Defenders of Wildlife, based in various locations mainly in California, works with animals on many different levels from educating the public to lobbying for animals to conserving the wildlife. You can “Adopt an Animal” as a donation option, or you can sign up for a Bank of America Visa card where two cents for every ten dollar purchase is donated their direction. They have a blog, discussion pages, a store, lots of fun stuff for you and the kids including a You Wild application that lets you morph a photo of you into an animal and web stickers for your profiles and websites. They are on Facebook, MySpace, and You Tube. In addition, they offer Defender’s Magazine, and they have many locations throughout the globe.
Big Cat Rescue (www.bigcatrescue.org)
Based in Florida, Big Cat Rescue is a sanctuary devoted to rescue in addition to public education. They offer some contests in addition to games, coloring pages, I-tunes, an online store (which sells many products from coffee mugs to books and DVDs to jewelry, and more). They also are on Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube, and their website has a lot of resources for relevant laws. They have tours with activities for children, and they offer many donation options including a Capital One credit card where 1% of purchases are donated to them in addition to a $25 donation after your first purchase.
The Performing Animal Welfare Society, PAWS (www.pawsweb.org)
The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) maintains three sanctuaries for wildlife and performing animals. They have quite a few donation options including a “feed the animals” as well as an “Adopt a Pet” option.
Please note, all three charities offer a means to “adopt a pet.” That does not mean you get to take one home with you.