County Animal Shelter

240.773.5960

14645 Rothgeb Drive

Rockville, MD 20850

Hours to Visit

With the Animals

Mon, Tues Thurs, Fri:

noon-7pm

Closed Wednesdays

Sat & Sun: noon-5pm

Business Hours and Looking For Lost Pets

Mon, Tues Thurs, Fri:

10am-7pm

Closed Wednesdays

Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm

Directions

'Adopt Me'

Bandanas

How about a creative service project to help “market” shelter pets?

Make colorful bandanas for large and small animals that will help them get noticed -– and adopted!

You can use iron-on transfers with designs you create on your computer, or you can draw on designs by hand. Here’s how:

You will need:
• Fabric: 20” to 24” squares of light, bright, solid-color cloth (may be slightly larger or smaller, depending on the size of the animals they’ll be used on)
Hint: If you don’t want to go to a fabric store, you may find some plain doggie bandanas online just waiting for you to decorate!

Iron-on style
• Iron-on transfer paper available from office supply stores or departments (you may want to call your favorite store first to be sure they’re in stock)
• Iron and flat surface that can withstand heat

Draw-it-yourself style
• Indelible (not washable!) fabric markers, all colors OK

DIRECTIONS

Take a fabric square and fold it corner to corner, forming a triangle. Cut along the fold. This will produce two triangles each with a long side for tying. The final size must be able to tie completely around the animal’s neck.

Hint: For many fabrics, if you use pinking shears to cut, you won’t have to sew a hem!

Iron-on style
Follow instructions on your package of transfer paper to design and transfer your message (see suggestions below) to one triangle at a time.

Draw-it-yourself style
•  Write a very short message and draw a simple design on only one side of each triangle (see suggestions below).
•  Be sure the ink from your marker is completely dry on the cloth before you handle the bandana further.

These bandanas are a great marketing tool -– they help get pets noticed, and that in turn helps get them adopted. Make your bandanas colorful and fun. Here are some examples of phrases and designs you can use:

•  Adopt Me!
•  Take Me Home!
•  Shelter Dogs/Cats/Rabbits Rock!
•  Be My Best Friend!
•  I’ll Be Your Best Friend!

(Hint: We do not use phrases like “Please buy me” -– it’s much more important to encourage adopting pets from shelters and rescues, not shopping for them in retail stores where they likely came from puppy or kitten mills where animals are raised in harsh, inhumane living conditions.)

•  Paw prints
•  Hearts
•  Holiday themes (shamrocks, hearts, flags, Christmas trees, etc.)
•  I <heart> Shelter Dogs/Cats/Rabbits