Freshpet Custom Meals™ is available exclusively at petco.com Start Now
Freshpet Custom Meals™ is available exclusively at petco.com Start Now
February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day – a day to celebrate and encourage random acts of kindness. Whether you want to do something special for your pet at home or take your kindness out into the community, we hope these ideas give you some inspiration.
If we had to guess, food is one the best ways to your pet’s heart. A simple way to show your pet some kindness on this day is to put together a special meal for them to enjoy. A fun way to do this is to create a barkuterie board – think charcuterie board for pets. On it, you can include plenty of pet-friendly crudités like carrot and cucumber strips, blueberries, bananas, and strawberries, as well as a low-sodium turkey jerky. Keep in mind that when it comes time to serve, you’ll want to put together a smaller plate with a sampling of items from the board to avoid your pet overeating.
If you want to extend your random act of kindness beyond your home, why not take a trip to the dog park? One fun idea is to put together a ball or stick library that any dogs that visit the park in the future can enjoy. All you need is a weather-proof sign and container which you fill with balls, sticks, or any other toy that dogs can safely enjoy while at the park. If you want to do something a bit smaller, you can also simply offer the other dogs some tasty Freshpet treats (with their owner’s permission, of course)!
With so many animals passing through their doors, shelters are always in need of donations from the public. Monetary donations are always welcomed, but if you want to donate items these five tend to be among the most requested:
This list is certainly not comprehensive, so we recommend reaching out to your local shelter to see what items they need most at this time.
If you have a few hours to spare on National Random Acts of Kindness Day, why not volunteer your time at your local shelter? Most shelters welcome volunteers to help out with tasks like cleaning, socializing, and walking, but they may also be looking for volunteers with specialized skills – like marketing, administration, or finances – for specific projects. Some are even open to welcoming groups that want to organize a one-off volunteering event as part of a fundraiser or even team outing!
You can also look for organizations in your community that support pet owners in need of a little extra help – for example, providing pet sitting while their owners are in hospital or walking dogs for pet owners who are less mobile.
For a small monthly or one-time donation, you can become a sponsor at your local animal shelter or rescue. Some shelters allow you to sponsor specific animals while others tie sponsors to specific kennels or rooms, but either way, your donation will be used to support the ongoing medical care, food, and housing animals need. Sponsors are especially important for animals that require longer-term care while they work through medical or behavioral issues before heading to their forever home.
February 17th may be the official Random Acts of Kindness Day, that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate kindness and pay it forward mentality 365 days a year! Any of the ideas we shared above are great to do regularly throughout the year.