Aug
Stories of hope from the US
Some of the best of the web today;
Shelters acting as shelters; helping the homeless and their pets;
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Each year, more than 40,000 animals enter Animal Care & Control of NYC, said Patrick Kwan, the New York State director for the Humane Society.
“In almost all cases, it is cheaper to help people keep their animals using the free or low-cost services rather than surrender them and allow the shelter to pay for an animal’s care until they are adopted, sent to rescue groups or euthanized,†he said.
The program also provides support and information to help people find homes for stray animals instead of surrendering them to the shelter system.
‘Homelessness, man’s best friend and a hard choice‘
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Also, Christie Keith writes on how to find homes for big black dogs:
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The good news is that black dogs have a lot of friends. Petfinder launched a campaign telling adopters that dark furred pets make it easier to accessorize. “After all,” said Saunders, “black goes with everything!” The Black Pearl Dogs Web site offers rescue groups a place to list their available black dogs and tries to educate the public about the problem. And last month, PR and marketing expert Heather Rosenwald launched Start Seeing Black Dogs, which offers free marketing and PR services to help shelters and rescue groups put their available black dogs in the best possible light to potential adopters.
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Some shelters have turned “big black dog syndrome” into a marketing opportunity instead of an obstacle. “Our animal care workers noticed that we were inundated with wonderful black dogs who weren’t finding homes as easily as other dogs,” said Hope Hancock, director of the SPCA of Wake County in North Carolina.
The shelter staff came up with what they called the “Black Dog Blue Light Special” campaign.
“This was a real grassroots campaign,” said Hancock. “It didn’t originate in our marketing department, but from the people who were working hands-on with the adoptable dogs.”
The workers strung blue Christmas lights in the adoption area, made up cards describing the dogs’ personalities and giving them a little pizzazz, and even ran ads that gave “blue light special” a literal spin: they manipulated the photos to turn the black dogs blue. When some people saw the ads and assumed the dogs had been painted blue, they contacted the shelter with outraged complaints — giving the SPCA an opportunity to do a little education about “black dog sydndrome.”
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And have you registered for the The 2009 3rd National Summit to End Companion Animal Overpopulation yet? Numbers are seriously limited. Do. Not. Wait.
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