Ways to Help your
Local Rescue Shelter
Donating pet food or money
Volunteering / Fostering
Sponsoring an Animal
Supporting 'Support Shops'
Donating unwanted Items
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Are You M.A.D.? If not... maybe you should be!
What we mean is, are you Making A Difference?
Making A Difference to animal's lives can mean anything from donating pet food to your local rescue centre, adopting a rescue animal, volunteering at your local shelter, supporting their fundraising days and loads of things besides. Here's a few ideas we came up with, but ask your local rescue too - we're sure they'll have more suggestions!
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If you don't yet have a cat (or dog) - please rescue! When you adopt from a rescue centre, you are in fact helping two animals - by rescuing, you free up that shelter place for another animal in need!
Details of cat rescue
and re-homing groups across the U.K. appear on our » Cat
Shelter Listings
If you could adopt a rescue dog, rabbit or other small animal, find details here » Rescues listed by Animal
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Most rescue shelters and rehoming groups always
need: Pet Food • Bedding • Blankets • Towels • Newspapers • Cat
Litter • Litter Trays • Litter Scoops • Feeding Bowls • Cat Toys • Scratching
Posts • Dog Leads • Pet Carriers • Petfood money-off coupons • Bin Bags • Disinfectant
• Stationery • Stamps • Any good quality, clean items that could be sold for funds in support shops, boot sales, fetes and fairs etc. • and not forgetting... money!
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Funds are always needed to cover basic food and litter bills, but often the biggest expense for any rescue centre is veterinary bills! One-off donations are always appreciated, or you could set up a monthly standing order. Or ask your employer about payroll giving schemes such as Give As You Earn, operated by CAF (Charities Aid Foundation). If you are a taxpayer don't forget Gift Aid, as that can make your donation worth a whopping 25% more to the charity at no extra cost to you - just ask the charity for a gift aid form to sign, or you can include a declaration in with your donation stating that you are a taxpayer, (declarations must include your full name and address, and be signed and dated).
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Legacies or bequests left to charities, particularly smaller organisations, make a huge contribution to their work. If you have pets, it's a good idea to make provision for them in your will. Many people choose to name a local rescue or rehoming shelter in their will to become guardians of their pet(s), leaving a monetary gift as a legacy to help towards their care. You can find out more about leaving a legacy to charity here » Leaving a Legacy
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If you have a cat or dog, please make sure it is neutered! That is the most humane
and responsible way of preventing more unwanted litters in the years to
come. This directly helps your local rescue centre by reducing the number
of animals they will need to find homes for in the future!
21,000 reasons to neuter your cat - and how
to get Low-Cost neutering » Neutering Information
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Many charities and rescue centres can raise useful funds by recycling your unwanted items. Typical items which can be great fundraisers are: Old mobile phones • Used Printer & Fax Cartridges • Foreign Notes or Coins • Used Postage Stamps • Unwanted, or broken jewellery • Aluminium foil & drinks cans. Ask your local Rescue Shelter
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Many animal charities rely on support shops for vital funding. Help your local charity by donating any good quality unwanted items. While you're there have a browse around, it's amazing what bargains you can pick up, from books and CD's to clothes and household items. Rescues who don't have a support shop will usually still be glad of good quality items to sell at boot sales, stalls and fairs... and every penny counts!
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Many rescue centres and sanctuaries operate a 'sponsorship' scheme for their un-homeable residents. Animals who, for a variety of reasons cannot be re-homed, often live out their life in a rescue centre, and are very grateful for 'sponsors' to contribute to their food and vet bills. Often you are able to visit your sponsored animal, or will receive updates on their progress. A year's animal sponsorship makes a unique and thoughtful gift for any animal lover, for only a few pounds.
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You can sponsor a Cat Cabin in a Cats Protection shelter for only a few pounds a month. These safe, comfortable cabins are a life saver for thousands of cats every year, as they await a permanent home. There are two levels of Cat Cabin sponsorship to choose from - find out more here » Sponsor a Cat Cabin
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Would you like to care for a cat, but don't want the lifelong responsibility
that
goes
with
it? Many
rescues
rely on cat foster homes to care for cats 'between homes'. Could
you be a cat fosterer? Our information page explains all about the role of fostering, and what you need to know » Cat Fostering
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Animal rescue centres are always glad of extra helpers. If they have a permanent shelter, volunteers are needed to feed and fuss the cats, change water and tidy up litter trays, and those who rescue dogs, always need dog-walkers.
Other roles often filled by volunteers are: Drivers, Home-checkers, Foster carers, Shop Assistants / Stallholders, Administrators and Fundraisers. Rescues are often so busy, that they have little time for fundraising to support their work, so extra help is always welcome. For new fundraising ideas, try here » www.better-fundraising-ideas.com
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Many rescue shelters, particularly the smaller independent ones, are often in need of people with building or carpentry skills, plumbers or electricians. Shelter buildings and animal pens need maintaining, repairing or improving, so skilled volunteers are welcomed. Could you spare a Sunday afternoon? Contact your » Local rescue shelter
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If you are familiar with Cat Chat, you may know that we offer free Cat Homing Pages (often referred to as 'Virtual Shelters'), to rescue centres and rehoming groups around the UK.
If your local rescue organisation doesn’t have a Cat Chat Homing Page, they are missing out on extra homes for their cats! If you have a good basic computer skills, including using a photographic programme to crop, resize and optimise photos for the web, you could  volunteer to help them by maintaining a Cat Chat Homing Page for them. Depending on their set-up, this may entail going to a rescue shelter each week/fortnight and taking photos of the cats, or using photos and details emailed to you from the rescue and/or their fosterers.
To find out if your local rescue already has a Homing Page go to our Shelter Listings and see if their listing displays a red 'Rescue Me!' button, above.
Please bear in mind that some rescues may not be aware of Cat Chat, so you may have to explain what we do! If you require one of our information leaflets to pass on, please email us at: cats (at) catchat.org
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Not Sure Who to Support?
Find Animal Rescue & Welfare Organisations here...
Details of Cat Rescue & Rehoming Organisations » UK Cat Shelters
Details of Welfare & Rescue organisations helping animals other than cats » Animal Charities
To support us: Cat Chat, the Cat Rescue Resource, please go to our » Support Us Section
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