5 Tips When Starting Your Own Animal Sanctuary

4 April 2018
 Categories: Pets & Animals, Blog

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Stating your own animal sanctuary can be incredibly rewarding, especially if you love helping animals. However, starting a sanctuary is like starting a business, so you must treat it as such. Check out these five tips when starting your own animal sanctuary.

Choose a Species

While you may want to rescue every animal on Earth, it simply isn't possible. Therefore, it's best to choose a specific species or group of similar species on which to focus. If you love cats and dogs, consider opening an animal sanctuary/adoption facility for cats and dogs and other small pets. However, if you are more familiar with farm animals, you may prefer to rescue horses, sheep, goats and other animals that require a little more specialized care. Last, if you have plenty of money and land, you may want to rescue large wild animals, like big cats, wolves, etc.

Ensure You Have the Land

Once you know what type of animal(s) you want to rescue, you need to ensure you have enough room. If you are just keeping the animals on your small property, you may not be able to rescue many, and you'll likely be unable to shelter larger animals like horses. Depending on how many animals you want to hold in the sanctuary, you may need to purchase additional land, build barns or other buildings to shelter the animals and hire people to help.

Reach the Masses

Regardless of why you open your animal sanctuary, you need to reach the masses. One of the best ways to do this is by getting online. Create your own website and social media accounts. If you are only offering sanctuary to animals (not putting them up for adoption), your goal is to reach people who may have information on abused animals. On the other hand, if you do plan on adopting out the pets, you may also need to start your own adoption site or join others.

Partner With a Veterinarian

With so many pets, you're going to have a lot of vet bills, especially if you are rescuing abused or sick animals. It's a good idea to partner with a specific veterinarian who treats all the animals you shelter. This helps by creating an established relationship and cutting costs because you give the vet lots of business. If possible, you may want to hire your own part-time vet if you have lots of animals that need frequent attention.

Legally Protect Yourself

Remember, starting an animal sanctuary is like starting a business, so you need to protect yourself. One way to do this is by getting general liability insurance. In the event someone is hurt, you'll be covered. You may also want to consider registering your sanctuary as an LLC, so the business finances are separate from your own.

Opening your own animal sanctuary may seem like a complex task, but it's much like starting any business. As long as you have a solid plan and protect yourself and your business from lawsuits or disasters, you can successfully help animals escape pain. If you are ready to get started, visit a few online pet or sanctuary pages to see how others run their animal rescues.  

Contact a company like Buho Pets for more information.