In a great evolution of thinking, rescue groups are now moving away from blaming pet owners for poor shelter performance and and punishing the community by providing ugly shelters with hostile staff, towards a new customer-centric attitude.
These community focused approaches lead not only to literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth free advertising and donations, but most importantly they save lives.
From the Daily Telegraph:
Ugly animal shelters are driving away potential new owners for dumped and stray animals, forcing the euthanasia of thousands each year, according to the RSPCA.
But now the animal welfare group is fighting back with a radical shift from the traditional large-scale shelter format by launching a retail outlet to compete with customer-friendly commercial pet stores.
The shop at Rouse Hill town centre, in Sydney’s booming northwest, is a direct response to record animal euthanasia rates, with about 20,000 animals put down in NSW last financial year – a number the RSPCA said is “way too high”.
The 135-year-old organisation admitted the format of their existing shelters was part of the problem, driving potential customers away and carrying a stigma that if an animal is in a shelter there must be something wrong with it.
“There’s a proportion of the public who won’t come into one of our shelters because their impression is they’re depressing and noisy,” RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman said. “This new concept will certainly be very different in look and feel.”
The store, to open in December, aims to meet the festive season surge in unwanted pets, many put down because shelters and foster carers are overwhelmed.
A similar article appeared in the Noosa News, except this is one step even better with the project packing the complete flexibility that comes from a ‘mobile adoption van’.
How much is that cute doggy in the amazing, animal-friendly wagon – both with the waggly tails?
That could well be the begging pleas of children at every school fair and community flea market on the Coast now that Noosa has launched the RSPCA’s The Road Home Program, a sort of “pets on wheels†painted in animal murals.
Thanks to the Bendigo Community Bank branches at Cooroy, Tewantin and Marcoola, the RSPCA has a new drive to find homes for animals on the Sunshine Coast.
RSPCA Queensland chief executive Mark Townend described The Road Home adoption outreach program as breaking new ground in animal welfare.
“Our aim has always been to re-home as many animals as possible,†he said at Noosa Marina on Friday.
The shelter animals can now be taken out into the community and offered for adoption in animal friendly environments such as exhibitions and show days, council parks and outdoor centres.
Offsite adoption is even more effective as, having shaken off the idea ‘if someone isn’t willing to drive across town, they won’t be a good owner’
What’s more; nearly any rescue group – not just one with a budget of millions – could have a van like this.
Are you thinking ‘outside the shelter’? If not, why not?
