by Theresa O'Riordan

Created on: September 25, 2008

The Internet cannot be overestimated as a great tool for animal welfare activists. When I started researching animal welfare issues at age 14, I didn't have the internet, so my work was limited to writing in response to mass mailings from organizations. The sheer amount of paper, postage, and time it took for letters to come back and forth from organizations, to me, then to the guilty parties who were violating animal welfare standards, was immense. Now, I rely 95% on the internet to find opportunities to work for animal welfare.

Naturally, once one finds opportunities, one needs to get offline and actually physically go out and pursue them. But the internet provides activists with social networking and allows us to stay connected to others interested in the same activities.

Are you looking to get involved in animal activism? Here are some steps I recommend taking in order to build up your network and stay informed on what opportunities there are to get involved.

Number One: Sign up for online mailing lists. Create a new email account just for these. These mass mailings will serve as your own personalized newspaper on a daily basis. You'll receive invitations to ongoing events, learn where and how volunteers are needed, and hear about the issues that matter. This is the foundation for the rest of your activism, because you can receive and read notices in your email on a daily basis, thereby ensuring you keep up to date on important issues and actions being taken. Make the majority of your subscriptions to mailing lists come from local organizations, and the remainder come from large international organizations like the Humane Society of the U.S., Compassion Over Killing, The International Fund for Animal Welfare and others.

Number Two: Periodically do a search online for legislation involving animals. The Humane Society of the U.S. is great at keeping up with this and informing its members about upcoming issues. You can then get involved by emailing your Congressman, Senator or State Rep. Again, another way the internet makes such actions easier. No need to muster up the courage to call their office (although it may make more of an impression if you do.) You may also find out about hearings for various legislation, or efforts to get signatures in order to put measures on the ballot. From there you can decide what steps to take, if any, to get more involved.

Number Three: Search the internet for volunteer opportunities. Volunteermatch.org is an excellent resource for this. Just a couple of examples: Animal shelters are ALWAYS looking for volunteers for a couple hours a week or even per month. You can typically download an application online and email it to the volunteer coordinator. This is naturally a much quicker process than requesting one by mail. Best Friends Sanctuary out in Utah recruits activists to write volunteer news stories about animal issues in their own states. By writing the stories, the writers inevitably stay up to date on goings-on in their area. But you can volunteer in your own way, more informally. Write to your local newspaper whenever an issue comes up in your town that relates to animal welfare. You can find the contact emails of many newspaper editors online now. Again, the internet helps! Type out your letter and email it to the appropriate contact.

Obviously there are lots of great ways to utilize the internet for animal welfare actions. The greatest benefit of all is that the internet allows you to have an idea and act on it quickly before the planning stages become overwhelming. Processes are streamlined and communication made much quicker and easier. Good luck!

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