Sucking the joy out of adoptions

RSPCA’s half-price offer to attract cat lovers

… There are 106 cats and kittens at the Orange shelter, and an overload of cats at shelters across the state, so the RSPCA has launched a half price deal.

Shelter manager Marissa Clifford said many cats and kittens were in urgent need of a new family.

“Kitten season used to be October to now, but it seems to have spread out a lot,” she said.

“There’s not really a time we don’t have them.”

Ms Clifford said a cat could fall pregnant at just five months old, and could become pregnant again as soon as it had given birth, having between one and nine kittens at a time.

“When all the shelters fill up this is why we do this [have a sale], so we don’t have to euthanise and we can re-home them,” she said.

Ms Clifford said the average life span of a cat was 15 years, so, despite their need for adoption, she said it was not a decision to be taken lightly.

“It’s absolutely a lifetime commitment and a great option if you have already decided to welcome one into your family,” she said.

“It’s definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“There are a lot of facts to consider when bringing a new pet into your home.”

Orange RSPCA is at 71 William Street and is open from 10am to 3.30pm every day except Tuesdays.

This ‘adoption promotion’ is mostly a public shaming, but it takes a moment out from berating the public, to completely destroy any potential excitement that may have been generated by offering a pricing promotion, by reminding people that these cats are available at all times and are practically piled in heaps because there is so many of them.

While the photo that looks like it may have been taken at a cat hoarders house, further devalues these cats as healthy, happy pets.

For dogs sake you guys! Talk about a wasted opportunity. This is marketing. You have to market your cats.

Put a ribbon on them. Put them in a nice basket with some toys. Tell people why cats are awesome pets for families and people who work. Tell them that you have cats in some great colours, all coat lengths and with a host of personalities. Tell them that saving a life is a privilege and a joy. Tell them why half priced adoptions is a brilliant chance to adopt a cat today. And then invite people to come and visit your shelter during your special twilight adoption hours where you’ll be staying open at a time when people who work can visit.

Tell them you think this promotion might be so successful that you will likely run out of cats – so they had better be quick! Run, don’t walk. Visit our shelter today.

The notion that only by being sad enough, bitching at people enough, killing enough pets…. that somehow that we will be successful, has been completely busted. Adoption promotions aren’t some pain-in-the-ass fluff, that shelter staff draw short straws and try to avoid – they are the key to saving lives.

The modern rescuer – the effective rescuer – embraces adoption marketing. They learn about marketing techniques and media and they understand that it is a core part of their job. If you’re not placing pets in new homes with new families – getting people in the door – then you’re not running a shelter, you’re running a zoo. Or a boutique, community funded slaughterhouse.

If you want to stop killing pets, then you have to embrace adoption marketing. Simple.