Be the example you want to see in others. Have your pets licensed, provided with identification – collar, tag, and microchip, spayed or neutered, properly cared for, and provided with appropriate veterinary care.
Be prepared for the unexpected. Have plans in place for your pets in the unfortunate event that you are unable to care for them. Have a lawyer help you develop a simple trust for their long term care and identify family or friends who will take charge of caring for your animals should you become hospitalized or incapacitated. Prepare an emergency kit and plan should you need to evacuate your home with your pets.
Become acquainted with and follow the laws that pertain to responsible animal ownership at the state level as well as the community level. Learning the law can feel overwhelming. But with online access, it’s easier than ever to get acquainted with the laws that govern your community’s animal management practices. Most animal care law is carried out at the state or local level. Knowing these laws – even just a few of the key ones – will give you the foundation you need to support and build your community’s progress in animal welfare.
Get to know your Animal Control Officers by name and face. Contact them when you need their assistance. Be courteous. Find out how you can support their work in your community. Invite them to present at your community meetings.
Know the resources available to your community. There are many non-profit assistance organizations and animal welfare services around the Central Virginia region these days. Humane societies, rescue agencies, sanctuaries, groups that build fences for tethered dogs and provide housing for dogs and cats, and agencies that help pet owners resolve pet problems and successfully avoid relinquishing their pets to a pound – you may be surprised to learn how many support services are available to call upon when there’s a need. Check out our directory at the PAWS Information Center. (Check the Regional listings in each category.)
Hold the expectation that your community will honestly enforce the laws that pertain to and protect animals. Voice this expectation at every opportunity and encourage others to do the same.
Ask questions and require answers. Give yourself permission to learn all you can about policies and procedures in your community’s management of animals. It’s easy to feel intimidated by officials who don’t want you inquiring about their practices – especially when their practices may not be quite what they should be. Assert your right to understand how the laws and policies are applied. Officials can get by with not enforcing the law and proper procedures only when no one is watching or questioning. When you and others start watching, questioning, and learning – things WILL start to change.
Become a local “expert” on a topic of animal management. Few people understand or know much about the laws and details that pertain to animal management. A little background searching and learning can easily place you among your community’s experts on a particular topic of interest to you. Knowledge is power. Use it.
Keep issues alive by TALKING about them! Share concerns and information about animal issues in your community with others: friends, family, neighbors. Don’t let your concerns be swept under the rug – out of sight and out of mind.
Put it in Writing. Identify specific issues of concern in your community – for instance a need for a ban on dogs-running-at-large or to increase enforcement of licensing laws because too many dogs are found stray with no tags. In the wake of a specific occurrence or public disturbance you may be able to get your local paper to run a story. Once an issue is in the papers you can also build on it with well-written, timely letters to the editor.
Volunteer your time with a local shelter, rescue, or humane society. Caring for the animals that suffer as they fall through the cracks of our broken animal management systems is a tremendous and endless job. These organizations are always in need of your support. Find out how you can best contribute to their efforts. In doing so, you’ll learn even more about the value of your efforts to prevent these tragedies.
WE have the power to stop this. WE have the power to EDUCATE others. WE have the power to DEMAND RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY RESPONSE. WE have the power to ALERT MEDIA about the needs in our communities. WE have the power to BOYCOTT THE SALE OF PETS today who will fill our shelters and be put to death tomorrow. WE have the power to CHANGE THE LAWS to enable our communities to protect helpless animals and to promote responsible ownership.
It is up to US and we need all of US working smart, working together, and doing whatever we can do to stop the tragedies. Find a way to do your part in your own community.
The possibilities are everywhere.
Tools and Resources
An Advocacy Toolkit from the Humane Society of the United States! Great tips and resources for those who want to bring about change.
Advocating for Animals (Excellent collection of articles from the Animal Legal Defense Fund)
