Social Networking websites have given animal advocates and Shelter's a digital home. It's a new generation of animal shelter awareness and sites like Facebook are spreading shelter updates as fast as a user can click. There used to just be one way to see the available animals at your local shelter, by going there. Now a homeless shelter animal's Photo will be posted with all their information. That photo and info will then be forwarded over and over again. Reaching rescuers, foundations, and families looking for a new pet.
This system of "cross posting" is something Oso owes his life to. Oso was just another dog dumped off at the East Valley Animal shelter in October of 2010. His picture was circulated around facebook for a couple days till it finally landed on the live feed of Sascha Gast in Playa Del Rey. After seeing Oso's photo Sascha made the trip to East Valley shelter and took Oso home. Same goes for Shorty, a young Pit bull who's endearing image of a volunteer holding her while she licked his face was forwarded so much that the volunteer himself gained a slight celebrity status. The photo prompted a rescue to except shorty into a no kill sanctuary.
It's not only adoptions that have benefited from the social web. Rescues can use the live feeds for chip-ins. Chip-ins being a donation made for specific expenses like medical or transporting. I saw the amazing power of the social networking for a cause idea when I started a blanket collection for Los Angeles shelters.I started with a goal of 100 blankets for 100 shelter animals.With donations from people all over the US, due to the advertising done on Facebook, I past that goal in less then two days. Facebook networking the drive has brought in nearly 800 blankets and is still going strong.
To be informed of animal adoptions via social networking like Facebook simply add people associated with animal rescue, like me. Or join community pages like "friends of east valley." If you would like to donate towards the Los Angeles Shelter Blankets and More drive you can visit http://blanketsandmore/weebly.com
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