do you CARA 'bout animals?

Most of us are animal lovers of some kind - dogs, cats, birds, horses, fish... Pets add to our lives things that no other relationship can provide, from unconditional love to accident stains on the carpet. Still, there are innumerable animals out there that have been abandoned, abused or were "accidents" of their own. Not everyone can go to his or her local animal shelter and adopt a pet, but there is a way that anyone can help a dog or cat in need.

Community Animal Rescue and Adoption, or CARA, is a Jackson-area non-profit, no-kill animal shelter and was the catalyst for us to be able to adopt Olive and Charlie. CARA is a great organization that was created and is still run totally by volunteers and a few part-time employees. They have established a sponsorship program so that small, monthly private donations to a specific animal allow other donations to be used for the general, day-to-day operations of the shelter.

CARA's website allows visitors to search for a dog or cat of any particular size or age. Once you've located your new long-distance love, download the sponsorship application, and send in a check for $15. You can do this each month for as long as you'd like, and the shelter does not pressure you to renew your sponsorship if you're unable to. Kell and I sponsored Monkey for a few months until he was adopted and moved to Vermont. CARA even called us to let us know where he was going! I immediately chose Alan, and we've been his sponsor ever since.

If any of you are interested, please visit the CARA website and just look around. There are so many animals available for sponsorship, and $15 a month is less than I spend on my afternoon cokes at work. Also, the tax deduction at the end of the year doesn't hurt.

Check out this article in the Clarion-Ledger about CARA.

woof!