Animals shelters always asking for towels, blankets, duvets

[lljkk]

I have long wondered about why the constant need.

Do they just get badly soiled quickly so then get thrown away? Else why the constant need? I presume items get washed if not badly soiled, or maybe they don't ever get washed, just binned instead (?) Do the dogs rip them apart ?

I have ancient towels & duvets & blankets. I don't mind using them until they are threadbare/disintgrating.

Or do the towels get tossed if not still thick fabric in good repair?

I don't understand the constant need for shelters to ask for towels etc. unless the animals are constantly weeing/pooing/bleeding/being sick on them.

Is that what happens, lots of bodily fluids?

Isn't it because you need new ones for each animal? Even if you wash a towel it will still smell of dog and if you wrap a new rescue animal that is already scared in another dog's towel it will make it feel more scared as they can smell a threat.

Do they just get badly soiled quickly so then get thrown away? Else why the constant need? I presume items get washed if not badly soiled, or maybe they don't ever get washed, just binned instead (?) Do the dogs rip them apart ?

All of the above …

They go through loads, they can get really soiled, ripped, and such.
Once a year I go through our linen cupboard, gathering anything not at its best, for the local shelter. Sometimes I'm a bit embarrassed about the state of them (stains) but they have always seemed grateful for them

I have long wondered about why the constant need

Really? I mean, it's not too difficult to figure out is it?!

@Mumistiredzzzz
Exactly!

I work at a vets and we use loads of towels and fleece blankets. People often bring animals in carriers with no bedding - we’d use a towel in the exam table, maybe to wrap a cat for a procedure and then send it home with them. They get washed and reused a lot. In kennels we use vetbed (fluffy liners) and fleece blankets which do get washed and reused but if they get too disgusting or soiled with anything infectious they are thrown out. We wouldn’t use duvets because they are too difficult/bulky to wash but if a rescue has outdoor or not well heated kennels they’d be useful.

I work in animal rescue. They can be badly soiled, although most rescues have washing machines so will do their best. They get ripped or chewed apart by puppies or others, they will often be sent home with animals on rehoming so that the animal has a familiar item and smell in their new home. Hope this helps 😊

In winter months we need so many to keep animals warm as unfortunately even with the best heating kennels can still get chilly so we'd use loads.

We're also having to cope with unprecedented demand for our spaces, due to people not neutering pets, people breeding more animals and people's financial or living circumstances changing / cost of living. Neuter your pets please everyone and no your bitch doesn't need to have a litter before she is spayed.

I also volunteer at a cat rescue.

we go through tonnes. We wash and disinfect bedding,rags and towels regularly and we have hundreds of them but they are constantly in use.

I agree with the above comments.

Very helpful post! I have old blankets that I could clear out and donate. I honestly hadn’t considered the need shelters had for them. Is it more-so the smaller rescues or do the big nationwide ones have this same need? RSPCA, Cats Trust, etc.

All of the above. As well as damage/extensive soiling meaning that some items need to be discarded, sending a dog or cat to its new home with a familiar smelling blanket can help them settle in.

I foster rescue cats and give away many a blanket, bed, tent or toy when they are rehomed because its theirs and a little bit of comfort in what is otherwise an unsettling time for them.

I think they send animals to their new home with a familiar blanket

Yes. When I fostered, my cats always took their favourite toy with them and one of my crocheted blankets.

I also foster for our local rescue. Last year they fostered out 96 litters of kittens, each with a stack of ten or so towels and blankets.

One of our litters arrived with giardia, so yes, we binned the bedding rather than risk cross infection.

We’ve taken old duvets to the nearest Dogs’ Trust, and towels to Battersea. They were glad to have them.

Ooh, thank you for this thread. . Just having a clear out of my towel cupboard. Will contact our local shelters.
Are hand towels useful for eg cats, or is it only bath towels?

This .
I work in rescue also .
Some dogs just chew their bedding . Even though we have big industrial size washing machines some bedding can get so heavily soiled it gets thrown out . Our rescue currently has no power due to the storms so no bedding can be washed but still got hundreds of animals that need clean bedding . So having plenty of blankets and towels are a must .

Hand towels are very useful too.

Same, have a pile I was going to take to the tip, but will ask the local shelters now

I wash Ddogs bedding weekly but even so I need to replace it a couple of times a year so I imagine Rescues get through quite a lot

I contacted a local shelter recently as the charity werent taking donations (they never seem to be) and the email back said no thanks, I thought they would jump at the chance. I had some lovely blankets and then ended up in the charity clothing bin in a local car park.

I used to work at a kennels as everyone had said above blankets just don't last long because they fall apart after being bitten, dragged around and soiled repeatedly,

The most useful thing we were donated was carpet. We had an arrangement with a carpet shop that would give us any old sample books and sell us very very cheap and otherwise unsalable rolls. We also had a few customers who did house renovations and would ask if we wanted ripped out carpet before it was binned.

Would slice it into squares and it was great for putting under dog beds for an added layer of comfort and insulation and much hardier than a blanket.

Hand towels are brilliant for litters of kittens, perfect size to line a basket and just keep chucking the top one in the washing machine.

I recommend fostering if anyone is interested. We do have the occasional tragedy but mostly you just get to play with round after round of tiny fluffy slightly stinky kittens.

We're guilty of this. We took our cat in as an emergency, he had intussusception so he was projectile vomiting and we just had a bit of vetbed stuff in the bottom of the carrier. Sadly they had to put him to sleep and our lovely vet wrapped him in a big blue towel so we could bring him home for burial. I'm so grateful to the kind soul (or staff member) who donated that towel.

Same here, local shelter declined two large (unused) dog beds, blankets and a load of unopened food after we lost our previous dog. We ended up taking the bedding to the tip and giving the food away to a neighbour for his collies.

We gave our old threadbare towels which were only fit for the bin to the local vet hospital, they are always asking for them to line the cages or whatever. Not sure. I was just glad someone had a use for them as that was preferable to chuckuing them in the bin.