Say it with me; if you want people to adopt your pets, you have to offer more than euthanasia statistics
Cassie Walker believes by purchasing a dog or a cat from the RSPCA the number of pets being put down will drop.
In the last financial year 909 cats and 715 dogs were euthanised in Toowoomba.
Now I say kudos to Cassie for getting her face in the media and advocating for these pets; but we’ve got to move beyond the idea that threatening to kill them is any kind of motivating factor for the public to adopt. It’s not.
Adopters do want to save a life. They just don’t want to feel the awful pressure that if they visit you and see a pet, that not taking it will mean its death. Making people feel guilt and blame is contrary to the joyful feelings they should be experiencing when they consider adding a new pet to their families. No wonder people go to Pet’s Galleria!
Focus on the pets you have right now, who they are, what kinds of families they would suit, that they’re friendly and adoptable, that you’re open on weekends, that you have nice staff who take the time to talk to people about their animal needs… etc
Animal Welfare League QLD had a superb weekend for adoptions;
Did they do it by talking about how many animals they would kill if no one came and adopted them? Of course not; it sounds insane to even say it. They did it by hosting an open day, promoting the event, inviting people to come down and visit and having pet photos which look like this:
In short, selling the benefits of adoption and giving people an impulse to visit by offering a welcoming atmosphere.
The two approaches could not be more different. And only one is successful.
Which does your organisation choose to use?
[…] Pets has a suggestion for shelter directors who want to get pets adopted: […]We’ve got to move beyond the idea that threatening to kill [shelter pets] is any kind of […]
You are absolutely right! Positive messages are the way to go. I get very discourage when I see articles that tally up the “hit list” or disparage those who have brought animals to the shelter. One story ridiculed a woman who brought in a dog to surrender–she did not have the $15 surrender fee. How many people will just dump their dog rather than face public albeit anonymous ridicule in the newspaper? An employee gave the $15 from their own pocket but the incident should have been contained within the facility and not publicized in my opinion.
It takes more effort to take great photos and write a market piece for each animal than to tally the list of euthanized. I also find the comments from some of the shelter volunteers discouraging and unnecessary. We don’t know the circumstances of why someone brought in a pet to surrender and should make no judgements other than to be glad the animal was brought to the shelter and not turned out on the street. Because those were more than likely the two choices the owner saw before them as solution to whatever problem they were having. It would be great if other options were made available to pet owners such as education for the owners. Yes, that would be costly, but more costly than our current solutions? Maybe not.