Help Dogs in Need the Right Way
In a perfect world, social media would be packed with wagging tails, adorable puppy faces and darling dog tricks. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible. Eventually, a dog lover will stumble upon a desperate-dog-in-need post, and it will tear at her heartstrings. Before you hide the post or tag your friend in a comment, learn how to use Facebook to help dogs in need.
Verify the Dog’s Status
When desperate pleas pop up on your social media feed, take a few moments and verify the dog is still in need. Verify by clicking on the original picture and scroll through the comments for updates. Once a dog has found a foster home, or has been safely pulled from Animal Control, someone usually updates the entire group. If nothing is noted, this dog is probably still in desperate need.
After checking if a dog still needs help, please share the post publicly with your Facebook or Twitter family. When sharing, take a moment to copy and paste the original message including the dog’s location (city and state), specifics about the dog (breed, age, gender, contact person) and verification that the dog is still in need. If you’re unable to foster or donate to help the poor dog, the very least you can do is share his or her story.
Comment Only If You Can Help
There’s no question that Facebook has certainly benefited dogs in need. Many dogs have been adopted due to lightning fast viral attention. However, there’s a downside too. Many well meaning dog lovers write comments that aren’t helping the dog in need. These excessive comments clog up Facebook posts and worse yet provide a false sense of safety.
We all want to help these dogs, but posting “Someone please help this dog now,” “I wish I could help, but I have 4 dogs already” or “This dog looks just like my dog” or tagging a friend within a comment actually delays help. Instead, comment only if you’re able to offer help.
Better Ways of Helping Dogs in Need
Foster, transport, donate or offer your skills. Most rescue shelters accept donations through PayPal or post an Amazon wish list on their websites. If nothing is posted, message the shelter and ask how to send donations. Then, share this link to friends and family on Facebook.
You can also start a fundraiser or make cute hats for shelter dogs. Many years ago, a Pit Bull rescue created beautiful flower hats to showcase available dogs up for adoption. If you’re crafty, offer to create beautiful adornment pieces, such as sequin ties for male dogs or hats. Be strategic with your social sharing, and offer help.
Don’t Scroll Past It
Simply put, seeing sad dogs hurts. Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed a sharp decline in social media shares for posts about dogs in need. I’ll use my social media friends and followers as an example.
I have more than 500 dog-obsessed friends and followers, but maybe only one of my friends will repost a plea for a dog in need. About 3 to 4 years ago, at least 40 people would’ve shared the post. Why such a huge gap now?
From my perspective, it’s gut-wrenching and exhausting to see animals in desperate need every day. Some days, between 5 to 10 pitiful furry faces pleading for help pop up on my newsfeed. Some posts rip my heart into pieces due to unimaginable animal cruelty. I scroll past quickly, telling myself that not seeing it makes it not happen. But then I remind myself that these poor dogs have no voice and that I do.
Social media is powerful, but dog lovers must be strategic to help dogs find their forever home.