Posts tagged dogs
World Give Day: How Small Gives Change the World
May 1st
My favourite day of the year is almost here: World Give Day – May 4th, 2012. After completing my own personal giving journey for 365days I had the honour of meeting people from all over the world that are doing so much to give back in their own way. I was asked by the team at World Give Day to write a story how small gift can create a big impact. It happens to be the 365give philosophy. You don’t have to be a Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey and give billions of dollars away in your lifetime but one small gift / give and make a huge impact.
My World Give Day story is based on one such women that saved one little beings life in Romania while there on business.
Meet my sister Karen Somers – animal rescuer extrodinaire and Stella – the life she saved from Romania. You will see how her one small gift has brought so much joy to a family and will now make a great impact on hundreds of dogs lives.
Little Stella is one of over 2 million street dogs that wander throughout Romania.
This one-month-old pup crossed our paths on a movie location outside Bucharest. At the end of a long, cold night shoot, during a rain storm, this sickly puppy was the last dog left, too weak to find shelter. We were in a foreign country and didn’t know what to do.
Stella’s experience is a common one in Romania, a country that struggles to provide for its impoverished citizens on every level. Night after night, thousands of dogs go hungry, left to fend for themselves in temperatures that will eventually freeze many of them to death. The problem is not only a moral one, it also comes down to math. Every unsterilized female dog and her offspring in their lifetime and that of their puppies can produce over 67,000 dogs. Spay and neuter programs, education and shelter are in short supply to deal with this overwhelming dilemma. So USA-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, Romania Animal Rescue (RAR), was formed by American animal activist, Nancy Janes, to help where help was so sorely needed. Nancy and her team have created an effective free spay and neuter program in Romania utilizing highly skilled local veterinarians. They go town to town, doing up to 300 operations in a weekend. Their efforts are making headway on a grassroots level, slowly transforming the way a generation will help “man’s best friend”.
Stella and I were lucky that night.
She was wrapped up in a blanket and smuggled into my Romanian hotel room. After fostering with a local vet, she got her shots and flew home (20 hours on my lap) with me to California last November. Stella is an incredible dog. She wakes up with joy and goes to sleep in peace. She brings laughter and sunshine where ever she goes. Stella inspired me to help her family left in Romania.
In Stella’s name we are raising $10,000 to help Romania Animal Rescue’s spay/neuter program.
You and your dollars will make a huge difference to a homeless dog in Romania. Please donate what you can afford today to the Stella Fund.
“This post is part of a blog series inspired by World Give Day and hosted by GiveForward. To find other posts in this series please visit www.worldgiveday.com or follow us on twitter @worldgiveday.”
Day 361: Puppy Mills Bite!
Oct 12th
Have you ever received a gift that:
a) Stirs a reaction in people?
b) Starts a meaningful conversation?
c) Creates awareness to a cause worthy of support?
All that in one gift. Luck me – I just got one and I had to share with you the impact I am making every time I wear it!
Day 361: Give 361
Do you know what a Puppy Mill is? Do you know how many dogs spend their lives in conditions that are so horrible they are hard to describe? Some of these images may help to explain the life of a dog in a puppy mill. It’s not a life at all.
The t-shirt I received is made by a company called The Fleas Knees. Their mission is simple- bring awareness and funds ($5.00 from every shirt sold) to Best Friends Animal Society: Puppies Aren’t Products Campaign.
“The World Society for the Protection of Animals estimates there are 600,000,000 unwanted dogs globally.”
This t-shirt is a gift you can give that will keep giving every time the receiver wears it. Just by wearing a t-shirts with a message like this one can bring awareness and compassion to dogs that truly need it.
Buy a shirt but most importantly don’t buy a “Puppy Mill puppy” and tell your local pet store to stop supporting an industry that creates so much pain.
Time Commitment: 0
Cost: 0 (it was a gift!)
Day 338: 365give Loves Dogs – Do You?
Sep 15th
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgRx7ypgUj8&feature
We love all dogs, not just our own.
“That’s why, when we learned that up to 4,000,000 dogs are euthanized every year in the US and Canada simply because of a lack of room and food, we had to do something. Plus One is an innovative way to help provide dog rescues with a sustainable supply of food in order to help them foster a dog until a good home is found. But we need your help to make it work.” quoted from the Plus One Movement
Day 339: Give 339
My son and I were out shopping for dog biscuits this week and I came across a unique box that caught my eye for good reason. It’s tagline in bold letters was “Buy for One, Care for Two.”
The Darford dog food company started it’s very own movement to help feed abandon and rescued dogs in North America. One of the biggest challenges rescue organizations face is the ability to feed the thousands of homeless dogs. The One Plus Movement makes it easy to give.
You have 2 ways you can give a food donation:
1) As you can see from the picture the box of dog treats we purchased comes with a small bag of dog food attached directly to the box. You buy the treats and donate the food into a drop box that is provided by Darfood at the time of purchase. You can easily find participating stores from their site.
2) Enter the bar code of your purchase onto the Darford site and they will make a donation on your behalf.
Over 66,000 meals have been donated to date.
In our case the store we purchased the treats in did not have a donation box so my son and I decided we would take a little trip to our local SPCA and donated not only the small bag of food provided on the box but the entire box of dog biscuits to go with it.
Thanks Darford for the inspiration to give!
If you love dogs share your story with us on how you have given back to a dog!
Time Commitment: 1/2 hour
Cost $5.00
What Are you Saying?