Can You Spare Two Minutes?

Blog by Humane PA President, Elissa Katz

I care deeply about the humane treatment of animals – and I know that you do too. That is why we belong to Humane PA and why we are fighting for the passage of laws that will protect animals. But, sometimes our fight can seem overwhelming – there is so much to be done, how do we properly allocate our time and resources in the best way possible to help animals? Most of us are already helping animals in so many ways. We volunteer for shelters and rescues, we foster, we engage in TNR, the list goes on. And, on top of our various volunteer activities, we have jobs and family obligations. And, while we want laws to be passed to help animals, how can we find time to do it all?
As president of Humane PA, I have come to realize that sometimes all it takes is two minutes to make a difference. Here are some actions which can be accomplished in literally two minutes, and these are actions which can make a meaningful difference when we are trying so hard to enact humane laws:
1. Every time you receive an action alert, call or email your legislators’ office to express your opinion. To save time, program your legislators’ telephone numbers into your phone and their email addresses into your contacts. When a piece of humane or animal-related legislation is coming up for a vote, it will take less than two minutes to first call your legislator and ask him or her to support (or oppose) a specific bill and to follow up the telephone call with a quick email.  Our legislators care about and respond to our input, since we are their voters and can determine whether or not they remain in office at election time.
2. Share and “like” Humane PA posts on Facebook. If possible, post a short comment. That will help keep Humane PA posts prominent in the Facebook feed, which in turn ensures that the posts will be seen by more people, including our legislators.
3. Sign up to receive the Humane PA enewsletter and email alerts. Receiving the newsletter and alerts will help you to stay informed as to the status of pending animal-related legislation in our State.
4. Forward the Humane PA enewsletter and action alerts to your friends, encouraging others who care about the humane treatment of animals to take action.
Raising our voices on behalf of animals and making our opinions known to our State lawmakers does not have to take a lot of time. Getting better laws passed and reminding our legislators that we want them to pursue a humane agenda does not have to overburden our already busy and sometimes overwhelming schedules. There are more animal-related bills under consideration in our State legislature than ever before. Can you spare two minutes to take action? Sometimes, that’s all that it takes to make a difference in the lives of animals.

Check out Humane PA’s Take Action page for more ways to get involved and thank you for your willingness to make a difference!

 Elissa B. Katz is the President of Humane PA and a partner in the law firm of Meranze, Katz, Gaudioso & Newlin, P.C. in Philadelphia. She is a regular volunteer with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), assisting with cat care and adoption applications at an adoption site.  She is also a board member of The Humane League.