7 ways to celebrate the Year of the Dog

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Here are seven ways to Celebrate the Year of the Dog in the Chinese New Year, which include adopting a pet from your local shelter.
By Kelli Harmon

It’s a Chinese New Year we can get behind, because according to the Chinese zodiac, it’s the Year of the Dog; so, let’s celebrate dogs all year long — especially dogs at shelters.

Why not make this your year to volunteer at a rescue organization or shelter? Or, if you’re a cat lover, why not consider making this your year to help felines at your local shelter?

There’s no year of the cat in the Chinese zodiac, but we’re here to Save Them All, and you know how dogs are: They won’t mind, which is one of the many reason we love them.

Seven ways to help Save Them all during the Year of the Dog

Brown pit-bull-terrier-type dog with a white chest on a leash in front of a street scene in Chinatown in New York City

  1. Adopt, rather than buy your next dog, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
  2. If you can’t adopt a dog, check in with your local shelter and ask what donated items are needed. A bag of food, a few toys or some treats go a long way for shelters and their pups.
    White and brown pit-bull-terrier-type dog in front of a yellow sign with red writing in Chinatown in New York City
  3. Volunteer at your local shelter. You can walk dogs, help socialize them and talk to potential adopters about your favorite dog’s unique personality.
  4. Sign up for Best Friends legislative alerts to support laws that save dogs from breed discrimination in your city and state.
  5. Start making plans to participate this fall in Strut Your Mutt and raise funds to help dogs and other pets at Best Friends, a shelter or a rescue group near you.
    Female brown pit-bull-terrier-type dog with a white chest on a leash in front of a NYFD red post
  6. Sponsor a homeless dog at a shelter or with a rescue group near you. Find an organization on the Best Friends Network partner map that is committed to making its community no-kill.
  7. Visit and volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern Utah, because there’s something magical about walking a dog at the Sanctuary, while watching the sun set over the canyon.

Brown pit-bull-terrier-type dog on a leash in front of a yellow sign with red letters in Chinatown in New York City

More ways to help homeless pets

Photos by Stacey Axelrod