Donations to pet charities

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I prefer to donate my money to wildlife charitys.
There are too many people in this world, many have the means to survive and look after themselves- some are desperatly in need of help but they get the vast majority of charity money in this world as it stands anyway out of everything else.
I love animals and i would be happy to donate money to most of them but over here in England the cat and dog populations, mainly cats, are pushing thousands of native species to extinction which is why i don't like them a whole lot.

Wild animals animals are at the mercy of everyone- the enviroment and politics, humans and pet animals- they are always the last to get treated attention too and i think wildlife is the most important thing we have in our world enviroments and it should be at the top of our priority lists.

I feel much better donating my money to wild animal charitys and enviromental conservations than any other type of charitys- i know many of you may hold this against me, but i feel much better for helping save an endangered type of hare or bird for example that has taken millions of years to evolve than one of the billions of humans poluting this world or many cats and dogs already in obscene numbers pushing everyone other native aminal to its limits .

I think if you rather save animals than humans then you have nothing to be ashamed of, people suffer but so does this enviroment and its wildlife or animals and i have alot of respect for you if you rather help animals who are often in much greater need for help- but thats just my opinion.

 

[jacblades]

let's all remember what the red cross did after sept 11.

they used donations that were to go to the sept 11 victims and families for other purposes.

i will not donate to the red cross because of that and the fact that they are not animal-friendly (pro animal testing)

$2 out of my paycheck every week goes to petsmart animal charities.

i usually skip out on donating to popular charities like the red cross because they do not bear the humane charity seal. i will not donate to charities that hurt animals at the same time.


http/www.humaneseal.org/charity_month/hurricane.html

 

[rdd1952]

I won't get into the animal testing issue as that will (not could but will) get a little too heated. There are other good human charities besides the Red Cross. I guess the key thing is that people give regardless of wheher it is to human or animal charities.

 

[tekknocolor]

I guess the key thing is that people give regardless of wheher it is to human or animal charities.

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I would have to agree whole heartedly with you on that

 

[Angry_Platy]

I thought it was sad with the New Orleans thing that when the people were getting on the buses their pets weren't allowed leaving a heap of dogs/cats just where the bus left from. Me and the BF decided that there was no way we would get on those buses without our pets and if that meant not getting on at all then so-be-it.

Back to the issue at hand, I work for a hospital and donate money to cancer stuff such as research, a thing we have here called Starlight where they use the funds to brighten up sick kids lives, Ronald McDonald House which provides accommodation towards families of sick kids etc. I haven't donated any money towards the New Orleans disaster.

 

[rdd1952]

I did see where a lot of people had taken their pets with them. One article said that the Astrodome had set up kennels (the cage type) for people to put them in since they couldn't just let them run loose in the dome. They were free to visit them, walk and play with them anytime they wanted. I would hope that efforts were made to keep people with their pets since that may be all they have left. I know for a fact that my wife and I would not have gotten on a bus without our dog. She is family.

There were some very touching pictures in one slideshow I saw on Yahoo. I don't remember all the details but it was about a man and woman that had to evacuate NO very quickly because of a medical conditon that he had where he couldn't afford to take the risk of not having power.They had to leave so quick and leave their 4 dogs behind. The pictures were where one of the pet rescue agencies had found 2 of the dogs and reunited them with the man and woman. The woman was in tears with the dogs on her lap licking her face. At least they are making an effort to reunite pets with their owners if they can find them.

 

[boozybears]

I regularly donate money to Petsmart and WWF, however in a situation like this, I too really struggle to give money to an animal charity while people are starving and without basic essentials to live. Not that I want pets to die either... argh.. it's a toughie.

 

[tekknocolor]

A lot of people don't or didn't know that there were animal shelters set up all over the south for people that couldn't take their pets to hotels or where ever they were staying. I'm sure a lot of others like SRC, pica nutalli, jacblades etc remember seeing animal shelter signs up and down I-65 going into Birmingham. There were a lot of people that weren't aware of such things and left their animals - not because they wanted to, but because they had no other choice.

 

[MAM]

In a situation like a natural disaster, I'd give to both if I could, but as there are so many giving and helping the human charities, I personally would donate items to those, but money to the animal groups. The people need help,yes, but there are soooooo many charities out there dedicated to helping the people. But in a natural disaster, many people are forced to leave pets behind, whether at home or in an animal shelter, because the place the humans go to to seek refuge can't or won't allow animals. In a time of crisis, loved ones can become separted, get lost, and loved ones included the animals for many people. If I was in the shoes of the people who had to leave pets behind, I'd be so worried about my pets on top of all the other issues. For many of us, pets are family, they're our sanity, they're our rock to cling to when times are tough. To have to be ripped away from them at a time when the world seems to be falling down all around you can be very traumatic, especially for children. But knowing that there were groups out there trying to help and care for my pet until such time that we could be reunited, well, that would be one less worry, one less thing on my mind in the wake of a terrible trauma.

 

[houndour]

I don't actually like giving money to charities as I just dont believe the whole of my money gets to where it should be going. If they didn't waste money sending me free pens and car stickers I'm sure a lot more people/animals would be helped.

I much prefer the types of things like where you make up a shoe box with toys/soap etc, or the things the salvation army do where you buy something extra from the supermarket and it goes to homeless.

As for animals, well I did spend a year donating a pound a week to NDCL, but they sent me so much paperwork and junk in the post I quit that.

I have now rehomed 2 rabbits and I think that giving them a home is the best charity.

As for humans or animals. I have no preference...but I don't give cash (unless its a sponsored something or other - had to add that cos someone will bring it up!!).

 

[rdd1952]

I did see where a lot of people had taken their pets with them. One article said that the Astrodome had set up kennels (the cage type) for people to put them in since they couldn't just let them run loose in the dome. They were free to visit them, walk and play with them anytime they wanted. I would hope that efforts were made to keep people with their pets since that may be all they have left. I know for a fact that my wife and I would not have gotten on a bus without our dog. She is family.

There were some very touching pictures in one slideshow I saw on Yahoo. I don't remember all the details but it was about a man and woman that had to evacuate NO very quickly because of a medical conditon that he had where he couldn't afford to take the risk of not having power.They had to leave so quick and leave their 4 dogs behind. The pictures were where one of the pet rescue agencies had found 2 of the dogs and reunited them with the man and woman. The woman was in tears with the dogs on her lap licking her face. At least they are making an effort to reunite pets with their owners if they can find them.

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I guess it's kind of odd to quote yourself but here goes. After I posted this earlier, I started thinking about the therapy pets can provide. I know that I am a happier person now than I was 4 years ago when we got our dog and I attribute it all to having her in the house. Not much else in my life has changed in that time frame. Same job, same house, same this and same that (I do have fish tanks now though ). I can only imagine how I would feel if we had been forced to leave her behind in something like this. I would definitely worry more about her and where she was, was she alive, did she have anything to eat or drink than about myself and my own needs. I can also imagine the unbelievable rush that I would get from having her returned to us a day, a week or a month later, safe and sound. In that sense, I can see that the rescue organizations can actually play a very big part in the recovery of the humans too. I can now rationalize giving to the pet charities without feeling guilty that I am neglecting a human in need.

 

[rdd1952]

Here are 2 more links for donations.

ASPCA

Humane Society

 

[Inchworm]

Hi rdd1952

Thanks for starting this thought provoking thread.

Living in New York since the 9-ll attack, I've wondered about what I would do if a disaster happened. I don't know what I would do, but I don't think I could leave my little cat Pandora behind. I keep extra cat food and litter for her as well as for myself in my pantry, "just in case."

It must be the worst thing in the world to not only suffer through a disaster, but to have to leave any loved one behind. And who is more loved and loving than a sweet cat or dog?

I chipped in with some friends to donate to the Salvation Army for their hurricane relief efforts and went through all my clothes to give 6 bags of them to a local church organization which is giving them directly to some of the New Orleans residents who were evacuated to NYC. These opportunities presented themselves to me and I went along with them, but I wish I could do more for the animals.

At least the humans understand what happened and look forward to building a future for themselves. The animals have been torn away from their loved ones and have no way of understanding and helping themselves. They are truly helpless in this situation.

 

[rdd1952]

It appears we are looking at a near instant replay in Texas. What is really bad is that Houston is only 50 miles inland and is directly in the current projected path of Rita. Can you imagine all those people that evacuated to Houston having to do it all over again. Hopefully, people will heed the warnings this time and get out. I did see where they were already busing people out of Galveston if they didn't have a means to leave on their own.

 

[sailfinman]

i would say people first