A lot of shelters and rescue starting to put out web videos to promote the pets they have in care, which is of course AWESOME! And there are a few tips and tricks your group can be using to get the most out of your web videos. No one wants to make a video that no one watches and a lack of interest from supporters can lead to the web video program being cancelled before it even gets off the ground. So what makes for a successful web video how can you make yours the blockbuster of the year?

What you’ll need

- A ‘Hard Disk’ camcorder <-- a video camera
These record and write directly to a computer drive inside the camera. This allows you to transfer your video straight to your computer through a cable, without having to mess around with video tapes. You can pick a basic model up at major appliance stores for around $300 – $400.

- A computer
You’ll need a computer which is compatible with your new camera.

- Editing software
Sometimes video cameras come with software which lets you edit video. Alternatively, there are a host of online programs you can use. If you’re engaging a volunteer to help you, having them research and choose the best editing software to use can be part of their role. One of the best online programs comes built into YouTube (see below).

- A YouTube account
YouTube is the website where you will upload your videos. Not only does it have software to edit your videos, it comes with lots of clever ways to share your video built in. Visit the site and create an account and password in preparation for your videos.

Getting started

Before you even get shooting, you need to have a think about who you are making videos for, and how you’re going to go about sharing them. It’s not enough to think ‘we’ll make videos and people will watch them’; you have to have a plan on how you’re going to reach people.

Places to share your web-videos

- In your newsletter: if you have a email mailing list and a newsletter that goes out regularly, you can time your videos with the mailer. Web videos can be great for adding interest.

- On your Facebook fan page: Facebook is one of the best places to share videos as upload is immediate and videos make great content for your page. But how many followers do you have? If you’re neglecting your page and only have a few hundred followers, now is the time to get your Facebook page in tip top shape! (I’ll write more about Facebook pages in a coming blog).

- On your Twitter: some groups are using Twitter, others aren’t. It’s totally up to you and whether you have enough resources for another social media project, but like Facebook, Twitter is immediate and videos make great, shareable content for your stream.

- In your PetRescue listings: Videos can also be uploaded to your PetRescue animal listings; either as a YouTube link, or as a video upload. Pet profiles with video are much, much more popular than those without so it’s worth the time.

- On your organisation’s homepage: having adoptable animal videos on your homepage shows people that you’re committed to finding pets homes, and changing them regularly will draw visitors back to your website.

So you have your camera, you’ve created a nice big audience for your web videos and are ready to start shooting. Now what?

Keep it short

Think ‘advertisement’, not ‘documentary. Your video is going to be less than a minute long when you’re done. Did you hear that? Less than a minute. Any longer and people will be dozing off and tuning out. This means you have to be really focused on what is important.

Choose an ‘adoptable’ pet

There is often a temptation to use your web videos to profile those pets who need extra help – we’ll call them the ‘harder-to-place-pets’ – and web videos CAN be great for getting extra exposure for these guys…. STOP!

You want your web videos to truly reflect the kinds of animals you get in care. Most often – lovely pets who need a second chance. These are the guys you’ll want to start with, to send the message to your community that you’re a great source of healthy, friendly, adoptable pets.

Once your program is up and running, then use your videos to profile your harder to place pets, alternated with lots of attractive and desirable animals. Don’t worry that the pet may be adopted soon after your video is released; this is an advertisement for ALL the animals in your shelter, not just the one you’re videoing today. So choose a friendly pet who will probably find a home as the ’spokespet’ for your shelter.

Choose a spokesperson

While a video of a pet running around is cute, it is not very effective in ’selling’ that pet’s best traits. You’re going to need a spokesperson. It doesn’t always have to be the same person, but they need to be enthusiastic, clearly spoken and positive.

There are two ways to film a video; either have the person handling the pet and speaking direct to camera (easy to film, hard to execute), or film the video first and then give it a voice over (a little tricker to put together, but gives a better result). Or you can do a combination of both, which is especially good if you want to film a foster carer talking about a pet, but then add extra details later.

Remember that someone talking behind the camera is going to be much, much louder than the handler a few steps away. If you want to have a ‘discussion’ between handler and cameraman, use a tripod and stand approximately the same distance away. Much better, avoid it altogether.

Develop a script

To make your video pop, you’re going to need to develop a script. You’re wanting to tell a story about your pet as they are now, and the kind of place they need to go to next. Don’t waste vital time describing how the pet came into care, unless it can help describe their new life (eg. “Billy previously lived with a retired owner, so we’re looking for another loving person with time to spend with him.”) And always, always keep it positive.

A quick way to compile a script is to answer the following questions;

What’s the best thing about the pet? What makes this pet super awesome and unique? Does this dog know how to sit? Fetch? Chase a basketball?
“Billy is exceptionally friendly and loves to run. He is happiest jogging along beside you, or fetching his ball in the backyard.”

What’s the best thing about the pet’s new owner? Who is the perfect owner for this pet? What are their attributes?
“If you’re an active family looking for an outgoing companion, Billy is your man. He’s looking for a mature family who will include him in family life.”

How would this pet’s perfect day go? If you had to describe the perfect day for this pet, what would it be?
“Billy would love to join you on a family outing to the beach or park, then curl up beside you on the couch and watch TV.”

You’ll want to introduce the pet at the beginning, then tell people how they can adopt the pet at the end. Use pre-made visual slides (more info below) to confirm these details:

Choosing a great location

You’ll need an attractive location, which is free from distractions to shoot your videos. Indoor areas with no carpet can produce a very ‘echoy’ result which makes it hard for the speaker to be heard, so a quiet outdoor location is often best. Off-lead paddocks can be great for shooting extra video of dogs playing and interacting, while extra video of cats should be filmed in a place where they are comfortable and therefore friendly and open.

When recording your script, the pet can be held by the handler, or dogs can be asked to sit for treats. A toy can be used to attract the pet to look at the camera.

Using media

Use a mix of video and photos

Types of video you can film:

- The pet with a handler: Either speaking to camera or not.
- The pet ‘doing its thing’: Chilling, doing tricks, interacting with other pets, playing, getting a bath or food or sleeping.
- The pet interacting with the camera: (As long as it doesn’t freak the pet out), video of the pet playing to the camera is really engaging.

If you also have a great picture, use that too!

Use slides

You’ll want to create a slide to start the video and introduce the pet:

And it’s really important to have one at the end to remind people how they go about adopting;

Look at your music

Music is great for creating feeling, glossing over background noise and people speaking off camera, but track choice is important. Just because you like loud rock, doesn’t mean the person you’re trying to ’sell’ to does. Think about the audience for your video (the pet’s perfect adopter) and the kind of music they might like (or at least not find repellent).

Also, keep it light and positive. While you might like the heart-wrenching effect of a sad track with poignant lyrics; remember getting a new pet is supposed to be an exciting and fun time for adopters. No doom or gloom!

Awesome video examples

Click ‘continue reading’ to see a library of some of the best pet adoption vids on the web…

This is a great video about ’special needs’ pets. The spokesperson speaks clearly and the echo is kept to a minimum. I especially like the lead out at the end where they revisit each pet. Unfortunately the vid is miles too long – single animal videos are a better bet.

While this doesn’t have any speech in it, I love the concept. Don’t be afraid to be topical or just have fun!

I really liked the way they got all the adoption info in, plus a bit of info about the dog and had some simple, professional graphics. Also a good use of an upbeat voiceover.

Showing that videos don’t need to be overproduced to be enthusiastic and effective, check out this one from Dog Rescue Newcastle. Getting a foster carer to ’sell’ their pet is a great idea as they know exactly what kind of home the pet would suit best.

These are great! Both these pets are ’special needs’, but the positivity just shines through. I especially like the idea of a scripted voiceover for anyone who’s too shy to speak on camera, as it leaves the animal handler free to concentrate on featuring the pet in the best possible light.

This video is from a breed rescue and is quick and dirty, but at the same time heartfelt and effective. Again, the use of a foster carer works well, as they know the pet better than anyone.

Dog Rescue Newcastle nails it again.

This one has a really bad echo, which is a shame, as otherwise it is a really good example of using a handler to tell a story about a pet.

This one is quick and basic, but effective. This could be fleshed out with some video footage of Rocco doing some tricks, or running or goofing off, but if you’re strapped for time, this is what a great video looks like.

Fewer people are able to give a dog a home

More abandoned dogs and cats are going without a home now than at any other time in the past 10 years, creating an “adoption crisis”.

The Animal Welfare League reports that dog adoptions are down 30 per cent and cat adoptions 10 per cent compared with the average of the past decade.

South Australian Animal Welfare League operations general manager Damien Marango said while adoptions were down the number of animals handed over was steady. “Many animals are also taking longer to be housed,” he said.

Mr Marango said research showed financial pressures families were facing was the main reason for the drop.

“Last year, our adoptions started to plummet as we experienced continual interest rates hikes and this year, the outlook is not good,” he said. “Our figures have continued to fall with the introduction of a flood levy (and) discussion of carbon tax.”

He urged all South Australians to consider adopting a pet, such as 10-week-old female staffordshire cross puppy Indigo.

The carbon tax? Really?

What makes this an especially terrible article (apart from like, all of it) is the fact its only purpose of it was to encourage adoptions. The desired outcome was to bring people into the shelter. And they’ve tried to do that with the message;

People are bad! They give up their pets! No one is adopting! There’s financial pressures. We have no choice; it’s hopeless.

It’s a common approach, but not a very effective one.

Imagine for one moment any other business marketing themselves in this way;

You guys suck! You’ve stopped buying cars! We’re going out of business and you’re all to blame! The economy is killing our business. Take pity on us and buy a car?

As discussed here previously, telling people they’re bad, doesn’t get people in the door to adopt. Whinging to people that you’re having a crisis, doesn’t get people in the door to adopt. Complaining about the economy, or global warming, or a lack of some law, doesn’t get people in the door to adopt.

What does get people in the door to adopt, is positive promotion of the individual pets a group has available.

You gotta make people fall in love – not criticise them or berate them, or whine at them. And there is a lot that any group can do to get their pets in front of a really large audience and it costs nothing;

********************************************************************

Pets Haven in Victoria have a Facebook page with nearly 30,000 members. They use this page to promote the animals they have in care, call for donations to individual pets and – most importantly – celebrate when a pet gets adopted!

By creating a community of pet-lovers (rather than just simply ear-bashing them), the group gets thousands of dollars of free ‘advertising’ for their pets and have a community of advocates rooting for, and actively participating in their success.

********************************************************************

One technique The Animal Welfare League in QLD uses is PetRescue.com.au and a fantastic team of volunteer photographers to get astoundingly beautiful photos of their pets in front of an enormous audience.

The pets practically ’sell’ themselves with such gorgeous pics.

********************************************************************

Whyalla Vet is a South Australian group who takes advantage of the colour ‘Adopt-a-Dog’ adverts which have just started in newspapers nationally every Sunday. Nearly 10,000 visitors a day flock to visit the profiles of the animals featured, flooding groups with potential adopter options.

Being included in these advertisements is free and open to all rescue groups who list on PetRescue.

********************************************************************

Late last year, the RSPCA Victoria ran a weekend  ‘adoption fee waived’ cat promotion. In three days, 110 cats found new homes. And they only stopped there, because they ran out of cats.

********************************************************************

Even more lifesaving

A shelter saves a pet in under 2hrs

A shelter saves six dogs in three hours

A pound saves 79 pets in a week

A regional pound saves 97% of the dogs it takes in

A pound in NSW uses ‘Pet of the Week’ adverts and sees great success

Continuing to blame an ‘irresponsible public’ for low adoptions – in the face of overwhelming evidence that people DO want to adopt, they DO want to open their hearts to a rescue pet, that they DO want to help groups – makes no sense. Adoptions must be made an organisational priority, just as important as events and fundraising; and talented and innovative people need to be encouraged to be involved in the process. The only limit is our imaginations.

There is no ‘adoption crisis’. Positive, proactive marketing by compassionate shelters finds pets homes.

I received this email last week;

You could really help a dog we have in care at our shelter at Armidale in northern NSW in need of surgery before we can make her available to be adopted.

Neither the shelter nor our RSPCA branch, who are providing support, can afford the amount needed so we have launched a campaign to raise funds for this specific cause. All the details are here. Any help in publicising Millie’s plight will help her get her new home.

thanks
*************************************************
Phill Evans
New England Regional Companion Animals Shelter
http://armidaleanimalshelter.blogspot.com

New England Strategic Alliance of Councils – Balancing autonomy and cooperation to enhance services to our communities
Armidale Dumaresq Council www.armidale.nsw.gov.au
Guyra Shire Council www.guyra.nsw.gov.au
New England Weeds Authority

Millie is a 9 year old labrador who was abandoned by her owners. With the cataracts completely blinding her estimated to cost $5,500 to remove, she could have easily been deemed ‘unsavable’ and euthanased without fanfare. But the unreasonably compassionate staff of the New England Regional Companion Animals Shelter, took it upon themselves to ask the community for help, setting up a blog to promote Millie’s plight, called ‘Help Millie See’.

Launched the end of February, it featured a heart-melting video of Millie which showed exactly how her cataracts effected her quality of life. They used this blog to thank donors as they came forward. They publicised Millie in the local media. They kept the community updated on Millie’s progress and the progress of their fundraising.

Less than 15 days later, the group has raised more than the money needed – they’ve raised nearly $6,000 to Help Millie See… An extraordinary achievement brought about simply by asking the community for help.

A huge congratulations to Phill and his team.

Groups who spend their time criticising their community for their faults are missing awesome opportunities to tap into their compassion. Groups who spend their time ruminating on how the public is the ‘problem’ and advocating for laws to ‘teach them a lesson’ build barriers between themselves and their community, and ignore the reality which is, overwhelmingly, the public are good and kind and pet loving… and the solution to reaching ‘unreachable’ goals.

The shelters who will see success in the future are those that promote saving lives in the face of obstacles. Those groups who will thrive in the future, are those who believe in serving and involving their public and who refuse to be content with ‘blaming and killing’, instead taking the time to advocate to their communities on behalf of the pets. Those groups who will lead us into a future where shelters are a safety net for animals, are those who recognise the ‘good’ people in the community, make up 100 times over for any ‘bad’ people in the community and that engaging the good people should be the focus.

Powerful opportunities for social engagement come from transparency, trust and creativity. This is the new world of animal sheltering.

By comparison this weekend, the RSPCA QLD made a big deal out of their shelters opening for adoptions after being closed because of flood damage. They offered ‘discount’ adoptions for two days – cats and kittens costing $85 and dogs and puppies $145.

Their result? 139 pets adopted from Fairfield (their major shelter), and 254 adoptions state wide.

Also this weekend, the RSPCA NSW ran a price based campaign. They began with a call to action;

“(we) are overwhelmed by the sheer number of cats and kittens that need homes or face being euthanased. In a desperate attempt to save as many feline lives as possible, the organisation is waiving cat adoption fees at five locations throughout the state from 17th – 21st February.

Instead of an ‘adoption fee’ new owners simply had to buy a $60 pack of cat goodies from their online store.

On the *very first day* of their 5 day ‘free’ cat adoption promo, the RSPCA NSW has issued this notice on their FB page…

“UPDATE: Please bear with us. We are overwhelmed with the response & we thank everyone for their support. Our facilities are very busy at present and your patience and understanding is appreciated”

They had been overwhelmed by people wanting to adopt a cat. Which is funny, if you ask most in the industry they’ll tell you ‘people just don’t want cats’.

While the campaign is running for one more day and the results are yet to be tallied, I’ll let you know as soon as they release their final adoption count.

Leading the way for these clever adoption promos, in November last year, the RSPCA Victoria offered three days of free cat adoptions and extended trading hours. Over the three days, 110 cats found new homes and probably most tellingly… they ran out of cats.

The long held myth that the public simply don’t want to adopt pound animals and that shelters are just ‘doing the dirty work of an irresponsible public’ is finally being recognised as the furphy that it is. It is possible to adopt your way out of killing, and positive, proactive marketing by compassionate shelters finds pets homes.

But I’ve been lucky enough to be able to get mine.

Click play below if you’d like to see it! :)

Over 30 years ago, Dogs Trust coined the phrase “A dog is for life not just for Christmas®”. This slogan is now a registered trademark belonging to the charity and despite being more than three decades old, still forms the basis for their xmas promotions (or lack of) this year;

To help discourage people from thoughtlessly buying dogs as Christmas presents, the charity’s 17 Rehoming Centres will stop rehoming dogs from 19th December to 2nd January. People will still be able to visit the centres and reserve a dog, but will not be able to take it home until the New Year.

But on what ’scientific’ basis do they close over xmas? Thirty years on, they must have studied this by now, right?

New research carried out by Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, has revealed that 1 in 5 parents would still consider buying their child a dog for Christmas.

um. ok.

With the average Christmas present lasting just four weeks before being discarded by its bored recipient, the charity fears that puppies bought for Christmas will experience a similar fate and is urging people to ‘think life’ when taking on a dog.

I’m sorry, what? Because people still get pets as gifts, and kids get tired of toys, we’re making the leap to pet abandonment. Which would be fine; if it were true…

But it’s not. And we know this because people have done actual studies on the factors surrounding pet relinquishment:

The collection and analysis of data have confirmed some widely held impressions previously derived from anecdotal information, such as the finding of relinquishment studies that problem behaviors increase a pet’s risk of being surrendered to a shelter. At the same time, they have contradicted impressions long accepted as shelter dogma, such as the belief that animals given as gifts are at greater risk of relinquishment than those acquired in other ways.

Replacing Myth with Math: Using Evidence-Based Programs to Eradicate Shelter Overpopulaton

Some proper you know, science, from the US in 2000 ‘Characteristics of Shelter-Relinquished Animals and Their Owners Compared With Animals and Their Owners in U.S. Pet-Owning Households’ showed that contrary to popular belief, “dogs who came from an animal shelter, friend, or pet shop or who had been a stray were at increased risk of relinquishment compared with dogs who entered households as gifts”. I know, surprising huh? What were the other factors for risk of ending up in the shelter? “Dogs who soiled the house, damaged things, were overly active, or were reported as fearful.”

So the ‘gifting’ of the pet wasn’t so much of a problem as… well, actual problems. In fact, the being a gift offered the pet a protective effect, with pets more likely to stay in the home.

Given that the Dog’s Trust is located in the UK, we should probably look at a study there. The RSPCA UK put out a 75 page report on the issues surrounding companion animal welfare in 2007 ‘Measuring animal welfare in the UK (Pet animals)‘. Their take on biggest problems leading to dog relinquishment?

Many unwanted dogs are purchased as puppies and are signed over to the RSPCA when they are between two and four years old. This can happen for a number of reasons including owners becoming bored of the dog once it’s an adult, owners being unable to cope with behavioural problems caused by inadequate training, and owners failing to make long-term plans for the care of the dog. The number of healthy dogs put to sleep could be reduced with a combination of simple, practical actions. Microchipping would assist with locating pet owners and could reduce the number of strays. Neutering of dogs could prevent unwanted pregnancies and help control the size of the dog population. The provision of suitable information and guidance from pet sellers could also improve the welfare of the animal concerned.

Noticeably absent? An epidemic of ‘gifting’.

Now, I’m not actually promoting the idea that we encourage people to make animal gifts – I personally think something that poops and wees and needs lots of attention, should be a joy one inflicts on themselves. But we need to understand that the overwhelming majority of people who do give pets as ‘gifts’, aren’t just springing the pet on an unsuspecting relative; more often they’re getting the pet for the whole family, or that the person who is getting the pet is heavily involved (or is at least consulted) during the process.

What’s more, the idea that ‘gifting’ is a core factor leading to pets ending up in the shelter, rather than the quality and capability of the home, is completely ignoring the true causes of animal relinquishment – a lack of owner education, a lack of early training, the pet not being desexed, unrealistic expectations of pet ownership and the owner’s personal issues. We can be positively addressing many of those issues during our adoption processes.

The idea that animal shelters should close their doors in December in case parents OH NO! bring a pet home a pet for their families during the xmas holidays – when screening processes work throughout January to November as a way to protect pets from bad homes – is well, a bit backward really. And if the best junk science you can find for doing so, is crudely associating kids getting tired of Barbie and Lego with companion animal ownership, then maybe its time to let go of this catchphrase that’s keeping your shelters full to the ceilings throughout those xmas weeks and instead let pets go home.

Times they are a-changing

Thankfully Dog’s Trust are one of the last to hold on to this unhelpful shelter mantra. Dr Marty Becker over at PetConnection sorting the jewels from the junk ‘Christmas puppy? Maybe it’s NOT a bad idea’, proposing that maybe the holidays is the *perfect* time to get a pet. While the ‘Home 4 the Holidays‘ promotion is now into its 11th event and is looking to this year rehome 1.5million animals. This year.

The holidays are our biggest opportunity to go toe-to-toe with other sources of companion animals – we should want all the great owners to visit and adopt. Refusing adoptions during this time and instead sending them off to pet shops, while maybe feeling like a moral victory on our part, isn’t actually based on any proof of better outcomes for animals, or science that pets adopted during the holidays are any more likely to be relinquished than those acquired at other times of the year. It’s simply the same old xmas rot.

See also: A pet is for life, not just for xmas
and: Busting the holiday adoption myth

When I write this blog, I know I’m talking to people who have taken one step beyond animal welfare clichés and are looking to find answers and resources which can help them make real and positive changes in their own communities. So skip over what we know to be the ‘basics’; I make the assumption I don’t have to tell you the mechanism of why mandatory desexing fails, just provide ongoing news and case studies. I don’t have to tell you why killing cats in an effort to ‘eradicate’ them is futile, just keep you abreast of the changes taking place here and overseas. And I don’t need to tell you what kinds of unhelpful mantras still exist in our industry, because I know you, like me, are dealing with them each and every day.

I know these things about you and it helps us both get the maximum out of our interaction.

But its not always conducive to speaking to the ‘rest of the world’ about our mission. Some of the comments I don’t approve are people at a different place on their animal welfare journey, who are still ‘regurgitating’ rather than thinking (“all the pets given as xmas gifts who end up in rescue, it’s just terrible…”) while others are too far committed to their current emotional state, to be able to open their minds to new information (“rescue are simply doing the irresponsible public’s dirty work”). I encourage these people to go and search and find – but they’re not my audience, so I don’t feel obligated to work for them.

“The moment you speak to the world, you speak to no one. Because, when you try to make EVERYONE happy, you give up your focus…”
~ Jonathan Fields

In my other job I write for people who’ve never had anything to do with rescue. Ever. And the difference is like chalk and cheese. Pet-lovers are a serious asset to our movement; engaging them and giving them good information is the first step to bringing them into our folds to help us with our work. But the message has to be different because they are starting from a different knowledge base. They have less interest in the detail or the science, but more in the ‘community’. They also regurgitate unhelpful industry mantra’s, but they are doing it because they want to fit in – they want to help – they want to be like us.

So what does any of this have to do with you?

Do you know who you’re talking to?

I see groups who’ve got absolutely no idea who their target audience is. Are they talking to other rescuers? Or the public? Are they looking to make friends, or confront people? Are they bringing a message of joy and hope, or do they want to play martyr; sharing their own misery around looking for company?

I’ve seen groups start Facebook pages, then fill them with protests for bullfighting in El Espinar, petitions against animal testing in Cardiff and Craigslist adverts from Sapporo. Like a relative who’s gotten their first internet connection, they send through every bit of animal related spam, rumour and Change invitation, filling up your news thread with gore and horror. Are these issues important? Of course they are. But the question groups don’t ask is; is this important to our own mission and audience?

Who are your peeps?

Understanding who your supporters are needs to be at the core of every piece of information you put out to your public. There are lots of reasons people will connect to you; don’t break those relationships down by ignoring those reasons.

Reasons people connect to animal welfare groups;

Because they love pets
They love their own pets and want to make a difference to the lives of other, less fortunate ones. But they want to make the world a better place, not have it confirmed that their efforts are futile in the big, bad world. For this reason, your positive messages need to be of a ratio of at least 3/1 for your negative messages. If the only time they hear from you, is so you can give them bad news, they’ll be tuning you out in droves.

Because they want to be supported in their beliefs about pet care
They believe every pet deserves a loving, caring home. They are nearly always ‘responsible’ pet owners. Putting out messages that criticise people who don’t care for their pets properly can be a way for people to reaffirm they are part of the ‘Good Owner Club’ with you. But remember, these pieces have to be designed to bring you and your public together, united in good behaviour. Chastising your public thinking it’s ’sending a message’ ignores the fact that those on your mailing list aren’t the ‘bad guys’.

Because they’re a donor and they want to see what you do
It’s never been easier for the ‘little guy’ to have a one-on-one relationship with donors. But along with the benefits of this new level of ‘connection’ to our supporters, comes obligation. Whereas in the past people were happy to donate a couple of times a year to whichever major animal charity got to them first, people are wanting to know more about groups and their work than ever before.

There used to be ‘broadcasts to supporters’ – now there’s a constant feedback loop. They want to ‘own’ their community organisations. They want weekly or even daily insight into operations. They want to be able to show off their ‘membership’ to particular organisations to their friends. Harness that need to connect, and it’s incredibly powerful.

Because they need help
Your public consider you an expert in your field. When they think this field is animal rescue, veterinary care, behavioural training or fixing-every-pet-issue-that’s-ever-been, is where groups can feel exhausted and used. While you shouldn’t feel like you have to fix every single pet problem (its often better not to, simply to avoid litigation if you’re practicing outside your field), you do have to have some answers. These can often be relationships with other resources in the community. Would your local dog trainer give one free lesson in return for every referral? Do you know where your local dog training schools are? Is there a specialised cat-vet in your area, or someone with a passion for felines?

While its not necessarily in our ‘job descriptions’ to be a central point for pet care resources, not only does it keep pets in their homes, but can earn you fans in the long run.

Because they want to adopt
By far your biggest and most supportive advocates will be people who have, or want to adopt from you. Before you send your messages out, ask yourself; would this speak in a positive way about us to a potential adopter? If the answer is “not really, I just found it personally interesting/compelling/outrageous” then reconsider sending it at all.

Previous adopters make excellent targets for fundraising campaigns, Facebook advocacy and generating new adoptee leads. Could you invite every one of your previous adopters to ‘recruit a friend’? Foster? Buy a ‘I adopted from’ mug? Anything that makes them feel that they are playing a part in the success of your organisation.

Know who you’re talking to

Have a clear purpose to speak to your supporters in ways that compels and engages them. You know your supporters better than anyone else, so its a huge, missed opportunity every time a group forgets who they’re talking to.

When you’re a No Kill advocate, you are faced with a standard patter of protests for why it can’t work in whichever particular instance you’re in;

- There are too many pets and not enough homes: all the while puppy farms exist/ breeders breed/ irresponsible people don’t care/ the government doesn’t do something…

- No one wants to adopt: cats/ staffies/ big dogs/ old dogs/ a dog that needs training/ working breeds…

- Our community is different: it’s rural/ it’s low income/ it’s full of bogans/ it’s full of full time workers who don’t understand what it takes to care for a pet/ they buy their pets from pet stores/ they don’t desex/ they just don’t seem to care…

- Our pets are different: they’re stray cats/ they’re unsocialised dogs/ they’re not what people in our area want/ they’re not easy to move…

- We’re different: we’re really small/ we’re really large/ no one knows about us so no one comes/ everyone knows about us so they give us their pets…

- We can’t do better: because we don’t have the resources/ we take in too many pets/ we work under restrictive legislation/ we are no worse than anywhere else…

Of course every shelter, everywhere has these same challenges. Some kill, some find ways not to. The difference is how they choose to approach their work and their communities. It doesn’t matter where the shelter is located or what resources they have available to them, the biggest hurdle any organisation has to setting themselves on a No Kill path, is overcoming the belief that their situation is so different and uniquely terrible and their community so irresponsible and unsupportable that any change in approach would be futile.

However, the sad reality is that an organisation cluttered and hamstrung by a culture of ‘there is nothing we can do, we are simply the victims here’ is deadly to pets.

It’s why you see groups lobby hard for new laws ‘if only we had XXX law, then we’d see an improvement here at the shelter’ only to get that law, and see things remain exactly the same as before. Because the real change, the most significant change, has to come from within the organisation. You can’t influence and lead your community to No Kill goals, if you, in your heart believe they are your biggest problem.

So how do you redesign your own organisations to effectively harness the compassion that seems so available to successful shelters? You have to choose to believe in abundance:

More people want to help us than we believe.
….

We have to think not just in terms of what we can do, as individuals, within our organization, but we have to believe that the necessary skills are out there — we just need to find them.
…

Believing about abundance is very much believing in the possible and in setting up organizations that are geared for it. It doesn’t mean that work is easy — the problems are still hard problems. But it does mean belief that real help is available from outside the organizational walls.
…

So, if we are building organizations on the abundance of goodwill, energy and eager hands — and if we are thinking of ourselves, organizationally, as platforms for change rather than agents for change. If we thinking that way, what are the organizational structures that we have to build?

Go. Read. This. Blog.

No Kill is cemented in the belief of abundance. Of not only,

• if we build it – they will come,


but


• if we communicate it – they will listen,




• if we ask for it – they will help us,




• if we want it – so will they.

You don’t build a No Kill shelter by ‘not killing pets’ (although the belief that a shelter’s obligation is to save lives, is definitely at the core), you build it by first reaching out to the community to establish what resources they have that can help you – developing the relationships both inside and outside the industry you need to succeed – and finally calling on the public to take ownership of the mission your organisation has set yourself.

You’re not building a ‘No Kill shelter’, but a No Kill community, which has free access to your organisation, an understanding of your achievements and failures, and an open invitation to not only contribute and support, but to involve themselves as much, or as little as they would like.

All the while we believe the public ‘are the problem’, we sit as gatekeepers behind self-created walls, gnashing about how no one cares and no one supports our work.

The drive of the No Kill movement has created an exciting new future for rescue. We’ve seen we don’t have to be angry to be effective – in fact those groups who have moved towards embracing their public are kicking huge goals. We don’t have to make it our job to punish people – we can accept that some people are simply shitheads and move swiftly on to finding hundreds of people who are compassionate, like us, to help us with our work. We don’t have to show people the horrors of rescue – we can instead celebrate the positives, the happy endings and the beauty of second chances.

Deciding to have and maintain a positive outlook isn’t simply being naive, but choosing to believe in abundance and becoming more effective for doing so.

Our most important work now, is to take advantage of the opportunities a belief in abundance offers and design and build the kinds of organisations for the future that will both embrace and lead the revolution. What will our shelters look like, when they are a reflection of the progressive values of the pet-loving community?



Big problems; community solutions…


WHAT’S MINE IS YOURS from rachel botsman on Vimeo.




]]> http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/12/no-kill-and-the-belief-in-abundance/feed/ 4 http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/this-is-fricken-awesome/ http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/this-is-fricken-awesome/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:23:55 +0000 savingpets http://www.savingpets.com.au/?p=13849 The San Francisco SPCA have begun featuring adoptable dogs and cats at Macy’s in San Francisco’s Union Square as part of the 24th annual Macy’s Holiday Windows, which will run through to the new year.

The pet display has been a winter staple since 1987. During that time, more than 2,000 animals have been adopted and $250,000 has been raised to support the SF SPCA’s hospital, shelter and community initiatives. This year, the goal is to find homes for 320 animals. Almost 300 were adopted last year as part of the event.

The environment is temperature controlled and has comfortable spots for catnaps, according to SF SPCA. They even have a live webcam feed .

Some pictures from this and previous years;


Image: http://sfcitizen.com/blog


Image: http://sfcitizen.com/blog


Image: www.newyorksocialdiary.com


Image: www.newyorksocialdiary.com


Image: www.newyorksocialdiary.com


Image: www.newyorksocialdiary.com


Image: www.newyorksocialdiary.com


Image: www.ptank.com/blog


Image: www.sfgate.com


Image: www.sfgate.com


Image: www.sfspca.org


Image: www.sfspca.org


Image: www.sfspca.org


Image: www.sfspca.org


Image: www.sfspca.org


Image: www.sfspca.org

]]> http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/this-is-fricken-awesome/feed/ 0 http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/how-to-save-110-pets-in-three-days/ http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/how-to-save-110-pets-in-three-days/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:34:03 +0000 savingpets http://www.savingpets.com.au/?p=13646


An update on the RSPCA Victoria ‘adoption fee waived’ cat promotion. Between Thursday 11 and Saturday 13 November, 110 cats found new homes.

“That’s a freaking lot”, I hear you say; “but why didn’t they adopt more?”

Because they ran out of cats.

The revolving doors of the RSPCA almost stopped spinning at the weekend after 110 felines were given away.

Staff were stunned when the shelter’s nine Victorian catteries were emptied for the first time.

Every cat older than four months found favour with a new owner offering a home.

Cat lovers converged on the organisation’s shelters, making the most of extended twilight adoption hours, to claim a one-off costless cat.

… “It’s really spooky, and eerily quiet in the cattery with it almost empty for the first time ever,” said media manager Tim Pilgrim.




Are we seeing the trend yet?

A shelter saves a pet in under 2hrs by asking the public to adopt.

A shelter saves six dogs in three hours by asking the public to adopt.

A pound saves 79 pets in a week by asking the public to adopt.

A regional pound saves 97% of the dogs it takes in by asking the public to adopt.

The long held myth that the public simply don’t want to adopt pound animals and that shelters are just ‘doing the dirty work of an irresponsible public’ is finally being recognised as the furphy that it is. You can adopt your way out of killing and positive, proactive marketing by compassionate shelters finds pets homes.



]]> http://www.savingpets.com.au/2010/11/how-to-save-110-pets-in-three-days/feed/ 2