Dr. V" Vogelsang, owner of Pawcurious, and Dorian Wagner of Your Daily Cute. Collectively they've raised nearly $40,000 in the last year for various shelters and rescues, initiated toy drives and much more and they shared their experiences with the audience.
The point of the panel was that anyone can make a difference and save lives.
To prove it, Dorian, Dr. V and Lynn announced the "Be the Change Challenge," a virtual fundraiser on April 21 to raise $500 for homeless pets. An audience member was randomly selected and asked to name their pet charity of choice to receive the funds. Pets without Parents in Columbus, OH was named. Each member of the audience was asked to take part by blogging, donating, or tweeting in the "BlogPawty" fundraiser on Twitter. (Read more about the Be the Change Challenge and how you can participate here.)
This got me thinking: What else can bloggers do to help homeless pets? Are there any small, simple things that each of us can do to collectively make a big impact?
YES! Here are some things you can do:
- Post a customized
adoptable pet list scroller to show off adoptable pets in your
area.
- Contact your local shelter or rescue group (search for groups near you here) and ask if they have a donation wish list you can post.
- Add a "101
Reasons to Adopt" graphic to your site.
- Share an adoptable pet or a pet-adoption Happy Tail on your blog, Facebook or Twitter page.
- Foster a pet or volunteer at a shelter then blog about it. Contact your local shelter or rescue group, or register in our volunteer database.
- If your pet's a Petfinder alum, let everyone know by posting a picture of him in an "I adopted my best friend at Petfinder" frame.
- Add a featured adoptable pet generator to your home page so readers see a different
adoptable pet every time they visit your site.
- Make an adoptable pet's picture your avatar on Facebook or Twitter.
- Add an adoptable
pet search tool to your home page.
- Share or link to our Shooting Down Common Myths About Pet Adoption post.
Got other ideas? Tell us!
You might also like:
Blog: October is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month: 10 ways YOU can help
Blog: Use GoodSearch and help homeless pets every time you search
Blog: Shooting down common myths about pet adoption
