Guide To Setting Up An Animal Welfare Center
With a number of animal abuse cases coming out in the open, the need of the hour is the development of rescue and welfare centers that proactively work towards protecting our furry friends. If you plan on starting an animal shelter or rescue facility, you need to be prepared for a lot of planning, facility designing and focused fundraising.
Here are a few initial considerations to make before you start your own animal welfare center ""
The first thing to consider is the type of animals you intend to rescue. Also take into consideration how many animals your welfare center will be able to adequately provide care for.
Remember that animal care is a full time job that will require you to hire the help of volunteers and full-time employees.
Consider this venture as any other business even it is a not-for-profit. Come up with a good name for your animal welfare center, design a logo, start a website and print brochures that exhibit your animal abuse prevention and care facility. Also consider using your website to facilitate adoption efforts.
How Experienced are you?
Even if you may have extensive academic qualifications with respect to working with animals, it is best to take out some time and volunteer with a local animal shelter to understand the practical challenges and how they operate. Make sure you also have working knowledge on pet first aid, pet CPR and animal health.
Where do you Plan on Opening your Center?
Before you pick a location, make sure you have checked the zoning regulations for the land on which you plan on starting the center. Also consider already constructed buildings that can be converted into an animal welfare. This way you can save tons of institutional money and assign them to areas that require it most.
Your facility should also be designed such that there are separate sections for dogs and cats, for example, or for nursing pets with new born babies, or small animals from large animals; or young animals from the older ones. Also make space for isolation areas so that animals with infectious diseases can be quarantined to protect the healthy animals.
Legalities
Make sure you comply by the local and national laws pertaining to running an animal welfare center. Apply to qualify for a not-for-profit status so that you are eligible to collect donations and allow donors to write off their contribution towards tax. All your licenses pertaining to running the center and giving away animals through adoption also need to be in place.
Finally, you need to take into consideration hiring the right experts, finding ways to fund your cause and building relationship with government run rescue shelters to make sure your facility is able to provide the best possible care for its residents.
Here are a few initial considerations to make before you start your own animal welfare center ""
The first thing to consider is the type of animals you intend to rescue. Also take into consideration how many animals your welfare center will be able to adequately provide care for.
Remember that animal care is a full time job that will require you to hire the help of volunteers and full-time employees.
Consider this venture as any other business even it is a not-for-profit. Come up with a good name for your animal welfare center, design a logo, start a website and print brochures that exhibit your animal abuse prevention and care facility. Also consider using your website to facilitate adoption efforts.
How Experienced are you?
Even if you may have extensive academic qualifications with respect to working with animals, it is best to take out some time and volunteer with a local animal shelter to understand the practical challenges and how they operate. Make sure you also have working knowledge on pet first aid, pet CPR and animal health.
Where do you Plan on Opening your Center?
Before you pick a location, make sure you have checked the zoning regulations for the land on which you plan on starting the center. Also consider already constructed buildings that can be converted into an animal welfare. This way you can save tons of institutional money and assign them to areas that require it most.
Your facility should also be designed such that there are separate sections for dogs and cats, for example, or for nursing pets with new born babies, or small animals from large animals; or young animals from the older ones. Also make space for isolation areas so that animals with infectious diseases can be quarantined to protect the healthy animals.
Legalities
Make sure you comply by the local and national laws pertaining to running an animal welfare center. Apply to qualify for a not-for-profit status so that you are eligible to collect donations and allow donors to write off their contribution towards tax. All your licenses pertaining to running the center and giving away animals through adoption also need to be in place.
Finally, you need to take into consideration hiring the right experts, finding ways to fund your cause and building relationship with government run rescue shelters to make sure your facility is able to provide the best possible care for its residents.
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