Opening a pet shelter is a great way to help unwanted, abandoned and abused animals. It is the ultimate way to fight animal cruelty, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). While the ASPCA applauds people who care enough to open an animal shelter, they want people to realize it takes more than a good heart to be successful at it. Management experience, contacts and the ability to get things done in the community are all necessary skills.
Instructions
1. Get some experience before opening your own shelter. Volunteer at other shelters to see how they are run. The ASPCA also recommends attending conferences on run a shelter.
2. Assemble a team. You will want a varied group of professionals onboard to help you. These include a veterinarian who can give you discounts on spaying, neutering, and shots; a lawyer; media people; and advertising and public relations specialists. Have the people on your team reach out to others who may be willing to help fund the shelter.
3. Write a mission statement explaining your organization's purpose. This is a requirement in order to apply for non-profit status.
4. Apply for 501 (c) 3, tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. This must be done properly or you could suffer delays. This is where the lawyer on your team will be useful.
5. Establish policies regarding volunteers. Many animal shelters allow people to do community service hours as volunteers.
6. Determine the procedure for adoptions, such as deciding how much to ask for a donation and the types of questions you will include on the application. At the very least, you will want to find out a potential adopter's name, address, phone number and driver's license number; whether they live in a house or apartment; how many people live with them; if there are children or other pets in the house; if there is a fenced yard; if the applicant is gone at work all day; and if the applicant has ever given up an animal before.
7. Have a fundraising plan. Besides asking for donations, you can organize events such as a volunteer dinner with a silent auction or a sidewalk sale with live music where people can bring their pets.
8. Have a grand opening event. This will let everyone know about the shelter. Send out press releases and have an open house.
9. Arrange to be at a local pet store every Saturday or Sunday. Bring with a selection of adoptable pets so that people can adopt them right there.
10. Set up a website where people can scroll through a list of animals that you have for adoption.
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