There are a number of ways pet lovers can assist homeless animals.
If you're interested in helping homeless animals but aren't able to adopt one, there are a number of other ways you can be of assistance.
Realistically, not everyone can adopt. People who live in apartments or residential complexes that have no-pets policies fall into that category, as do people with allergies or disabilities that will not allow them to care for pets of their own.
Adoptapet.com offers these suggestions for ways people who want to help can participate in caring for homeless animals.
* Help out at a local shelter. It's not glamorous work by any means, but it's vital and will be very much appreciated. You can do anything from help walk dogs to bottle feed kittens, help clean kennels or cat's cages or even help with bathing and grooming. Contact your local shelter to find out their policies regarding volunteers.
* If you're handy, you can lend a hand in many ways. Shelters usually need repairs of many kinds, so fixer-uppers can help out like that. If you sew, quilt or crochet, you can make blankets for your area shelter.
* Help out at an adoption event. Many shelters and rescue groups participate in local events by hosting a table with pets available for adoption. They also hold these program at malls, pet supply stores and banks, and can often use a helping hand.
* For galleries like this one and for online adoptions sites, often a shelter or rescue group doesn't have the time or equipment to shoot good photos of their adoptable pets. Something as simple as making yourself available to shoot and provide digital files of pet photos can be a big help.
* Donate. It doesn't have to be money; shelters need cleaning supplies, pet food, toys for the animals and often even things we don't think twice about getting rid of like old towels and newspapers. Every little bit helps.
If you don't know where your local animal shelter or rescue group is, a quick online search will reveal a number of results.
Here's a gallery of pets in need of homes in northern and central New Jersey. More homeless pets can be seen here and here.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.