1. Follow Us
North Shore Animal League America & Mutt-i-grees are available on your favorite social media channels! Follow us at:
#GetYourRescueOn #MissionMuttigrees, #Muttigrees, #Globalambassador, #SocialEmotionalLearning #SEL #HumaneEducation #ServiceLearning #Empathy
2. Spread The Word About Animals In Need
Wish you could volunteer at an animal shelter, but you just can’t find a ride or the time in your schedule to physically do it? Not to worry. You can now help shelter animals without ever leaving your home!
These days, everyone we meet becomes another contact on Facebook… or Twitter… or Instagram. So, with each passing day, our social media networks grow. And the good news is that our potential to do good in the world grows with them. Here are just a few of the ways you can digitally help rescue pets:
3. Create your own fundraising page
Have any of your friends or family members ever run a race or grown a mustache for a charity? Did they set up an online fundraising page to help them do it? You can do the same thing for shelter animals! Just visit one of your favorite animals and humane programs. Then share the page with your email contacts, social media networks and family members. You can use North Shore Animal League America’s Do It Yourself fundraiser or check with your local shelter for a similar platform. You’d be amazed how people love to support both a friend and a good cause!
4. Raise your voice
Got a camera on your phone or computer? Record a short video about why you believe it’s so important to respect and take care of animals. Then post that video on youtube and/or your social media pages. Shelter cats and dogs can’t use words to speak up for themselves when they’re being mistreated or they need help. So, we have to be their voice. You can do it in the form of a poem… a rap… a casual conversation… whatever floats your boat. Just remember to tag your post. By raising their voices together, Mutt-i-grees students can advance the importance of the Spay/Neuter message and NO-KILL movement and change the world!
5. Volunteer
You can volunteer your time and energy to help shelter animals by simply signing up for the Mutt-i-grees Ambassador Program! You can support shelter staff talking to potential adopters, help the shelter fundraise, help socialize the animals and much more! No adoption events near you this year? Use your social media platforms. In May, be a Global Voice for North Shore Animal League America’s Global Pet Adoptathon.
6. Find Out What Your Local Shelter Needs
Shelters often need ordinary items like towels, newspapers and tennis balls that you and your friends might have lying around your houses. Call your local shelter, get a list and start collecting. One person’s trash… another’s forgotten possession… can mean the world to a shelter pet. If even half of the students and parents at your school contribute, think of how many animals you’ll help!***
7. Start a M.U.T.T.S. Club
Students across the country have followed suit, creating M.U.T.T.S. Clubs and holding events, and taken to social media that help save the lives of local dogs and cats in their communities. If you’d like to start a M.U.T.T.S. Club at your school, enlist the help of your favorite teacher and start recruiting friends to join.
You can email us for advice or help connecting with your local animal rescue organizations, but you don’t have to. Feel free to take the reins. Organize a board of passionate students and start planning. You know best what sorts of events will appeal to people in your community. So hit the ground running! Just don’t forget to hashtag and drop us a line on your accomplishments. There’s nothing we at Mutt-i-grees love more than highlighting the successes of our Global Ambassadors on their quest for Mission Mutt-i-grees!
8. Download Apps That Help Animals
Your phone is probably full of apps, right? Ones that help you get directions… ones that help you locate the nearest Starbucks, or figure out the name of that song you like on the radio… even games that help you pass the time… But did you know that there are actually a few apps that help animals? Seriously, there are. And take our word for it: they’re worth checking out. PetFinder helps you search available pets in shelters across the country and locate your new best friend. North Shore Animal League America’s Walk & Wag allows you to raise money for rescue animals, just by walking. Seriously. If you walk a mile using Walk For A Dog, WoofTrax (the app maker) will donate money to a local animal shelter. HappyCow and Vebu help you locate vegetarian and vegan restaurants wherever you go. Dog Decoder teaches you the proper ways to interact with dogs and what their body language really means. Last but not least, BNB, Leaping Bunny, Animal-Free, Cruelty Cutter and Bunny Free tell you which products and cosmetics are cruelty free. That means that you can send a message to companies – to stop testing their products and ingredients on innocent, defenseless animals – just by buying the things you always buy, but making more informed choices about which companies to support. If enough consumers do this, “testers” will be forced to change their ways to keep business. So, check out the app. Animals will thank you. Share what you learn, and hashtag!
9. Be a Mutt-i-grees® Global Student Ambassador
The Mutt-i-grees Global Ambassador Program supports students who advocate and help raise awareness for Mission Mutt-i-grees. Mutt-i-grees Ambassadors spend the academic year working on various animal welfare, humane education, and service-learning projects, including with a goal to inspire other students and community members. Plus, we can award your school or library a $500 grant to get you started!
We look forward to seeing all that you accomplish. You are the heartbeat that fuels our mission to Rescue, Nurture, Adopt, and Educate.
10. Anipal: A Social Media Volunteer
Want to volunteer but don’t have time to visit the shelter? Don’t let your schedule stop you. You can still connect with the animals here at North Shore Animal League America and share their stories with your friends and family so they can find their perfect homes. We are looking for people who love animals and want to further our mission to Rescue, Nurture, Adopt and Educate using everyday technology to post videos, photos and spread as much awareness online as possible.
