A fellow dog lover pointed me towards Crafters for Critters, a website that supports independent craft businesses and collects money for animal rescue organizations. The site takes donations from crafters/designers/artists and offers them for sale. The proceeds from the site are donated to animal rescue groups. The only money the site keeps for itself is for shipping costs, PayPal fees, and the occasional promotional materials or advertising. Everything else goes to the animals.
Crafters for Critters is run in rounds. A round is a period of four months where all proceeds from the site are divided between three animal charities. One of the three organizations supported will always be a greyhound rescue group because the CFC founder owns a greyhound named Shasta and a Galgo (Spanish Greyhound) named Miguel. The site also offers some important information on greyhound racing.
It’s wonderful to see how the site has grown in such a short time! The first round, in June 2004, raised $700. Round Four, which ran in fall and winter of 2005, raised more than $2100!
If you’re ready to shop, check out their great sale section!
And yes, you can shop for pet stuff!
Between now and April 30th, you can get 20% off your order during the last few days to help the Round Five charities: SOS Galgos, a rescue group for Spanish Greyhounds; Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah; and PAWS, the Performing Animal Welfare Society. Just use the code APRIL_20 in the shopping cart before the end of the month! Starting June 1st, your purchases will help three new charities as Round Six Begins.
I’ve been trading emails back and forth with Melissa, the site’s founder, because I want to donate some homemade bath and body products. Because a lot of the crafters and shoppers are vegan, she encourages donations that are 100% animal friendly and fit in with a vegan lifestyle. She even helped me look over my ingredient list and pointed out what might be animal-derived. So you can look for some items handmade by yours truly coming soon to Crafters for Critters!