GIVE TODAY! Mail your tax-deductible donation to: RAOT SHELTER FUND Or use our PAYPAL ACCOUNT online to make your donation by clicking the icon below: THANKS FOR CARING! Other RAOT programs that help animals in need: ADOPT-A-PET DAYS: We host adopt-a-pet days each month to help place animals from Memphis Animal Shelter, a high kill facility, and to help other area rescuers place animals, including the Memphis Animal Shelter. RESCUE ELISTS: Our rescue elists help bring potential owners and pets in need of homes together. Animals in local shelters are posted on a regular basis, as are the lost and found and free to good home ads. Anyone may post animals that are lost, found or that need rehoming. Individuals looking for pets may also post to the list. To subscribe, send a blank email to: raotrescue@yahoogroups.com HOMEWARD BOUND: This program addresses the need for short-term care, usually no more than 10 days until transport can be arranged, for pets in shelters that have homes or foster homes waiting for them. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: We offer a variety of educational programs designed to promote responsible animal ownership and the humane treatment of animals. |
Memphis and Shelby County are killing over FOURTEEN THOUSAND unwanted animals a year. They are at the shelter through no fault of their own. They may have been separated from their owners or abandoned or dumped, left to the disease, injury and starvation of the streets. Sadly, most of these animals are adoptable but never find homes and are put down. Traditionally, animal shelters have been less than inviting. Visitors know the animals are living on borrowed time. That depressing reality is too much for many people. For a number of reasons, Memphis Animal Shelter will never adequately address the needs of adoptable animals in Memphis. Their purpose is animal control and enforcement of animal laws. An example has been set for us by other communities with no-kill shelters. The no-kill concept began at San Francisco's S.P.C.A. and is being implemented around the Country with great success. It involves housing animals in an inviting and people friendly atmosphere that encourages the public to visit and adopt. It includes educational and counseling services, obedience training, grooming to enhance animals’ adoption potential, and other programs and services designed to enhance the human/animal bond. This has been shown to increase adoptions and reduce surrenders! Of course, not all animals are adoptable but, given the opportunity, most would make excellent pets. We believe it is time for a no-kill shelter in Memphis and Shelby County! Responsible Animal Owners of Tennessee is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated in 1991, that promotes responsible animal ownership and the humane treatment of animals. Donations are tax-deductible. From our research, we have been determined that the factor most critical to a successful no-kill project is that virtually everyone who truly cares about animals within a community must work together. This requires that individuals and groups, who might otherwise have widely diverse views and philosophies, set aside their differences to work for the greater good that a no-kill shelter brings, both in terms of the lives of animals saved and its benefit to the community as a whole. The one thing we all share is a commitment to save animals lives. We have all worked, either individually or in groups, in a variety of ways to rescue animals and reduce the number of animals killed each year in the shelter. Our members and volunteers are dedicated to bringing the no-kill concept to Memphis and Shelby County. We have a commitment for the land – now we need to build a no-kill shelter. For this, we need YOU! Please call and volunteer to help us with this important project and/or make a generous donation to our "shelter fund" today! |
