Interesting wee fact brought to us by the lastest “Urban Animal” newsletter;

The PIAA also has a new CEO–Dr Joanne Sillince a vet who was previously a Board Member and former President of the Australian Veterinary Association–but also former EO of the Australian Chicken Growers Council in 2001 and CEO of the Australian Meat Processor Corporation later. She’s the third PIAA head in as many years and the 8th in the 15 years that organisation has been incorporated.

3 CEO’s in 3 years? 8 in 15? Could it be that being the head of an organisation who supports the bulk production of pets for money is a tough gig once you get a look behind the scenes?


Certainly seems they’ve found a good match in Dr Jo, with her background in intensive chicken farming and meat. Stay tuned for more of the same I’d say.


In other news, the fantastic new Lead the Way campaign was launched this week; a website collecting meaningful support to ban the sale of pets in store in NSW. Check it out.

At risk teens up early on a Saturday morning to go to dog trial? Sometimes pets can be the link to bigger and better things…

Break and enter…assault… robbery…torching cars… and dog jumping.

Yep … a bunch of teenage boys from Armidale in the northern tablelands of NSW who’ve been well known to the local cops for ages .. are now on a first name basis with farmers on the dog trialling circuit.

In case you’re not familiar with dog jumping… its basically the K9 equivalent of high jump.

These boys have won every dog jumping competition they’ve entered and over the weekend they smashed the local record.

Listen here: Armidale Dog Jumping – Triple J’s Hack program

I’m working with two rescue groups; both are staffed by lovely volunteers, both want to boost their adoptions and both have high standards for their adopters, so are working to weed out the bad ones as best they can.


Group A does this by working out in the community, spreading the word about responsible pets ownership, putting an emphasis on customer service and working to attract great adopters.


The other (Group B) does it by being leery of the people that phone them, making it hard for people to get in touch with them by anything but an in person visit and matter-of-factly telling people that aren’t suitable, that they can’t adopt.


Both have the same result – only suitable adopters being given pets – but no prizes for guessing who’s more highly regarded by their community.


Group B complain that all the people that come to them have no idea about being a good owner. The irony is, that by driving these bad adopters away, the group loses any chance they have of helping them change their behaviour.


Group B complain that people only come to visit them looking for “cheap” pets. However they make no effort to seek out a better quality of adopter, or treating people well, or having opening hours that would suit a working family.


Group A don’t really complain – they’re simply too busy being helpful.


While both groups are looking to promote their adoption service with advertising, only Group A would actually benefit from being given more exposure. Group B would quickly poison any efforts to bring in more clients by the fact their “product” (themselves) is faulty. Instead of advertising, they need to take a good hard look at the experience they are giving their existing clients.

Remember; you can’t bully the public into being great owners, you can only charm them into taking on the knowledge you have to share.

A guy with a serious medical condition is admitted to the hospital. The doctor presents him with his options.

We can give you a modern treatment that has succeeded every time we have used it, he says. Or we can use a treatment developed in the 19th century. It never has succeeded, but it’s very popular.

Which one do you choose?

The 19th century treatment in that allegory is the approach employed by most other animal control shelters. Adopt out what animals you can within your own walls, kill the rest, blame it on bad pet owners and claim you’re doing the best you can.

This approach has the support of all the nation’s major animal welfare organizations, but if the goal is to reduce the population of unwanted dogs and cats – it’s not working.
(They’re not killing, they’re taking lives – Bill White)

Much time is spent hand-wringing about how best to punish “bad” owners – time that could be spent trying to attract great ones.


Much effort is put into ensuring owners aren’t making impulse decisions - leaving less effort to put into marketing ourselves so that we’re accessible by the wider community.


We can’t fear our public. We can’t keep them from making bad decisions. All we can do is give them good information time and time again. Play the oppressor or a tyrant and they’ll just avoid us and make stupid mistakes regardless – and we will have lost our chance to influence them for good.


Sure they always come to us for help eventually, but usually it’s much too late. Why is that?

no furbabies shud evr be on de street wif no home….not everz!

Lots of pet adoption adverts go something like this;

Larry is a active boy so he needs lots of exercise. Larry needs high fences. Larry needs a family with someone home during the day. Larry is on death row so he needs your help.

This ad might get Larry adopted, but it forgets one vital detail that could make Larry seem much, much more adoptable… and that detail is; all relationships are a two way street.


Larry has needs, we get that. But what about his potential adopters needs? Larry has to meet them too, or else it’s not a healthy two way relationship (we see examples of pets that don’t meet their owners needs all the time – they’re called “homeless”).


So how does Larry meet his adopters needs? Well, first we need to think about what the needs of Larry’s perfect adopter would be. Would they need an active pet or a couch potato? Would they want a clingy dog or an aloof one? Would they need a handsome pet to be happy with it, or would a scruffer suit them?


If you match your profile to meeting Larry’s perfect adopters needs, then you’re setting them both up for a healthy mutually beneficial partnership together.

Larry loves a run so if you’re looking for a jogging companion or someone to take long walks with you, then Larry’s your man. He does needs a secure yard with high fences, but his long legs make Larry a very good looking boy, with everyone commenting on how handsome he is – a real head turner. He’s also very loyal and will want to spend time with his family, so someone home for part of the day would suit him best. Larry is on death row – you can be his hero.

Adopters have dozens of choices as to where they can get a pet – show them how this pet meets their particular needs and you’ll make it easy for them to choose your adoptee.