There are thousands of shelter dogs and cats who are looking for kind-hearted people who can give them forever homes. Through an amazing new campaign called Long Live Pets, Nature’s Variety and Best Friends Animal Society are expecting to help those abandoned animals as much as possible. And the best part? Everyone can help.

DogChannel spoke with former Miss America and veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner Bell and Best Friends Animal Society CEO Gregory Castle about ways every single person can change a shelter dog’s life for the better, as well as how any dog could become a true movie star in an important film project that will air on the Nat Geo WILD channel.

Here’s what she said about the campaign:

“(It’s) a partnership between Nature’s Variety Instinct and Best Friends Animal Society to raise awareness for some very important issues in our society. First of all, the no-kill movement. The no-kill movement seeks to bring pet overpopulation down to zero, which is why this is a great collaboration between Nature’s Variety and Best Friends.”

Turner explained that of the 8 to 10 million pets in animal shelters, nearly half of them will eventually be euthanized. And dog lovers, that is something we cannot allow to happen. Turner Bell encourages “people who are ready for a pet … to go to an animal shelter and adopt [one].”

If you’re unable to adopt a pet, there are other ways you can help.

“(You can) volunteer at the shelter. Help socialize the dogs and cats so that they’re ready to go home or better ready to go home and become part of your family. Tell people about spaying and neutering. Spay and neuter your own animals. That helps so that you don’t get those extra litters that you don’t know what to do with. Those are all ways in which you can help.”

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