Mark Your Calendars for Remember Me Thursday

I have a cousin who worked for our local humane society back in the 1980s, and I will never forget the day she told me that on the day a dog was to be euthanized they would go out and get them a hamburger from McDonalds as one last special meal. If that doesn't simply gut you I just don't know what to say. I can't even type it without crying. Those innocent little angels deserved the kind of life your own cherished pets enjoy, but they were never given that chance.

We've come a long way since then - this same shelter now adopts out animals so quickly we're able to partner with shelters down south to save even more lives - but as a nation we still have a long, long way to go. According to the Humane Society, only 30% of pets in the United States come from rescue facilities, while over 3.4 million animals lose their lives in shelters without ever finding their forever home. How can we allow this to continue???

Five weeks from today is Remember Me Thursday, a day to honor the millions of pets who lost their lives without the benefit of a loving home and shine a light on the millions of healthy pets who are still awaiting adoption. Now in it's fifth year Remember Me Thursday has become a global awareness campaign uniting individuals and pet adoption organizations around the world as one voice speaking out for the voiceless.

As supporters of Remember Me Thursday since it's very first year I was so honored to receive an email earlier this summer offering us a blogger kit with tools to help start building the excitement for this year's event. It contained a t-shirt for me, a pet bandanna (oh, Mudpie!), a tea light and miscellaneous promotional materials. We would've posted about this special day regardless, but this sure was a nice thank you from the people at Helen Woodward Animal Center.

Are you ready to join the movement? Here's what you can do in advance:

1) Let your friends and followers on social media know that Remember Me Thursday is right around the corner.

2) Enter the #RememberTheRescue photo contest from September 1-30. Besides winning thousands of dollars for an animal shelter or rescue of your choice, each prize will also come with 1,000 pounds of pet food from Blue Buffalo and 100 toys from Kong!

And on Thursday, September 28th:

1) Light up social media using hashtags #RememberTheRescue and #RememberMeThursday to spread the word about pet adoption.

2) Light a candle to shine a light on animals in shelters and rescues waiting to find their forever home, and to remember the ones who died waiting for one.

In 2016, people using #RememberTheRescue and #RememberMeThursday reached nearly 340 million people on social media.

Can we get even more people sharing the importance of pet adoption in 2017? It’s up to you to spread the word!