Raising Money for an Animal Shelter

Dear reader,

Here, you'll find a letter I wrote to persuade local pet owners to donate to an animal shelter. 

Context: My client wanted me to write a letter targeted at pet owners in the area. The objective of the letter is to raise money for his animal shelter.

Enjoy!

Our Cats and Dogs desperately need your help

Fellow animal lover,

Did you know that there are about 5 thousand struggling cats and dogs living in our city streets? Did you also know that of those 5 thousand animals, only 800 will ever get to enter our city’s animal shelters?

It gets worse. Due to a lack of resources, our city’s shelters are unable to handle the large influx of these helpless animals.

To show you just how grim the situation is for these animals, please consider: A whopping 2 thousand dogs and cats are euthanized every year due to shelters being too full. 

That means 5 out of 10 sheltered dogs, and 3 out of 10 sheltered cats end up euthanized annually.

That's exactly why our Cats and Dogs home works tirelessly to expand our facilities so that we can continue to provide the utmost care and support to the animals who come to us.

Since our beginnings in 1998, our main goal has always been to try to reduce these painful statistics in any way we can. We're thankful for the hundreds of donors in the city who've made it possible for us to continue rescuing animals since then.

We rescue dogs and cats worthy of love, like your own, every single day. Charitable donations from caring people like you make it possible for us to continue doing so. As a shelter, we receive no government funding. Everything we do for the 800 animals we care for has always depended entirely on your charitable donations.

• A 20$ donation will feed 4 kittens for a week.
• 15$ covers the cost of spaying and neutering 3 dogs.
• 30$ will buy toys and blankets to comfort over 20 dogs or cats.

You may be wondering, what exactly it is our shelter does that is so important for these animals? Well, please let me share this story with you in the hopes that it reminds you, just as it reminded us, the importance of what we do here at our Cats and Dogs Shelter

It was just a regular Wednesday until this call changed everything...

On July 1st, 2020, we received a call from local animal control about an injured dog on the outskirts of the city.

The dog was a victim of extreme abuse and neglect: left for dead after his owner had abandoned him tied to a pole for a week before local authorities were alerted.

We immediately made preparations for the arrival of this hound, which was scheduled for that afternoon.

The animal control workers arrived and to our horror, delivered us a pit bull that was in critical condition. We regularly receive calls like this, however, we'd never seen a dog in such a horrible state.

The animal was mostly unconscious with a large red mark around its neck and a body full of cuts. It appeared to suffer from extreme malnourishment.

Time wasn't on our side as the dog was barely alive and needed urgent medical care. Our vets quickly began operating on the hound. They applied disinfectant, sewed up his cuts, and injected him with antibacterial medication. To our dismay, a front limb amputation was required to save the dog’s life as it was infected with life-threatening bacteria.

After three hours of frantically working to nurse this animal back to health, our vets finally completed the operation and successfully removed the infected limb. The dog, under heavy anesthetics, appeared just as exhausted as we were, and remained unconscious for the rest of that day… As a pet owner and animal lover, we’re sure you can imagine just how painful this ordeal was for all of us here at the shelter.

This is why we do what we do

The following morning, the dog, whom we decided to name Charlie, woke up. He looked slightly better than the previous day, however, the vets weren’t sure if Charlie would survive the coming week. It was a critical period both for Charlie and for the shelter. We'd never treated a dog in such terrible shape and you can imagine how worried we were that our efforts to save his life would fail.

As the days went by, we all anxiously observed as Charlie slowly recovered and eventually got past the critical phase period of his recovery: he would live. It was at that moment, that we finally felt all our hard work had paid off. Charlie’s story became a source of pride and a beacon of light for the workers in the shelter.

Our experience with Charlie touched us on a level we couldn’t begin to explain, it made us stronger and more determined than ever to keep doing what we were doing. Saving lives.

The weeks rolled by and Charlie fully recovered. He was even adopted, only a couple of months later, by a kind family who loved their furry, crippled friend.

To this day, Charlie’s story is a powerful reminder of why we do what we do. Taking a sick animal from the brink of death and within a few months, nursing it back to health and giving it a new beginning in a new home.

Thousands of animals, not so different than Charlie, desperately need your help

The truth is, Charlie was one of the few, fortunate animals that were lucky enough to receive treatment. Had animal control been alerted to Charlie’s dire situation just a day later, Charlie would have likely become another grim statistic. He would have joined the hundreds of animals that die each year due to sickness and neglect.

Like you, I have a pet, and when I try to imagine the thousands of animals just like Charlie or even my own dear pet, dying painfully, suffering all alone, my heart shatters to bits.

Taking the right action can save pet's lives!

More than anything, we want to continue providing animals like Charlie with food, shelter, and treatment, and we want to continue reuniting owners with their lost pets. We also want to increase our shelter’s capacity to accommodate more animals, but the reality is, we simply cannot do any of it alone.

We currently house and look after 800 animals who depend on your donations for their survival.

You don’t have to donate 1000$ or 100$ or even 50$. Donating just 10$ is enough to show you care. The more you can donate, the more animals you can help us save. You'll surely sleep better knowing you helped save a life.

Rest assured, every single dollar that we receive in donations goes directly to funding the shelter and treatment of our city’s helpless dogs and cats. If we receive enough donations, we'll be expanding our facility to accommodate 850 animals. That’s 50 more animals that need food, shelter, and care.

If you aren’t quite sure how to donate, don’t worry because it’s super simple. We've provided a handy donation form and postage-paid envelope, along with the web address of a securely encrypted website where you can donate online.

If you have any questions, give us a call at 888-888-8888 and we’ll have your donation setup in less than 5 minutes.

Don’t forget, animals are worthy of safety, good health, and love. They don't have to suffer needlessly.

Now is the time to help the helpless, to protect those that have no protection.

Now is the time to act. You can save a furry friend’s life and you can do it right now

If you choose to donate, we'll mail you a photo of an animal you helped save to show our gratitude and more importantly, their gratitude.

We salute you for your dedication to animal protection and we're honored to continue fighting daily, for the protection of our city’s animals.

Sincerely,

Tom Sage,

Furrow Cats and Dogs Shelter Representative

P.S. Don't forget, charitable donations are tax-deductible. Instead of paying more taxes, you can save a pet! Also, feel free to visit us anytime to say hello to the animals you’re helping save.