#GivingEveryTuesday: Animal Rescue
Each Tuesday, SHARE Omaha features a unique cause theme for #GivingEveryTuesday and encourages our community to give and support in any way we can! This week's #GivingEveryTuesday theme is Animal Rescues. Support local animal rescues today!
ShelterMe Nebraska
ShelterMe Nebraska shares, "65% of domestic violence victims refuse to leave because they fear for their pet’s safety. 71% said their abuser threatened, injured or killed their pet to keep them in the abuse. We need to change those statistics, but we need your help!"
SheltarMe Nebraska is the only organization in Nebraska who helps domestic abuse victims escape WITH their pets. We have three programs that can help: our emergency hotel stay program, our boarding and foster care program, and our aftercare program. We’ll foster or board their pets for as long as they need, then get them all the supply need, once the survivor is in a healthy, happy home.
"We need funds and supplies. Domestic abuse victims leave with nothing and we supply everything for their pets. It takes a lot of money to do that," says the organization.
Happy Paws
Cassie Lowell of Happy Paws shares, "Without animal rescue non rofits the survival rate of strays, owner surrenders and accidental litters would likely reduce by triple if not more. Nonprofits are run by people who are passionate about what they do and the animals they care for/help."
Happy Paws helps make the metro a better place by servicing the outlying areas that the larger cities rescues can not. They have a TNR program as well as vouchers to cover part of the cost for spay/neuter services. They also have a food pantry and, when they have the resources, help feed animals whose owners are struggling to do so.
"We need support and patience. We are volunteer run and rely on donations and fundraisers to enable us to do what we love. Our communities support of our efforts helps keep us going! Donations of food, time, supplies, and money ensure we are around to help the smaller outlying areas as much as we can," says Cassie.
Wildlife Rescue Team, Inc
Vikki at Wildlife Rescue Team, Inc shares, "We think it is important to donate to nonprofits like an animal rescue because many of us are volunteers. We don’t get paid to do the job and we spent thousands of hours a year helping these animals. In particular, we have always found it difficult to get donations from corporations for Wildlife, because most of the donations go toward domestic animals."
The Wildlife Rescue Team, Inc. is making the METRO area a better place by caring for animals that are injured or orphaned. Part of our outreach is educating the public on whether the animal needs to be rescued, but when it really does, it makes the human feel better about being able to help the animal.
"We can always use more volunteers from our community and donations of monetary goods and items like dog and cat food. Our supply costs continue to grow. We can always use help with Vet care. Many vets will not treat wild animals, and again, because we are trying to use our donation money responsibly, it is always helpful when we have someone who is willing to give us a discount of some kind and assist us in that way," says Vikki.
Donate to Wildlife Rescue Team, Inc
Stray to Spay
Volunteers at Stray to Spay shares, "Animals are so vulnerable; they cannot advocate for themselves and yet they can be greatly affected by human activities. Donations to animal recues enable us to help when and where we can so we can improve their quality of life and reduce their suffering. "
While it is true colonies exist all over the metro area, the larger colonies tend to be in areas that are struggling in other ways as well (low-income, few services etc.). Many caretakers saw a problem and are trying to help, often spending a huge portion of their income on cats. We are trying to ease their financial burden through our trap-neuter-return program, whichs ultimately reduces cat colonies, and by providing food for the cats and other support. This will also ultimately reduce the number of feral cats in the city, which comes with ecological benefits to other animal populations.
"Right now, the greatest thing we need is financial support. We transport cats out of the city for a lot of vetting services so we can stretch every dollar that is donated to us, but the cost adds up and we want to be able to continue our work. If folks cannot provide financial support, sharing our information and message is a huge help as well," says volunteers.
Catz Angels CARE, Inc.
Jan at Catz Angels CARE, Inc shares, "Donating to an animal rescue is important to prevent the suffering of animals especially those that are outside and homeless. The key to better lives for animals is spaying and neutering. The vast majority of Catz Angels CARE's budget goes toward vet expenses that includes spaying and neutering."
"When someone contacts Catz Angels CARE regarding a cat in need, we give that cat vet care and find it a good home. We also lessen the burden on other government agencies. The item we need the most on our wish list is scoopable, cat litter," says Jan.
Donate to Catz Angels CARE, Inc.
Lost Pets of Omaha Area
Richard at Lost Pets of Omaha Area shares, "Across the country, there are millions of pets surrendered or lost each year. Some rescue groups focus on getting surrendered pets into a new home. Lost Pets of Omaha Area focuses on getting lost pets back to their own home. Volunteer rescue groups of either type significantly reduce the burden on local animal shelters which struggle with funds and staffing."
Lost Pets of Omaha Area facilitates getting lost pets back home through our Facebook page, reducing the volume of lost pets going to the Nebraska Humane Society. We also loan live/safe traps and trail-cams, we assist with signs, and provide very low cost microchipping. For pets that are found, we have a network of 35 people with microchip scanners that can get a microchipped pet home without the need to involve the Nebraska Humane Society. We recently acquired a thermal imaging drone for extended pet searches when the circumstances lend themselves to such a search. Our page facilitates the reunion of over 2,500 pets a year.
"After over 10 years of serving our community, we have an awesome support base of over 61,000 followers. They are very generous.There are at least a dozen other local, similarly-named, well-meaning lost/found pet groups that have started long after ours. Lost pets are often posted on one site, and a finder may post on a different site, resulting in confusion and posts that are out-of-date. Many times a pet gets sent to the Nebraska Humane Society because a finder didn't know that an owner had posted on a different site. Pet owners must now look on all of those forums hoping to see if their lost pet might be there when their time would be better spent searching for their pet. We just ask, if using those other sites, that Lost Pets of Omaha Area also be the go-to page for lost and found pets," says Richard.
Donate to Lost Pets of Omaha Area
The Foster Kitten Project
Jenni at The Foster Kitten Project shares, "I believe people often forget that animal rescues are here to help decrease the overwhelming population of stray animals which secondarily decreases the amount of sickness and disease. Not only are these illnesses spread to other animals but to the human population as well (and I'm not just talking about rabies, many other illnesses can be spread as well)."
Our mission is to help the helpless. Kittens who are orphaned or abandoned and cannot eat on their own. It takes time, skill and patience that many other organizations are unable to accommodate.
"Monetary donations. Because of our mission, our kittens are in our care for much longer than many other organizations. Often we are getting kittens at days old and they are in our care until they get adopted. So because they need to be altered before they are even eligible for adoption a kitten can easily be in our care for 12 weeks or older. Also if we take in pregnant or nursing moms they too will be in our care for quite awhile. There are criteria that we have to meet before that mama cat is eligible to be altered before we can put them up for adoption or TNR. Also this age group of kittens have compromised immune systems and may need more vet visits than an average kitten. For example, For other organizations who take in kittens that can eat on their own, they can potentially make them eligible for adoptions within 3 weeks of intake. Given they are healthy and big enough to get altered. Most will be placed on medical hold for 2 weeks or if an owner comes forward. Then they can be completely vetted the next week and then put up for adoption," says Jenni.
Donate to The Foster Kitten Project
Choose your ways to donate today and support Animal Rescues in the greater Omaha/Council Bluffs metro!