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When I mention that I volunteer for animal rescues, the most common response I get is something along the lines of, “That’s so great! I wish I had the time to do something like that.” Of course, sometimes this is just idle conversation, but many people don’t realize that even one hour each week can save lives. If you’ve got just one hour every week, or even every month, you can help homeless pets find homes. Here are ten ways to do so.

1. Pet Cats

One of the most fun volunteer jobs is also one of the most important: Cat petting! If you can spend an hour each week petting cats that are waiting for adoption at your local shelter, you can increase their chances of finding adoptive homes. Cages and noise are major stressors for cats. Calm, loving attention can combat that stress and make them friendlier toward potential adopters.

2. Data Entry

Okay, it’s not as much fun as petting cats or walking dogs, but spending one hour each week on data entry is something you can do even if you’re allergic to pets or need to volunteer from home. Start by picking a rescue you’d like to help, then call them up and ask if you can do some data entry work for them. You may need to attend an orientation or meet with a volunteer coordinator so that the rescue or shelter can get a feel for who you are before giving you potentially sensitive information to enter into the system. Data entry is a huge help to shelters, and volunteers willing to do it are worth their weight in gold, even if they can’t commit a great deal of time.

3. Walk in a Parade

If you’ve adopted a well-behaved dog from a shelter nearby, you might be able to have fun and raise awareness for the organization, with a minimal time commitment. Especially in the summer and  during the holiday season, parades are everywhere. Call the shelter from which you adopted your dog and ask if you may walk in a local parade with your dog on their behalf. If you dress your dog up and wear a shirt with the rescue’s name and logo, you’ll catch parade-goers’ eyes and be able to answer questions from people thinking of adopting. Walking in a parade is a great way to meet families looking for dogs, and encourage them to check the shelter before buying a puppy.

4. Sponsor a Pet

It won’t even take you one hour each week to sponsor a needy pet. Most rescues offer programs through which a supporter can make a regularly scheduled donation to sponsor a particular pet until it is adopted. By becoming a sponsor, you not only financially support your shelter of choice, but also help the sponsored pet find a home. Pets that have sponsors are often more attractive to adopters, because there is a perception that a pet someone’s gone to the effort of sponsoring must be more desirable.

5. Give a Foster Home a Hand

Fostering shelter pets is simultaneously one of the most rewarding and most stressful types of volunteer work. If you can’t open your own home to a foster pet, but appreciate the work of those who do, contact your favorite rescue and offer to help with the foster program. You might be asked to pick up a dog being surrendered by an owner and deliver it to a foster home, or take a cat to a spaying appointment, or just walk someone else’s foster dog while the foster parent is ill. A helping hand goes a long way toward keeping foster homes in the program and preventing burnout.

6. Appreciate Shelter Staff

Working at a shelter is a tough and often thankless job. However, employees have a huge impact on adoptions, and the higher the staff’s morale, the more smoothly the shelter will run. Help keep employees’ spirits up by taking an hour once a week to drop by your favorite shelter with a treat for the staff. Baked goodies are always appreciated. Even a card saying “Thanks for helping the pets find homes” can make a huge difference to an overworked, stressed-out shelter employee.

7. Connect Dogs in Danger with Breed Rescues

If there’s a high-kill shelter in your area and you have one hour per week to visit it, you could save lives every single week. Politely find out what day euthanasia is usually performed, and plan to visit the shelter on the day before euthanasia day each week. Ask an employee to show you which dogs are out of time. If any are of a recognizable breed, call rescues in your state and possibly surrounding states to see if a rescue specializing in that breed can pull the dog from death row.

If you want to do this, start by finding someone else who has a similar routine, and shadow them a few times. Pulling dogs from shelters to rescue can be a very delicate situation. No shelter employee likes to feel like they’re being judged for the harsh realities with which they work, and if you’re too brusque with the wrong person, you may find the door suddenly is shut to rescues wishing to pull purebreds slated for euthanasia.

8. Write an Article

I’ve volunteered for shelters large and small, and rescues specializing in everything from horses to rats. One need they’ve all had in common: Good content for a newsletter! If you passed English 101 in college, you’re probably qualified to write an occasional newsletter article. A touching success story about an adopted pet is always nice, or you could offer to profile a special volunteer for each newsletter.

9. Help Plan a Fundraiser

Most medium to large rescues and shelters plan at least one raffle or silent auction fundraiser each year. These types of fundraisers can be highly successful, but they require a lot of work. If you know your favorite rescue group is planning a fundraiser like this, offer to spend an hour each week calling around to solicit donations of prizes. Most businesses will give at least a small donation in exchange for a little publicity and some good karma, and it takes very little time to round up a heap of great prizes.

10. Walk a Dog

It doesn’t take long to walk a dog, but a weekly walk could save a life. Many dogs develop problem behaviors when placed in a  shelter environment. Exercise and individual attention go a long way to combat these issues. If you take the time to walk one dog each week at your local shelter, you could transform a bored, barking dog into one who politely pleads for attention and catches the eye of a family looking to adopt.

If your dog or cat has ever been attacked by fleas, you know it’s uncomfortable for your pet, and uncomfortable for you to watch the constant scratching. But these pests can be more than a nuisance for your pet. In one day, a single flea can bite more than 400 times, consume more than its body weight of blood, and lay hundreds of eggs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And your furry friend can contract dermatitis from the flea saliva, and permanent hair loss and other skin problems from the constant scratching. Flea bites can also cause anemia. But fleas aren’t the only pests that can cause trouble for your pets. Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, and in turn your pet can bring ticks into the home, putting you and your family at risk. You’ll want to protect your pet, of course, but it’s important to be cautious when using flea and tick products. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an advisory about spot-on pesticide products for pets and intensified its evaluation of the products due to an increase in reports of bad reactions, ranging from skin irritation to burns, seizures, and in some cases, death. Spot-on products are generally sold in tubes or vials and are applied to one or more areas on your pet’s body, such as in between the shoulders or in a stripe along the back. While spot-on products can be effective treatments for fleas and ticks and many people use them on their pets with no harmful effects, the EPA asks pet owners to carefully follow label directions, monitor their pets for any signs of a bad reaction after applying, and to talk to their veterinarian about responsible use of these products.

Follow these safety tips when treating your pet for ticks and fleas:

1. Always read the label carefully

before using a flea and tick product. If you don’t understand the wording, ask your veterinarian or call the manufacturer before using.

2. Follow the directions exactly

If the product is for dogs, don’t use it on cats or other pets. If the label says use weekly, don’t use it daily. If the product is for the house or yard, don’t put it directly on your pet.

3. Keep multiple pets separated after applying

 a product until it dries to prevent one animal from grooming another and ingesting a drug or pesticide.

4. Talk to your veterinarian before using a product

on weak, old, medicated, sick, pregnant, or nursing pets, or on pets that have previously shown signs of sensitivity to flea or tick products.

5. Monitor your pet for side effects

after applying the product, particularly when using the product on your pet for the first time.

6. If your pet experiences a bad reaction

from a spot-on product, immediately bathe the pet with mild soap, rinse with large amounts of water, and call your veterinarian.

7. Call your veterinarian

if your pet shows symptoms of illness after using a product. Symptoms of poisoning include poor appetite, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, or excessive salivation.

8. Do not apply a product to kittens or puppies

unless the label specifically allows this treatment. Use flea combs to pick up fleas, flea eggs, and ticks on puppies and kittens that are too young for flea and tick products.

9. Wash your hands immediately

with soap and water after applying a product, or use protective gloves while applying.

10. Store products away

from food and out of children’s reach.