Why is marketing so important for animal shelters?
Despite the myth that there is a pet "overpopulation" problem in the US, when you look at actual statistics, there are vastly more homes for a new pet than there are pets being euthanized by shelters.
Overall, only 2% of America's dog population is euthanized each year in animal shelters. Now, that's still a large number: about 3.6 million pets are euthanized by shelters simply for "lack of a home", not for health reasons. But it means that every shelter in the US is fully capable of adopting out every single one of the animals it would otherwise kill for space or "lack of a home".
Each year, about 23 million people are in the market for a new pet. Of those, 17 million have not yet decided where they're going to get that pet. For many reasons, some of these people choose to get pets from sources other than shelters. And that's OK, we just need to convince a relatively small percentage of people (3.6 million, or 21%) to choose a shelter animal instead.
Shelter pets aren't over-populated, they're under-marketed.
Once we do that, once we as the rescue community step up and truly do the best we can at marketing, then we'll never again be "forced" to euthanize another healthy animal for "space" or "lack of homes".
There will always be a need for animal shelters. There will always be a small number of irresponsible people out there; there will always be stray pets who need temporary shelter until owners can be found; there will always be people who need help re-homing a family pet due to lots of different (legitimate!) reasons.
A huge part of a shelter's job is to find homes for animals. This will always be true, and there is no escaping it; there is no "waiting it out"; there is no "waiting for the public to become 'more responsible'".
This is why organizations like Pet Rescue aka The Human Society of Eastern Oregon exist. This is why we allow them to be tax-exempt. This is why we pay them our tax dollars.
This is where marketing comes in.
Animal rescues and shelters are, in effect, in competition to "sell" their animals with a slew of other sources: Breeders, pet stores, free animals in the newpaper and on Craigslist (and from friends/family/neighbors), puppy mills, etc. It's the shelter's job to showcase their "product" and make it clear that it's better to get a pet from a shelter than anywhere else.
Too often, well-meaning people at shelters and rescues blame the public for not coming to them. They seem to think that everyone should just intuitively KNOW that it's a morally superior choice to get a pet from a shelter. This attitude leads to lackluster marketing, feelings of despair when the public doesn't show up, and a shelter "buying experience" that is depressing for customers. No one wants to come look for a new family member at a place that's stinky, poorly-lit, cheerless, and full of stressed-out, sad-looking animals.
There are some very simple, easy things that will immediately improve marketing of adoptable animals. Here are just a few examples:
Good photo of every adoptable animal
A good, brief description of every animal
Investing in every adoptable animal to make it more attractive (vaccinations, spay/neuter, trick training, etc)
Posting ads in as many places as possible
Advertising widely
Taking the animals outside the building whenever possible to any dog-friendly event that will get the animal seen.
Customer-friendly shelter building. It doesn't matter how old or out-dated a building is, there are always wallet-friendly ways to cheer the place up.
I'll expand on the different aspects of marketing in future posts. I'll also give specific examples where Pet Rescue aka The Human Society of Eastern Oregon is currently failing in marketing, and simple steps they can take to improve. As long as they continue to euthanize animals for "lack of space", or "lack of homes", there is room for improvement. They are, in fact, obligated to improve.
Other resources:
Marketing best practices - a great list of resources for shelter managers
How to promote shelter pets for adoption, (pdf) from Best Friends Animal Society
How to find homes for homeless pets (pdf)
Show the positive side of shelter pets: increase adoption rates
Why people aren't adopting (Petsmart Charities/Ipsos study)
The where and why of adoption (Petsmart Charities/Ipsos study)
Using Facebook to increase adoptions
The care and marketing of long-term resident shelter pets (success stories from MI)
The life-saving equation
An entire Facebook page on the subject - tips and ideas
Unconventional marketing ideas for many kinds of businesses - lot's of ideas
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Personal note
Due to health issues, I'll be mostly home-bound for the next couple months, and sitting in a chair for long periods is uncomfortable. I'll try to keep up the blog as best I can, but updates and replies to comments (if there are any!) may be spotty.
About the Author
Where I'm coming from.
I lived for many years in Corvallis, Oregon, home of Heartland Humane Society, for which I volunteered for 5 years. I also have volunteered for about 10 other animal rescues, I continue to be very active in the rescue community here in Eastern Oregon and Washington. I'm also very active in the online animal rescue and welfare community. I also worked as a vet tech for three years. I also own dogs of my own, and have competed with them in dogs sports like agility and flyball. I've attended seminars on dog behavior and training, including a three day intensive seminar on training shelter dogs to reduce stress and increase adoptability put on by Kelly Dunbar.
That's my background. I'm not an expert in anything, but I feel that I have a better-than-average grasp of the history, current trends, and policies relating to animal shelters in North America.
The key things to know about Heartland Humane Society:
-Open admission animal shelter, contracting with the city and county to take in stray animals as well as owner-surrendered animals.
-They are "no-kill" in all but name. Well, mostly; they aren't perfect however they mostly follow all the tenets of the No-Kill program.
-Robust and well-organized volunteer program.
-Very active in their community - there is some kind of fund-raising and/or community outreach event at least monthly, they advertise in multiple different media (nice website, radio, social media, newspaper, television), they have donation jars in many local businesses, they have a volunteer-run thriftshop in downtown, they organize programs for low-income pet owners to help with pet retention, they organize spay-neuter programs, etc.
This is the type of sheltering system I expect in every community in North America. Not perfection, but functional and existing for the aim of re-homing pet animals who are temporarily homeless. This is the bare minimum of what we should expect.
In this time in history, as pets are becoming more popular than ever and owners are spending more money than ever on their pets despite a financial downturn, the type of functionality and low rate of euthanasia seen at Heartland Humane society is exactly what we as a community should expect as the norm from our animal shelter.
When I moved to Hermiston in 2010, one of the first things I did was email the Hermiston Humane Society (aka Pet Rescue; aka Human Society of Eastern Oregon) to offer to volunteer. This was the response I got:
Text response reads: "we appreciate you wanting to help out. All our volunteering is done between 8:45 am and 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Right now we are good on volunteers. (emphasis mine) You are welcome to come down and fill out a volunteer form and we can call you when needed."
One of the most important parts of a functioning shelter system is a robust volunteer program. This is especially true for shelters on a shoestring budget, who rely on volunteers to do everything from walk/train/socialize the animals, clean cages/dishes/toys, to managing the front desk, answering phone calls and email, and organizing and staffing community events.
While this email is polite, it's very strange for an animal rescue or shelter to say they don't need more volunteers. A good animal shelter continually and actively recruits volunteers and removes as many barriers as possible to have them help.
This point was driven home to me when I next contacted a private rescue and offered to volunteer for them. The difference was stark: They responded to my email within hours; sent the volunteer form as an email attachment so I didn't have to drive anywhere to fill it out; described exactly what type of volunteer work they needed, their mission and philosophy, and a preliminary plan for how I might fit into their organization; and how/what type of training I might need (none, as it turned out). That is a large reason why I chose to give my limited volunteer time to them instead of Pet Rescue. Another large reason is they are much more transparent about their record keeping and activities. More on that in later posts.
Later, I visited the Pet Rescue shelter building in Hermiston to see what it looked like. I suspected that if there was one red-flag raised, I'd likely see others.
Issue #1) There are only two animal holding areas, one for dogs and one for cats. There is no area to quarentine sick animals that I could see, and no separate room to perform euthanasias. It's a small building with limited space to hide such rooms, but I suppose I might have missed a back room or something.
Issue #2) The dog runs are small (a common problem with older shelter buildings, and not necessarily a deal-breaker), however every single run had more than one dog in it. Most had three or more. While it's common and accepted practice in animal sheltering to have more than one dog per run, it's considered best practice to match dogs carefully so that they don't fight or become more stressed by their cage mates. It's unusual that there wasn't even a single run that contained only one dog. I didn't ask, so it's possible that there were dogs in foster homes at the time and that all the dogs had been matched. I have my doubts, however.
Issue #3) there were no toys or beds or blankets in any dog run. Providing toys and comfortable bedding is a cheap and easy way to lower stress for shelter dogs, and is considered best practice. Being in a shelter is stressful, and without outlet, many dogs can develop behavioral issues which make them more difficult to adopt, or more likely to be returned after adoption. There are many programs out there where non-profit animal shelters can get toys and beds for free, so there's no reason for their absence accept laziness or uncaring or ignorance.
Issue #4) None of the dogs I saw that day had been vaccinated on intake. As I've talked with many people who have adopted pets from Pet Rescue aka The Humane Society of Eastern Oregon, and seen many of the adoption forms, it's obvious that pets are almost never vaccinated upon intake, and not always vaccinated on the day of adoption. Vaccinating on intake is considered best-practice and is one of the most important ways to prevent disease transmission in the shelter (aside from quarentine of sick animals).
Issue #5) It was a Saturday afternoon when I visited, and there was no one else on the property that I could see, except Beau Putnam the owner and manager, who was at the front desk. There were no other visiters and no volunteers. This seems especially odd after hearing via email that they didn't need more volunteers. A normal Saturday at Heartland Humane society meant multiple dog walkers working at once, cage cleaners working, cat socializers, dish and toy washers, and at least one person answering phones. Maybe I coincidentally visited at just the perfect moment between some volunteers leaving and others arriving, but I doubt it.
The only really positive thing I could see was that everything looked well-cleaned.
There are many other issues that I've come across since my first visit, and I'll talk about them more in future posts.
But, by far the biggest issue of all: Pet Rescue has a bad reputation in its own community. I've had a chance to talk to hundreds of pet owners who live in Hermiston and surrounding areas. The only positive opinions can be summed up as "they're doing the best they can".
I don't believe this is true. That's why I started this blog. I plan to lay out specific examples where Pet Rescue is failing in it's implied mission, and ways they can improve immediately.
I'm not the first to try to educate Beau Putnam on his outdated sheltering policies, but I hope that one more voice speaking up will eventually lead to change for the better.
I lived for many years in Corvallis, Oregon, home of Heartland Humane Society, for which I volunteered for 5 years. I also have volunteered for about 10 other animal rescues, I continue to be very active in the rescue community here in Eastern Oregon and Washington. I'm also very active in the online animal rescue and welfare community. I also worked as a vet tech for three years. I also own dogs of my own, and have competed with them in dogs sports like agility and flyball. I've attended seminars on dog behavior and training, including a three day intensive seminar on training shelter dogs to reduce stress and increase adoptability put on by Kelly Dunbar.
That's my background. I'm not an expert in anything, but I feel that I have a better-than-average grasp of the history, current trends, and policies relating to animal shelters in North America.
The key things to know about Heartland Humane Society:
-Open admission animal shelter, contracting with the city and county to take in stray animals as well as owner-surrendered animals.
-They are "no-kill" in all but name. Well, mostly; they aren't perfect however they mostly follow all the tenets of the No-Kill program.
-Robust and well-organized volunteer program.
-Very active in their community - there is some kind of fund-raising and/or community outreach event at least monthly, they advertise in multiple different media (nice website, radio, social media, newspaper, television), they have donation jars in many local businesses, they have a volunteer-run thriftshop in downtown, they organize programs for low-income pet owners to help with pet retention, they organize spay-neuter programs, etc.
This is the type of sheltering system I expect in every community in North America. Not perfection, but functional and existing for the aim of re-homing pet animals who are temporarily homeless. This is the bare minimum of what we should expect.
In this time in history, as pets are becoming more popular than ever and owners are spending more money than ever on their pets despite a financial downturn, the type of functionality and low rate of euthanasia seen at Heartland Humane society is exactly what we as a community should expect as the norm from our animal shelter.
When I moved to Hermiston in 2010, one of the first things I did was email the Hermiston Humane Society (aka Pet Rescue; aka Human Society of Eastern Oregon) to offer to volunteer. This was the response I got:
One of the most important parts of a functioning shelter system is a robust volunteer program. This is especially true for shelters on a shoestring budget, who rely on volunteers to do everything from walk/train/socialize the animals, clean cages/dishes/toys, to managing the front desk, answering phone calls and email, and organizing and staffing community events.
While this email is polite, it's very strange for an animal rescue or shelter to say they don't need more volunteers. A good animal shelter continually and actively recruits volunteers and removes as many barriers as possible to have them help.
This point was driven home to me when I next contacted a private rescue and offered to volunteer for them. The difference was stark: They responded to my email within hours; sent the volunteer form as an email attachment so I didn't have to drive anywhere to fill it out; described exactly what type of volunteer work they needed, their mission and philosophy, and a preliminary plan for how I might fit into their organization; and how/what type of training I might need (none, as it turned out). That is a large reason why I chose to give my limited volunteer time to them instead of Pet Rescue. Another large reason is they are much more transparent about their record keeping and activities. More on that in later posts.
Later, I visited the Pet Rescue shelter building in Hermiston to see what it looked like. I suspected that if there was one red-flag raised, I'd likely see others.
Issue #1) There are only two animal holding areas, one for dogs and one for cats. There is no area to quarentine sick animals that I could see, and no separate room to perform euthanasias. It's a small building with limited space to hide such rooms, but I suppose I might have missed a back room or something.
Issue #2) The dog runs are small (a common problem with older shelter buildings, and not necessarily a deal-breaker), however every single run had more than one dog in it. Most had three or more. While it's common and accepted practice in animal sheltering to have more than one dog per run, it's considered best practice to match dogs carefully so that they don't fight or become more stressed by their cage mates. It's unusual that there wasn't even a single run that contained only one dog. I didn't ask, so it's possible that there were dogs in foster homes at the time and that all the dogs had been matched. I have my doubts, however.
Issue #3) there were no toys or beds or blankets in any dog run. Providing toys and comfortable bedding is a cheap and easy way to lower stress for shelter dogs, and is considered best practice. Being in a shelter is stressful, and without outlet, many dogs can develop behavioral issues which make them more difficult to adopt, or more likely to be returned after adoption. There are many programs out there where non-profit animal shelters can get toys and beds for free, so there's no reason for their absence accept laziness or uncaring or ignorance.
Issue #4) None of the dogs I saw that day had been vaccinated on intake. As I've talked with many people who have adopted pets from Pet Rescue aka The Humane Society of Eastern Oregon, and seen many of the adoption forms, it's obvious that pets are almost never vaccinated upon intake, and not always vaccinated on the day of adoption. Vaccinating on intake is considered best-practice and is one of the most important ways to prevent disease transmission in the shelter (aside from quarentine of sick animals).
Issue #5) It was a Saturday afternoon when I visited, and there was no one else on the property that I could see, except Beau Putnam the owner and manager, who was at the front desk. There were no other visiters and no volunteers. This seems especially odd after hearing via email that they didn't need more volunteers. A normal Saturday at Heartland Humane society meant multiple dog walkers working at once, cage cleaners working, cat socializers, dish and toy washers, and at least one person answering phones. Maybe I coincidentally visited at just the perfect moment between some volunteers leaving and others arriving, but I doubt it.
The only really positive thing I could see was that everything looked well-cleaned.
There are many other issues that I've come across since my first visit, and I'll talk about them more in future posts.
But, by far the biggest issue of all: Pet Rescue has a bad reputation in its own community. I've had a chance to talk to hundreds of pet owners who live in Hermiston and surrounding areas. The only positive opinions can be summed up as "they're doing the best they can".
I don't believe this is true. That's why I started this blog. I plan to lay out specific examples where Pet Rescue is failing in it's implied mission, and ways they can improve immediately.
I'm not the first to try to educate Beau Putnam on his outdated sheltering policies, but I hope that one more voice speaking up will eventually lead to change for the better.
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