Reservation Animal Rescue Helps Everyone
When you think of the welfare of Native Americans in our country, what needs come to mind? Food, housing, capacity building – those are all needs and ones that our organization addresses. How about veterinary services and animal overpopulation? Sounds a little bit out of left field, but it is in fact an important and needed area of assistance on many reservations.
While seeing a stray dog or cat might raise concerns for the animal – does it have a home, will it find food – concern also needs to be addressed for the human population in which the animal resides. Overpopulated and stray animals can pose real health risks to humans, ranging from animal bites to disease, and this risk is especially high in certain reservation communities.
The Navajo Nation alone has estimates reaching as high as 6,000 stray dogs, depending on the community. Imagine living among enough stray dogs to fill every seat in the Gammage Auditorium at Arizona State University – twice. Then imagine trying to address an animal population of that size, and you have quite a challenge on your hands.
Because of this, our organization addresses the issue proactively. Instead of treating humans for animal bites, we provide assistance to animal welfare groups that vaccinate and spay/neuter animals on the reservations. Instead of trying to literally herd cats, we support these partners who educate communities on how to properly care for animals and enable them to care for more animals. Instead of wishing we could help, we actually do help by working with donors and reservation partners.
Last year, that help amounted to thousands of pounds of donated food benefiting 49,683 animals under our partners’ care. This support reduced animal health risk and related community health risk for people on 18 reservations. Additionally, we provided grant funding for a mobile spay/neuter clinic operated by one of our partners serving numerous Navajo communities.
Our programs serve a number of needs, but we’re especially proud to provide assistance that helps both humans and animals. Your personal contribution can help these efforts; consider donating today.
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Thanks for sharing this blog.