Holiday Wish Lists
I am sure you can imagine the perfect gift someone can get you for Christmas. You want to tell them, but you just can bring yourself to tell anyone about it because you want them to get it for you because they know you so well. What if someone you cared about very much had something that they wanted you to get them but couldn’t tell you? We have pets that can’t talk, unless you have a parrot that does, and have wants and needs just as much as we do. We are their best friends but do we fully understand them and what they want and need? The Humane Society of Charlotte has a Holiday Wish List for the community to donate to not only help them out, but the animals that they take care of. Here are some of the items they need help with:
- Laundry Detergent
- Hand Sanitizer
- Cat Break-Away Collars in multiple colors
- Jumbo Bones
- Canned Dog Food
- Any sum of money can help vaccinate, euthanize, feed, or help buy needed supplies
Pet Statistics
Have you ever wondered what statistics there are out there regarding pets in shelters and how many of them are homeless or are actually have an owner, or how many cats there are compared to dogs? These statistics provided by ASPCA, are why the animal shelters need your help in obtaining items on their wish list.
- It’s estimated that 70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats are owned in the United States. Approximately 37-47% of all households in the United States have a dog, and 30-37% have a cat.
- Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.
- Of the dogs entering shelters, approximately 35% are adopted, 31% are euthanized and 26% of dogs who came in as strays are returned to their owner.
- About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners
- More than 35% of cats are acquired as strays.
Keeping your pets safe during the holiday season
The holidays are packed with events, decorations, sweets, visitors, and lots of things for you pets to wreak havoc with. Most of us don’t realize that some of these things are dangerous to our pets. Here is a holiday wish list from ASPCA of safety things that you can do to keep your pet safe:
- Make sure your Christmas tree is securely anchored down
- Avoid tinsel with you cats as they love to play with it and chew on it. This can lead to a blocked digestive tract.
- Keep wires, batteries and plastic decorations out of paws reach if possible.
- Keep sweets and other harmful items out of paws reach.
- When you have guests over, have a safe room that they can go in and relax instead of being around the noise of everything.
- Make sure to establish rules about what your guests can do, feed, and give your pets during this season.
Where to buy pet supplies on a budget
We are all on a budget this time of year. We don’t want to overspend on ourselves and especially our pets. Those toys and other supplies can be very expensive if we don’t watch for sales or keep track of everything we are buying for them. Petswelcome.com suggests some places you can get the items on your pets wish list.
- Amazon
- Internet shopping sites (Ebay, Craigslist, Freecycle etc…)
- Dollar Tree
- Hardware Stores
- Thrift Stores
These are some of the places that you can buy things for your pets this holiday season. These are also great places to buy toys and other items for pets in shelters.
Donating to help with a holiday wish list
We all like to donate but sometimes don’t know how to do it. Here are some simple ways to donate to the Humane Society of Charlotte:
Come visit us at:
Humane Society of Charlotte
2700 Toomey Ave, Charlotte, NC 28203
Call us at: 704-377-0534
Visit our website for donations:
Hopefully you and your pets are safe this holiday season. Make sure you and your pets get what they asked for on their holiday wish lists.
