October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month: 10 Ways You Can Help

This guest post is courtesy of our friends over at Petfinder.com and Janet McCulley, Trendologist at Animal Planet's The Daily Treat. There are more dogs in need than ever these days and our friends at Petfinder.com have put together a great list of ten simple ways we can all help the tens of thousands of helpless, orphaned and abandoned pets that are seeking loving forever homes. We understand that not everyone can necessarily adopt a pet, but there are many ways you can help. Read on to learn how and please spread the word! 1. Donate your Facebook status. Just paste this message into the "What's on your mind?" box at the top of your page: "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com" 2. Tweet, retweet and repeat the following (or your own brilliant message): "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com" 3. Contact your local shelter or rescue group (you can search for groups near you on Petfinder) and ask if they have a donation wish list or other flyer they'd like to you to post around your office or neighborhood. They may be holding special events for Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month which you can help promote. 4. Share an adoptable dog story or a Petfinder dog-adoption Happy Tail on your blog, Facebook or Twitter page each day of the month. 5. Sign up as a foster parent or shelter volunteer then tell your friends how great it is. Contact your local shelter or rescue group, or register in our volunteer database. 6. Add a Petfinder widget or banner to your Web site or blog. 7. Share your stories. Write an op-ed about the importance of pet adoption for your local paper. 8. Contact your local shelter or rescue group and offer to photograph their adoptable pets and upload the pics to Petfinder. 9. Donate to your local shelter or rescue group or to the Petfinder.com Foundation in honor of Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. 10. Educate others. Pass on an understanding of the importance of pet adoption to the next generation. Talk to your kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and other up-and-comers about animal shelters and why Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, and pet adoption in general, is important. See this list and more adoption awareness tips at Petfinder.com. And if you are interested in adopting Rosalie, the pooch pictured here, visit her profile page! Did we leave anything out? Give us your own ideas!