September 14, 2009
This is almost a preview of the Ad Council’s upcoming PSA campaign, the Shelter Pet Project! (The campaign launches 9/24 — in conjunction with HSUS and Maddie’s Fund.) Make adoption your first option!
Vodpod videos no longer available.
September 4, 2009
We got great coverage of our second rotation of 15 adoptable animals who will soon appear on Comcast’s Pet Adoptions on Demand (Get Local). Take a look:
Channel-surfing for a cat: Cable TV connects people with new animal companions by Sarah Andrews, DC Cats Examiner, examiner.com, 9/3/09
Television Pet Adoptions ‘On Demand‘ (video) with Lindsay Mastis, W*USA9, 9/3/09
May 28, 2009
Regardless of whether a shelter’s mission specifies “open admission” (accepts all animals) or “no kill” — and the two are not mutually exclusive — animal welfare organizations around the U.S. will be dramatically affected by the upcoming Shelter Pet Project campaign. The Ad Council is teaming up with HSUS and Maddie’s Fund with the objective of increasing shelter pet adoptions to the point that upwards of 3 million healthy, adoptable animals no longer lose their lives. Take a look…
Maddie’s Fund May 2009 e-newsletter (Shared via AddThis)
Be sure to read these individual links:
May 11, 2009
I love this. What a great concept, well executed, and just plain fun for a good cause. Be sure to visit LuLu and Lolly’s website shown at the end, too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCsxIiksAnU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnpb2ZpbYng
May 7, 2009
I am deliberately writing “no kill” in lower case letters because that’s largely what I heard at last weekend’s conference in DC, organized by Nathan Winograd and the Animal Law Project at George Washington University. Perhaps some of the sessions I didn’t make it to were more “political,” but the ones I did hear would have been useful in a fairly wide variety of settings.
Controversial or not, there’s no denying a bunch of techniques and strategies animal welfare folks can implement that will change from outcomes that create or sustain suffering for animals to outcomes that improve their quality of life. These strategies ultimately end up saving their lives. In a nutshell, that’s what shelters are supposed to do in the first place.
Some people are adamantly opposed to no-kill. Not all of the techniques presented and discussed during this conference are right or adaptable for all shelters. But that doesn’t mean the movement is all wrong.
What others are saying:
See Kim Thornton & Christie Keith blogging at PetConnection
Archives:
April 19, 2009
Although this campaign was first announced way back in November, The HSUS and Maddie’s Fund proclaimed their partnership with The Ad Council for the Shelter Pet Project during HSUS’s 2009 Animal Care Expo in Las Vegas. The campaign will launch in July. A pre-Expo workshop by Maddie’s Fund tipped their hand.
The website isn’t active yet but the blogosphere already has been taking note. In February, Christie Keith had a great post on PetConnection.com that stimulated comments from her co-blogster Gina Spadafori, among others. Sounds like the action steps the Shelter Pet Project will incorporate are going to resemble principles of positive training for animal behavior — focusing on rewarding the desired behavior.
The May-June issue of The HSUS magazine, Animal Sheltering, has a terrific preview, with hints for shelters to get ready for its anticipated huge impact. Jim Baker writes that shelters will need to be sure they’re at their tip-top most presentable, on board with excellent customer service, and proactive with adoption policies that encourage prospective adopters to reach the level they need for the right animal(s) to being into their families. [Many AS articles are available online after subscribers get the benefit of being the first to read them. When a link to this one becomes available, I’ll add it here.]
As a public relations counselor, I have to point out, however, that it isn’t all about advertising. This is a classic example of how even just a simplistic understanding of Jim Grunig’s situational theory of publics — for purposes of developing relationships with them and understanding who will take action — can take a program’s effectiveness far beyond mere message crafting and delivery. (Newer iterations of the theory and how it can be applied shed additional insights about the importance of public relations — perhaps in conjunction with other functions such as marketing and advertising, perhaps not — in bringing about behavior change.)
In brief: People need to recognize a problem (or opportunity), feel they can do something about it, and feel a personal connection to the issue. The ad agency that’s developing the creative for this campaign, Draftfcb in Chicago, conducted research that, in essence, found the equivalent of all three of these factors that influence whether there is (or can be) an active public on a given issue. Now it’s a matter of triggering their interest and action.
So why adopt? Here’s the HSUS rationale, along with a nuanced message for the Obamas and others who want to add a purebred to their family. About 25% of shelter dogs are purebreds, and breed-spceific rescue groups are another excellent resource. The important considerations are to give an animal a second chance — and most important, to make and live up to a commitment to provide care for the animal’s entire life.
And I want to put in a plug, meantime, for another of my favorite titles in the United Animal Nations program, Humane Education Ambassador Readers. Let’s Get a Pup! Said Kate exemplifies a family’s experience with bringing both a puppy and a senior dog into their home. Told in a gentle manner with lively illustrations, the story presents an opportunity for family members to talk about the behavior of the animals at different life stages and what’s involved in caring for them. Knowing your own capabilities relative to an animal’s needs is a key factor in keeping that lifelong commitment to your furry friend. Kate’s family knew they could handle the demands of companion animals at both ends of the spectrum, from bouncing energetic puppy, to slower-paced but always loving older dog. What a great example!
I’m betting the Ad Council’s new campaign will make a big impact on the lives of millions of Americans. It’s targeted to reach 33,000 media outlets, with first-year spending alone budgeted at $50 million. Shelters are being advised to prepare for a 300% increase in adoptions over the course of the campaign.
Perhaps the Shelter Pets Project will simultaneously raise awareness of the role Americans have had in creating the problem of thinking shelters are places to dump unwanted animals, and ultimately changing their sense both of who’s responsible and who has the power to change the outcome for these animals for the better. Now wouldn’t that be a great win-win?!
April 12, 2009
Well, the Obamas have let many of us down by not adopting from a shelter or rescue. But just as with Marley and Me, even people who come by their companion animals in other ways can still make good in learning devotion between our respective species. Let’s see how that evolves — and allow plenty of time!
Report: Senate Lion To Deliver White House Puppy
By Mary Ann Akers, WashingtonPost.com blog, 4/11/09
Wish they had consulted Victoria Stilwell! Nothing against Sen. Kennedy, but the British lady’s instincts about adopting are much more on target, IMHO. Either way, though, once an animal is brought into the White House, the Obamas would do well to follow Victoria’s Top 10 most important things pet adopters can do to make sure they have a positive and successful adoption experience. Maybe Sasha and Malia should switch to attending a school in Montgomery County so they could enter the Montgomery County Humane Society’s youth art contest, Rules to Love By: 10 Commandments of Responsible Pet Ownership… (deadline extended to May 1)
Our rating: ??? kongs (if I remember, I’ll come back and update this periodically…)
March 18, 2009
Puppy Love at the Veep’s House
by Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
The Reliable Source
Washington Post
Wed., March 18, 2009
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/03/rs-champ18.html
Kudos to the Veep for planning to get 3-month-old Champ an adopted companion instead of one from a breeder. (No, I know that not all breeders are bad, but with all the animals discarded by society who land in shelters, those are clearly the #1 kinds of places to look first!)
Glad to hear Champ is learning his ABCs. I looked up trainer Mark Tobin’s K-9 Camp Dog Obedience School, where Champ is enrolled, and while it’s good to see the claim to using “only positive training methods designed to be non-confrontational,” I have to question why choker and pinch collars are considered acceptable. If I’m not mistaken, the world’s top trainers and behaviorists — folks like Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor, Patricia McConnell, Pat Miller, Turid Rugaas and others — all oppose these types of collars. Head collars and Martingales are much more preferred.
There are plenty of interesting comments on The Ultimate Dog Blog. Here’s one that I think responds to the issue in a well-reasoned manner:
OCTOBER 7TH, 2008 AT 5:24 PM
Other trainers? Your two-cents’-worth?
March 13, 2009
After the strain of living their entire lives until recently in an alleged puppy mill in North Carolina, the first of the 15 dogs received by the Montgomery County Humane Society have found the warmth of human contact and new loving homes.
Nana, now known as Pumpkin, was the first to be adopted. A small white poodle mix, she was somewhat intimidated at first, says adopter Kathleen Fornatora, from Ashton. “But she’s adjusted wonderfully well,” Fornatora says. “She’s coming out of her shell and is more relaxed. She just bounces at mealtime.”
At first, Pumpkin would simply sit on her new mom’s lap for a couple of hours, watching TV. She tolerates getting her toenails trimmed, but at only nine pounds, Fornatora says she’s easy to manage.
Pumpkin now walks out of her crate on her own, rather than waiting for someone to reach in for her. Her housetraining is progressing as well, no small feat for a puppy mill survivor. Thanks to confinement to a cage their entire lives before now, these dogs are trickier to train.
Most recently, Amber, a tiny Chihuahua who has been renamed Kiki, went home with Tana Stellato and her son Jason, 17. Her family is experienced with rescue pets – their previous dog, Sabrina, was also a puppy mill survivor who lived 16 years under their loving care.
“Kiki is so sweet and really doing well,” Stellato says. “She was slow to eat and drink the first 24 hours while she was checking out her new environment, but now everything appears normal.”
Stellato says Kiki is also smart. She already knows how to sit on command and understands “outside” when it’s time to do her business. She loves her little bed and wants to be petted a lot. “I never leave her alone,” Stellato adds.
Upon arrival last month at the MCHS Private Rescue in Rockville, the dogs were groomed and examined by a veterinarian before being made available for adoption. Prospective adopters are advised that there needs to be an adult at home around the clock and extra precautions are important to help the dogs adjust to everyday activities most people and pets take for granted. Commitment to the animal’s rehabilitation is key, whether for housetraining, feeding treats, or playing.
FAQs on Rehabilitation of a Puppy Mill Dog
February 9, 2009
This terrific post by Christie Keith on PetConnection.com previews the new 3-year campaign the Ad Council is undertaking on behalf of The Humane Society of the US and Maddie’s Fund. Both Marley and Me (partnering with the American Humane Association) and Hotel for Dogs (partnering with Pedigree dog food) are also promoting pet adoptions (see posts elsewhere on this blog). With this big a push in national media, more shelter animals literally may see daylight than without these campaigns.
Launch is anticipated mid-year, with creative developed by DraftFCB in Chicago.
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dogwordz 
Choke collars, prong collars, and e-collars can all be highly effective training tools, but they are easy to misuse or abuse. It always comes back to one thing, the competence of the trainer. If the trainer is incompetent, the only question is the cost of failure to the dog. First, do no harm. Some people are simply unable to maintain the level of focus, attentiveness, emotional control, patience, and consistency it takes to train a dog. They may be fine folks in other respects, but dog training is just something they are not mentally or emotionally equipped to do. The advantage of positive reinforcement techniques over the various control collars is that when the incompetent trainer finally throws in the towel and gives up, he only leaves behind a dog that is untrained, not one that has been physically injured or made vicious.