Before you jump right into your plan for an animal shelter, you should consider how your shelter will differ from the other shelters in your area. If there is already an animal shelter that focuses on small dogs, for example, you may not want to also base your shelter around housing small dogs.  Think about a need in the community or in the animal adoption market that your animal shelter could fill. This could be older or elderly dogs who do not often get adopted or maimed animals that are not often accepted into larger animal shelters. This will also ensure that you are not competing with other animal shelters in your area and give your animal shelter a clear focus. Though the animal shelter is made for the wellbeing of animals, it is also a business. You should treat it as a business that needs to be sustainable and appealing. Get your finances for the shelter in order by sitting down and drawing up a budget. The budget should cover all start up costs, all outgoing expenses, and all incoming funds. Your budget should cover:  Costs for the shelter structure: This should include rent payments or building maintenance payments. You may also need to cover heating, water, and electricity expenses. Shelter supplies: This should include any equipment needed to make the shelter functional for animals, food for the animals, cleaning materials, and waste disposal. Animal care supplies: This should include the costs for routine vet treatment, neutering services, microchipping, and animal toys. You may also need to insure your vehicle as a shelter vehicle to transport animals to and from the shelter. Some animal shelter owners will treat the animal shelter as a part time job and will supplement the start up costs with their full time income at another job. This option is useful if you live in a household where two people both have stable, full time jobs and can donate a portion of their income to the shelter. Talk to your local chapter of The Humane Society and other national animal welfare associations to get a sense of government funding and what you might qualify for. Often, local governments will provide funding to animal shelters to help maintain animal welfare in the area and animal control. Talk to your bank about taking out a small business loan to help fund your shelter. You will likely need to be making a steady income over a period of time to qualify for the loan. You should also reach out to the community, local and online, to help support your shelter. Set up a fundraising campaign online to generate publicity for the shelter and to raise money. You can also organize a fundraising event with other animal shelters in the area or other animal related businesses. Collaborate with community partners to promote the fundraising event, as this will help promote the shelter as a valuable asset to the area. You can do this through your state’s department of agriculture. The cost for the licensing fee will depend on how many animals you plan to shelter at one time and can range from a $100 licensing fee for 20 or fewer pets to a $400 licensing fee for 80 or fewer pets. To obtain a license, a city inspector will look at your animal shelter to ensure it is fit for animals. She will then collect the licensing fee from you and process your application.
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One-sentence summary -- Identify the animal shelter’s focus or speciality. Create a budget for the shelter. Use part of your income as start up funding. Apply for government grants. Take out a business loan. Fundraise in your area and online. Apply for an animal shelter license.


This is a game for four or more people. One person begins the game as the zombie, and the others are humans. In this game, zombies can’t run, but humans can. You can play this game in any space big enough for your players to run around. It can be played indoors, outdoors, in an open area, or an area with lots of hiding spaces. There is no home base in this game. If this is your first round, choose a zombie by playing an elimination game, like asking everyone to choose a number. The winner of the game is the zombie! If you’ve just finished playing a round, the last remaining human can't be the new zombie. The zombie should stay where they are for 15-20 seconds while the humans start running. Zombies can't run! They also can't pretend to be human or leave the play area to ambush humans. If you’re the zombie, your goal is to tag as many humans as possible by reaching out and touching them. Once they are tagged, they become zombies and can tag other humans. Zombies can’t pretend to be human. This is a good opportunity to get into character! The game continues until there is only one human left. This person is the winner, and they can't be the zombie in the next round.
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One-sentence summary --
Gather at least four players. Find a large space to play. Choose a zombie. Give the humans a head start. Remember the rules if you're a zombie. Tag the humans. Determine the winner.