There are many ways you can spend your hard earned money. One random act of kindness can change reality and is a selfless act performed by kind people to either help or cheer up a stranger, for no reason other than to make the receiver’s happier. When you think your voice will not be herd, or you cannot make a difference, I beg to differ. Your voice has changed the way governments, CEOs, business owners, handlers, everyday people who had no idea.. saw the positive effect of their actions or negligent blind eyes. Americans give more to charities, per capita, than any other developed country. In 2011, we gave $200 billion dollars! So to help you find a new charities you may make a difference with and worthy causes for you to contribute to, I scoured the world to find some of the most unknown causes and a few well known organization that direly need your help. You can make a difference in the world and although there are many more countless causes and charities I wanted to include in this article because they all deserve to be highlighted, I thought I would begin with these worthy causes below.
Free Arturo
A 29 year old polar bear in a zoo in the Mendoza Zoo in Argentina in left in horrible conditions and named the “saddest polar bear”. The climate there reaches about 40C. Legendary singer Cher and Change.org signed a 700,000 person petition to move him to Canada so he will have a better life and the Zoo director, Gustavo Pronotto said “stop bothering the bear”. The bears only water source is a pool that is 20 inches deep and the Mendoza Zoo blocked a bid to move him to a Canadian Conservation Center claiming he would not survive the two day trip. The petition to help him can be signed here: http://chn.ge/1sK9UB2%20and%20you%20can%20do%20more%20by%20tweeting%20and%20speaking%20your%20voice.%20On%20Twitter @freearturo2 or #freearturo.
Support Your Local Animal Shelters
Most people think of buying their dog or cat from a breeder or pet store but there are so many souls looking for a home that already are waiting for you and you can find them at your local animal shelters just waiting for you. For every animal you adopt from the shelters you save 2 lives, the one you rescued and the one you made room for. There are approximately 2.7 million animals killed every year in animal shelters because no one adopts them and unfortunately they die painful deaths because shelters cannot afford the pain killers to help ease the animal’s death. If you want to do more than give money you can make an effort to do more by donating your time. This is a large way you can help make a difference in animals lives because every shelter needs help cleaning, caring, washing and playing with their animals. Do you have any special skills? Are you good at creating a video, taking photos, are you a groomer/hairdresser? These are some of many special skills that will help get animals ready for adoption which will help people see how adorable they actually are and get them adopted. You can donate your dog or cat’s slightly used items so another animal can enjoy them. You would be surprised how many shelters are in dire need of food/water bowls, toys, beds and blankets (so they are not sleeping on concrete), brushes and grooming tools, If you need to find a shelter in your area you can click here for a large list to your country and state or click here. You can foster a dog or cat temporarily or permanently and this act alone can help change that animals life instantly. If you are feeling giving you can donate part of your wedding registry, birthday list, holiday wish list by telling your friends and family where to donate to and how their money helps, like this couple did. Shelters are also in drastic need for cleaning supplies and if you have any you are not using please consider donating those so that can help keep the facility clean. Also food for both cats and dogs are much apprichiated including treats as well. Other ways you can help shelters can be found here. If you are looking for more information about shelters in your area you can click here. If you are aware of any abuse happening in a shelter in your area you can go here to find how to report them and take action. A few kind souls that have taken matters into their own hands by giving these animals a voice of their own by letting people know about them who have not seen them at the animal shelters and possibly adopt them. These people are: @animal_savior, @gurl_fromcali, Best Friends Animal Society, Rescue Pets Of Instagram, Soi Dog Foundation, I.C.A.R.E. Dog Rescue, Care Rescue LA, Ace Of Hearts Dog Rescue, Rescue Fur Kids, They_Matter, Animal Compassion Team, Rescues Need You, Urgent_Dogs, the amazing No Kill Los Angeles and there are many more.
Save The Bees
Seattle City Council voted unanimously to pass a ban on the purchase and use of seeds containing or pesticides containing neonicotinoid pesticides for any purpose and will use only pollinator-friendly methods on any city owned or operated land. Seattle city council strongly urges the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Save American’s Pollinators Act and the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend the registration of #imidacloprid, #clothinanidin, #thiamethoxam, #dinotefuran and other neonicotinoids until the EPA can complete its environmental assessments. You can learn more about the effects of loosing bees here at Save Bees. Similar bans have passed in Eugene Oregon and Spokane Washington. To measure the impact into a financial context; the work of pollinating bees was valued at £430 million a year in 2013 and the cost of replicating their pollination manually would cost £1.8 billion again that was in 2013. You can help to save the bees by clicking here to learn more about sos bees and you can donate to another great cause named “Bee Raw” here and/or voice your concern to your congressman here or at .gov to help make a change and save our bees. Celebrity supporters are Moby, Richard Branson, Celebrity Chef Ming Tsai, Vivienne Westwood to Stephen Fry, Samuel L. Jackson and Mario Batali
Killing Animals For Fur
If you already think fur is questionable or bad you may be surprised to learn that most fur today is actually cat and dog fur. The fur you see on trunked you buy in a store like a fake cat or the outer lining on a jacket. Eva Mendes is one celebrity supporter who took the initiative to go undercover to discover what really happens to get your fur, we warn you this video is very graffic but this is what is really going on EVERYDAY to get that fur on your jacket. With all of the alternatives to fake fur feeling and appearing just like the real thing and is a cheaper cost there is no excuse or reason to continue these practices for the sense of fashion. Fur comes from all animals: fox, raccoon, wolves, cats, dogs, chinchillas, ferrets, lambs and many others. For more information about cruelty to animals for their fur you can go to http://youtu.be/T_MelNVQtoc. To help stop this horrific practice all throughout the world you can go here to learn how you can help or sign a petition to stop the fur trade in China or another plece you can help is here and here to help in Switzerland and one more here.
Plastic Pollution
This effects animal in the ocean and in turn affects the foods you may consume from the ocean. Unfortunately, this happens all around the world and it is a whole eco affecting change which harms not only nature, animals and ourselves. Mother animals are seen feeding plastic waste to their offspring and animals are trapped with plastic around their necks as well as ingesting the toxic items which result in incurable pain which ultimately kills them. Award-winning filmmaker Alison Teal, 27, documented her experience with the plastic trash when she visited Thilaushi in the Maldives (Trash Island – an artificial island created as a landfill). You can learn more fact about pas tics harm to our environments, living creatures and nature here and there is more here. To learn more about how you can donate money to help make a difference in cleaning up our oceans and plastic wastes you can go to: www.surfrider.org/rap or http://www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org/donations.html or http://www.seeturtles.org/ocean-plastic/ or
Save The Elephants
In Africa 4 elephants are poached EVERY HOUR for their ivory tusks (about 96 EVERY day) and in Kenya the rangers have gone to drastic measures to help their elephants by cutting their tusks off to help keep them alive. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy employs over 150 rangers to work around the clock to protect the endangered species. You can find more about them at: https://www.crowdrise.com/lewawildlifeholiday Yao Ming the former NBA star visits Africa to raise awareness to the Ivory Trade and has vowed to put an end to the ivory tusk trade. He created a documentary about poaching called, “The End Of The Wild”. Another supporter trying to do something to help these animals is the talented actor, Leonardo DiCaprio who is a vast supporter of helping. You can find more about this at: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/ or g.ifaw.org/elesneedus and you can donate to helping the cause here.
Mercy For Animals
Over 95% of the cruelty to animals in the United States occurs at the hands of the meat, dairy, and egg industries which confine, mutilate, and slaughter over 9 billion land animals each year. Mercy For Animals (MFA) works to create a society where all animals are treated with the compassion and respect they so rightfully deserve. They serve as a voice for animals through educating people, cruelty investigations, corporate outreach, and legal advocacy. If you wish to see one of MANY different abuse caught on camera in their underground investigation you can click here to learn more.
Dolphin Project
Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project started being a voice for dolphins since 1970. He accounts all of the capturing, slaughtering and selling of the wild dolphins. The 90210 star Shannen Doherty raises awareness of dolphin slaughetringand captivity. To learn more: www.DolphinProject.net
ASPCA
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was the first humane society (founded in 1866) to be established in North America and is one of the larger today. They have over 1 million supporters throughout the world and they make arrests against animal crimes and they are an organization that truly gives what they receive into helping animals and not just putting it into their wallets or paying expensive CEO’s like some other charities do. They have set up the ability for you to give them your old car to help them pay to help animals, if you have a car just sitting there and you want to help you will help many furry friends. You can click here to donate your car. Or if you are looking for a new furry friend to add to your family, please click here to give a lucky soul a forever home.
BlackJaguarWhiteTiger
The Black Jaguar – White Tiger Foundation rescues one being at a time. They are fighting to eradicate the idea that a living being can be reduced to a simple object through possession. At the moment, they are focusing our energy on rescuing what people consider Big Cats from bad circumstances. They have rescued over 20 and counting Tigers, Jaguars and Lion from a life of terror in circuses, zoos, and breeders. For more information about this cause you can go to their website at: www.BlackJaguarWhiteTiger.org you can also see them on instagram at @blackjaguarwhitetiger or if you wish to donate you can click here.
OverFishing
Computerized helping fishing devises and massively huge nets are now used to gather hundreds of thousands of fish. These new ways are killing our ocean population. The art of fishing and working for your catch has become a thing of the past and one fact from #Oceana “We may have to bid farewell to the world’s fisheries because of overfishing by 2020” and @NatGeo said states: “A study of catch data published in 2006 in the journal of Science grimly predicted that if fishing rates continue, all of the world’s fisheries will have collapsed by 2048”. If you wish to help you can sign the petition to stop overfishing, you can click here to make a change.
Horse Racing & Horse Jumping
The pressure of winning has put a huge amount of pressure on horses that race today. This has turned owners to drug their animals. CPR aims to promote a more responsible attitude toward racehorses before, during and after their racing lives. They are able to address these serious animal welfare concerns and bring about positive changes for the animals and the industry. CPR is currently made up of six animal protection organisations across six states and territories. They also strive to find homes and rescues for unwanted horses. If you wish to help or want to learn more you can go here: http://bit.ly/IsThePartyReallyWorthIt
Urgent Dogs Of Miami
They share pictures of dogs on death row that are about to be killed at the Miami Dade Animal Service Shelter located at 7401 NW St Miami Florida. If you want to help or are interested in learning more you can go to: www.facebook.com/urgentdogsofmiami
Saving The Lion
Hunting lions in Africa is known as “canned hunting” and is made possible by the South African government. Unfortunately South Africa is filled with hundreds of killing farms, where thrill killing tourists from all over the world can brutally kill tame lions, tigers, giraffes, rhinos, zebras and more. These animals are kept in high fenced enclosures and the lions are torn away from their mothers when they are a few days old and once they get big enough they are put in these enclosures to become suitable trophies. Once they are large enough they are released into a large enclosure where they are then “hunted” and shot by tourists. Saving the lion foundation is a charity focusing on the conservation of lion populations across Africa and Asia. Help them save lions. #savingthelion instagram @savingthelion Lions4Mercy IG
www.savingthelion.org
Save The Tiger
Help save the 3200 remaining wild tigers, they are estimated to be extinct by 2025 or sooner thanks to the animal hunting people go to Africa to do for the sport of it. The Bali Tiger is extinct, the Javan tiger is extinct and there are fewer than 400 Indonesian Tigers left. To not allow Tiger extinction you can help at: www.facebook.com/pages/Tiger-Extinction-Awareness/516516175089283
No To Dog and Cat Meat Trade
This is a registered UK Charity campaigning to stop the dog and cat meat trade. www.notodogmeat.com and www.dogsmountain.com is where the animals are kept from harms way. They desperately need $20,000 to stay open. Every $1 counts and you can donate at: www.justgiving.co.uk/appeal/dogsmountain or send money to [email protected] via paypal. Another organization which is doing wonderful things to help dogs and cats as well as other animals is Last Chance For Animals and you can help them or donate to them here.
Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN)
WCN is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping protect endangered species AND their habitats. They host an annual Wildlife Conservation Expo, in San Francisco and they allows supporters to meet their conservation heroes in person. Through the Elephant Crisis Fund, we provide funding to organizations that save elephants from ivory poaching. They also have the WCN Scholarship Program which invests in the next generation of conservation leaders by providing grants for graduate education to students who are committed to working on wildlife conservation in their home countries. It has been noted that WCN give more money than WWF. If you like what you hear you can donate here: www.wildnet.org/
Civet Coffee
The Civet Cat is a mammal from the Viverridae family, related to the cats and native to Asia and Africa. They are hinted and kept in captivity for: Fatty yellow secretion found near their genitals to be used for perfumes, used for fur and food in Southern China but met importantly for the creation of Civet Coffee. What is Civet Coffee you ask? It is a coffee made from Civet Cat feces! The animals are kept inhumanly in very small cages in Indonesia and fed ONLY coffee berries, once it is disposed of through their bodies they use the coffee beans to make coffee and unfortunately it has become a delicacy making it very expensive. It has been known to be called: Luwak Coffee, Kopi Luwak and Civet Coffee and costs about $160 a pound. To help and stop this horrifying act they only need about 23,000 more signatures, you can click here to sign the petition.
JNF Foundation
JNF foundation was founded by the beautiful Jayde Nicole who was Playboy’s Playmate of the year and on numerous t.v. shows. She always has a love for animals and for as long as I have known her she devoted her time to helping animals of all kinds. She truly cares about the wellness of animals began her rescue out of her own home and now it has grown into a wonderful Los Angeles based chihuahua rescue which is supported by so many people in los angeles and around the world thanks to social media. Between three and four million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in animal shelters in the United States alone. Even with hundreds of rescues within Los Angeles, the stray dog epidemic is still leaving animals on the streets and without homes. They have joined the effort to help rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home some of these innocent dogs who were abandoned, abused or left on the streets. Your donations will help save, foster and aid Jayde and her team in finding forever homes for shelter dogs. You can find out more at www.JNFfoundation.com or contact: [email protected]
Free The Bears
Bear bile is thought to have medicinal properties which is an Asian myth. There are many bear vile farms in Asia. Asiatic Black bears held in coffin sized cages unable to move or turn with dirty catheters inserted directly into their gall bladder, their bile is then extracted through a painful open hole in their stomachs. The Cambodian Bear Sanctuary was created by a woman named Mary and is located at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. This is now the world’s largest sanctuary for Sun bears and has educated hundreds of thousands of Cambodians about the threats facing their wild bear populations. The Fund joined forces with Wildlife SOS and International Animal Rescue to help rescue India’s dancing bears. They strive to bring bear bile farming to an end in Vietnam and help the lives of bears throughout the world.
www.freethebears.org.au
Testing on Animals
(for your Makeup, Perfumes & Cleaning Products)
You probably did not know that most of your makeup is tested on animals. When I say tested I mean cut their skin to place it under their skin, dropped in their eyes, and ingested to see their reactions. You would be surprised to learn which companies still practice this you can look here for the full list: Estee Lauder (Bobbi Brown, , Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci, Febreze, Pampers (proctor & Gamble), Clairol, Johnson & Johnson (aveeno, Acuvue, ) Revlon (almay, , Clinique, Clarins of Paris, Crest, Dove, Downey, Drano, Elizabeth Arden, Clorox, L’oreal, Head & Shoulders, Iams, Hugo Boss, L’Occitaine, Lancome, Mary Kay, Max Factor, Maybelline, Michael Kors, Nair, Neutrogina, Olay, Old Spice, Origins, Ponds, Pantene, Raid, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Rembrandt, Clorox, Right Guard/Dial, Secret, Shiseido Cosmetics, Stila Cosmetics, Skin ID, Tide, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Walgreens, Vidal Sasson, Victoria’s Secret (limited brands), Vaseline and more.
Cosmetic companies require 2,000 to 3,000 tests for each product, and lab animals — usually rabbits, rats and mice suffer horrible pain and die during these trials. Many places around the world have instituted bans using animals to test cosmetics and the toxicity of domestic cleaning products using as high as 115,000,000 animals per year, with the vast majority of these being euthanized at the end of the period of experimentation. When you look at the drug market to ensure human safety the global cost of each successful new drug put into the market in terms of animal lives, is around 5.75 million animals. With cruelty-free alternatives such as in vitro screens, there’s no excuse to test on animals. Cruelty Free International worked very hard and got a ban placed in Europe to stop all testing on animals for your makeup. Animal research has been used for several centuries as part of efforts to better understand the world around us. Supporters are Ricky Gervais,
Nick n’ Marley Cat
Nik tweets and posts on FaceBook daily to save #Urgent #cats in high kill shelters also known as: www.facebook.com/PetsOnDeathRow. I shared a video of animals that are neglected and left in dire conditions because that is one of many reasons animals are given to a shelter, because they can no longer be cared for or someone needs to move. You can find out more, adopt a life and help Nick on twitter here: @ngremmy. Every life deserves a chance. The video above was shot by the Humane Society.
Save The Coyote – Project Coyote
Project Coyote works to change negative attitudes toward coyotes, wolves and other native carnivores by replacing ignorance and fear with understanding, respect and appreciation. These animals are poisoned, trapped, aerial gunned and killed for bounties, for fun and contests, unfortunately an estimated 500,000 coyotes die every year in the U.S. alone which is one per minute. If you would like to donate you can help Project Coyote continue here. If you want to learn more about another coyote non-profits here and you can contact your local state official by writing a letter to your state representative to end the hunting and hurting them here. If you want to help ban hunting and wildlife bloodsports.
The Bernheim Foundation
The Bernheim Foundation was founded and run by Steven and Julia Faye Bernheim and their mission is to ease animal and human suffering through the direct action of people who care. Steven and Julia are a beautiful couple who live their lives together helping others by devoting their time to bringing food, beds, toys and so much more to the shelters. One hundred percent of any donations or funding goes directly to ease suffering. Steven Jay and Julia Faye have given sleeping bags and hygiene kits to thousands of homeless on skid row, in Venice and Santa Monica and truck loads of blankets, toys and supplies to L.A. animal shelters. If you wish to learn more, assist them or donate to their cause you can click here.
Sea World
Seas World has become a fixture of animal controversy in the past decade. The way they treat their animals has become the focus of many celebrities and animal/mammal activists. Some of the questionable things they have done is they keep their orcas sedated Sea World has admitted to giving their orcas Valium and Xanax to help them deal with the stress of living in their environment, which you can read about here. Sea world has been said to cover their orcas sunburns with black zinc oxide. Sea world gets many of its orcas by kidnapping and forcing them away from their families for a hefty profit. In 1965, the first-ever orca show at SeaWorld in San Diego was performed by a female orca named Shamu. During Shamu’s capture, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca’s very eyes by a marine “cowboy” named Ted Griffin. Griffin’s partner, Don Goldsberry, worked for SeaWorld and was assigned to bring orcas into the park. He continued kidnapping and slaughtering orcas, and at one point it has been said that he hired divers to slit open the bellies of four orcas, fill them with rocks, put anchors around their tails, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean so that their deaths would not be discovered. Sea World trains male orcas to float on their backs, and their trainers masturbate them to collect their sperm. Females are artificially inseminated and forced to breed at a much younger age than they would in nature (5 years earlier). In captivity, all male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins as adults, which is a sign of an unhealthy orca. SeaWorld confines whales and dolphins who are used to swimming up to 100 miles a day in the wild into tanks that to them, are the size of a bathtub. If you wish to help these imprisoned souls you can sign the petition here and if you want to learn more about how they capture orcas you can watch BlackFish here. Also some short videos of animals acting out from being confined are here.
Circus Animals
Circus animals have finally gotten their voice through fellow onlookers who have seen time and time again the abuse and torture these animals have endured for countless decades. Although there have been and currently are many circuses around the world, one stands out being made an example of, The famous Ringling Brothers circus. These animals include elephants, tigers/lions, horses, camels, birds and more. There are circuses all over the world, one Peta investigated in India and you can see the shocking footage above. There is also footage from Carson & Barnes Circus here. We have also included a link to show one female trainer hitting here. You can help these animals buy doing your homework here. You can also contact editors of local or national newspapers, magazines and blogs asking sponsors to stop supporting the circus. Support legislation protecting circus animals and report any possible violations of state and local animal protection laws to the police and animal control. Learn more about animal protection, animal habitats and circuses by visiting the following organizations’ websites: Born Free USA, The Elephant Sanctuary, Performing Animal Welfare Society, The Humane Society of the United States.
Animal Place
Animal Place rescues farmed animals, advocates on their behalf and educates the public. It was founded in 1989, Animal Place’s California animal shelters fills a much-needed farm animal rescue, sanctuary, education and adoption. Animal Place is one of the largest and oldest animal sanctuaries in the nation and operates a 600-acre sanctuary in Grass Valley, California, and a 60-acre animal shelter in Vacaville, California.
If you wish to donate or learn more about who they are and what they do here or follow them on Instagram at: _AnimalPlace.
PreetiRang Sanctuary
This 40 Acre Animal Sanctuary based in the SF Bay Area. Their Mission is to rescue farmed animals and are supported by Ariana Grande. You can find more about them at www.preetirangsanctuary.org