William Mattar > Community > Programs and Campaigns > Rescue a Shelter Animal

Rescue a Shelter Animal

The 2018 pet contest winner was Bentley! His owner, Mark has chosen Airedale Rescue of WNY as the donation recipient. Thank you to everyone for sharing your adorable pets, heartwarming stories, and voting to help promote animal rescue!

Rescue a Shelter Animal

Family pets are beloved family members who bring years of happiness and joy to everyone. Your pet is there to be your sounding board when you feel down, and they never leave your side when you are sick. When it is playtime for the kids and the parents are stressed out after a long day, the family pet can come to the rescue and deliver hours of fun.

Each pet has its own story that includes how it came to become a member of the family in the first place. Years ago, pet stores were the place where people preferred to buy their furry friends, but there has been a recent focus on rescuing animals from shelters and dismal situations. If you and your family are considering adding a new and furry family member, then we at William Mattar encourage you to consider rescuing a shelter animal.

Animal Shelters Try to Keep Up

Most animal shelters do their best to take in unwanted pets and find new homes for them. But the growing number of feral and abandoned animals found in this area each year makes the job difficult. The costs associated with feeding, sheltering, and caring for abandoned animals add up and make the task monumental for everyone.

The purpose of an animal shelter is to take in lost animals and help match those animals up with new homes. Right now, shelters are having a hard time keeping up with the amount of animals that they receive on a daily basis. Many local pet stores are starting to adopt out rescued pets, and we at William Mattar would like to see that trend continue.

But the fact is that the number of animals being taken to local shelters on a daily basis is overwhelming the shelters. We encourage people to donate to shelters to help offset the tremendous costs of helping these animals find homes, but we would rather see people take a rescue pet of their own home to love and enjoy.

Shelter Alternatives

An animal shelter is a humane place where animals are cared for and, if possible, adopted by new families. Sometimes you will find rescue animals at pet stores, but much of the time you will find rescue alternatives. Pet stores are getting away from selling pets that come from puppy or kitten mills and breeders, but the practice still exists.

As part of our support for animal shelters, we encourage you to choose a rescue pet over one from a mill or breeder. Pet stores will continue to refuse breeders if the public continues to show more interest in having rescue animals as pets. The more exposure we can help get for shelter animals, the more the public can benefit from the hard work of the many shelters in the area.

More Than Just Dogs and Cats

The humane work done by animal shelters extends well beyond the traditional dog and cat pet options. These days, shelters offer pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, and other animals that can bring just as much joy to a household as a dog or cat. If you are interested in opening up your home to a rescue animal but want something different, then contact your local shelter and see what it has available.

Smaller pets are often great for apartment dwellers and those who simply do not have the room for a more traditional pet. A rescue animal is looking for another chance at being part of a loving family. Children love pets, and children who live in smaller homes that cannot accommodate traditional pets are always looking for options. Just because your home does not have the room for a dog or cat does not mean that you cannot supply your child with a pet to love. Contact your local shelter and see what they have to offer and find a furry friend for your child to enjoy.

Shelters Offer Advice

Not only are you giving a loving animal a second chance at happiness when you adopt a rescue, but you are also dealing with an organization that supply you with the materials and advice you need to keep your new pet healthy and happy.

Shelters employ compassionate and dedicated people who are always ready to answer questions and give people advice on the best ways to care for their new pets. Most shelters allow you to buy all of the materials you will need to get your new pet off to a great start and you will find that many shelters will provide you with free food to help you welcome your new pet home the right way.

Please Rescue a Shelter Animal

Throughout the year, William Mattar will do various promotional events designed to encourage people to rescue shelter animals and give those animals forever homes. All an animal wants is to be loved and have a place to call home. If your intention is to bring another little smile into your family or maybe find your family’s next best friend, then we encourage you to visit your local animal shelter.

William Mattar offers many helpful resources to help you find a shelter close to you and that includes contact information if you want to talk to a shelter about adoption. When you are ready to open up your heart to a furry friend and give an animal a forever home, we sincerely encourage you to check out a shelter and bring home a shelter animal today.

If you have room in your home and your heart, consider rescuing a shelter animal. Thousands of amazing dogsand cats are waiting to share their unconditional love with potential owners like you. And many shelters have more than just dogs and cats—rabbits, guinea pigs, and other animals are also waiting for forever homes.

You don’t need to rescue an animal to help local shelters. Financial donations can give shelters the support they need to provide food, shelter, and medical care to homeless animals.

Shelters are overcrowded, underfunded, and in need of support. Countless rescue groups do not have brick and mortar facilities and rely strictly on foster homes for shelter and care. This can make it difficult to place animals in forever homes. All of these groups continually need your help and support. If you know of a rescue group or shelter that you do not see listed below, please email [email protected] with the organization’s name and website link (or phone number if they have no website), and we will be glad to update our list.

Shelter Animal Resources

We’ve put together a list of shelters full of animals that need loving homes. We have links below of more than 56 shelters in the Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse areas.

In addition to donations, supplies, or volunteering, if you are not able to rescue an animal, you can still support these rescue organizations by visiting their websites and viewing their fundraising events.

Though not an animal shelter, Hope Before Heaven is a wonderful organization that can provide aid for emergency vet care bills in certain situations.

Operation Pets is a spay/neuter clinic in Blasdell providing affordable sterilization services for companion animals and feral cat populations.

Golden Pup’s Bark and Ride Pet Taxi provides safe and secure transportation to vet appointments and concierge services to pick up pet prescriptions and needed items.

Buffalo & Western New York

Rochester

Syracuse

2017 Rescue a Shelter Animal Photo Contest Winners

The winners of the 2017 Rescue a Shelter Animal photo contest are in 1st place Gina Lollabrigida and in 2nd place was Nova. Gina came in with her owner, Fran and her friend, Boo and for their 1st Place win we gave a donation to Buffalo Pug and Small Breed. Nova came in with her owner, Becky, and for her 2nd Place win, we gave a donation to Pets Alive WNY. These powerhouse pups collected over 1,300 votes, which is amazing since the voting window was only 2 weeks.

*Donation amount based off of William Mattar law offices Facebook page “likes” during the month of November, or up to $500.