Misery in a Photo

The troubled pound in Floyd Co Georgia lists animals on adoptapet.com.  With each listing, there is a mission statement from the pound which begins:

The Animal Control department controls the stray population of Floyd County by code enforcement, capture of strays, and education of citizens. We also strive to provide comfortable temporary shelter for those animals while continuously using resources to place unwanted animals by adoption or rescue.

This is animal #0777 at Floyd Co AC, as shown on the Adoptapet website:

Photo of animal #0777 at Floyd Co AC in GA, as seen on adoptapet.com.

This pup appears to have a skin condition which is likely making her extremely uncomfortable.  Floyd Co AC has her on a rusted metal grate inside a dirty concrete block kennel.  “Comfortable temporary shelter” fail.

This is animal #0763 at Floyd Co AC, as shown on the Adoptapet website:

Photo of animal #0763 at Floyd Co AC in GA, as seen on adoptapet.com.

There is a video of this dog urinating while being walked on a rusted chain.

As I’ve said many times, I’m not asking for professional photographer quality shots of shelter pets – although I know some pounds have been offered free pet photography services and refuse them, which is a shame.  But every shelter pet deserves a photo which at minimum reflects the value the shelter staff sees in the animal as a loving companion and family member.  If the photo shows that the shelter staff sees no value in the pet, how is a potential adopter supposed to see it?

Pedigree Replaced as Westminster Sponsor After 24 Years

I am all for positive adoption ads.  I have lamented the use of the “DIES TOMORROW!!!!!!!!” approach many times.  It turns me off.  It overwhelms me.  It makes me feel sad and helpless.  But as TV commercials go, I never thought the Pedigree adoption ads narrated by David Duchovny were depressing.  Apparently many viewers of the Westminster Kennel Club dogs show on TV did and as such, the show has gone with a different sponsor this year:

“The feedback we got from our primary audience was that they were seeing commercials that made them want to turn the channel,” Westminster spokesman and longtime TV host David Frei said Thursday.

[...]

He added: “Our show is a celebration of dogs. We’re not promoting purebreds at the expense of non-purebreds. We celebrate all dogs,” he said. “When we’re seeing puppies behind bars, it takes away from that. Not just because it’s sad, but it’s not our message.”

Have you seen the Pedigree shelter dog commercials?  If so, where do you think they rank of the scale of revoltingness?  I’m thinking the people who have to turn away from the Pedigree ads must feel obligated to commit suicide when they see the ASPCA’s parade of shivering one-eyed pets.  But that’s just me.

“This is why we’re here.”

Want different results?  Change the things you’re doing!

The Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (GAHS) in Maine made some significant changes last year with regard to aggressively marketing their pets.  They launched a social media campaign and got creative with adoption events – including a 24 hour adopt-a-thon.  They became better known in the community.

As a result, instead of maintaining an overcrowded facility of homeless pets, they are now importing pets from other shelters to meet demand.  Adopters sometimes even wait in line for hours outside the shelter for the chance to be first through the doors when the place opens.

Can the importance of marketing shelter pets be overstated?  I think not.  Check out Dogged Blog’s post from yesterday on the subject:

If people mired in this old-school, ineffective, failed paradigm would step out of it for a few minutes, they’d realize how bad they’re making themselves look every time they, always predictably, trot it out. “It’s not our fault we do what we do,” they say. “It’s all the bad people! Blame them! We’re just helpless victims!”

You people really need some new material.

My suggestion that you get new photos will help get those pets into homes. Think about that while you continue to enable your community’s filthy high-kill shelter to fail the animals inside its walls.

Carl Willing, an adopter who took turns with his wife holding a place in line overnight at GAHS in order to get first chance at a dog named Bo, remembers the experience when they finally got inside the shelter:

“Seeing Bo, when he came out,” Willing said, pausing to lovingly scratch Bo’s ears. “Oh, yes! This is why we’re here.”

This is why we’re here.  How great is that to read from an adopter?

To those facilities who refuse to post all their pets online and aggressively market them to the community, I ask:  Why are you here?  The public is the solution to your problems.  Stop blaming them.  Stop forcing pets to pay for your stubborn ignorance with their lives.  We are a no kill nation.  Join us.

“Home for the Holidays” – How Does Your Shelter Measure Up?

Many shelters talk about getting pets “home for the holidays” at this time of year.  But how many are actually open for adoptions at the times people are most likely to be off work and able to come in to adopt a pet during the holidays?

My local municipal kill shelter is regrettably closed on Sundays and Mondays every week and this week is no exception.  Even worse, the place is normally open for a mere 3 hours on Saturdays.  I don’t know whether it was open this past Saturday, Christmas Eve.

In contrast, the Nevada Humane Society in Reno is open for adoptions 7 days a week.  I visited the NHS website and right on the front page it says that not only would they be open regular hours on Christmas Eve, they were having reduced adoption fees and drawings for big electronics prizes in the afternoon.  I called this morning to see if they would be open for adoptions today and was told yes.

Please tell us in the comments if your local shelter is really trying to get pets home for the holidays or if they’re just saying it because it’s a catchy phrase that makes them look good.

OK Shelter Pets Shine with Help of Photographer

The Nowata Animal Shelter in OK has 23 dogs in need of homes. After hearing rumors that the dogs were going to be shot to death on January 1st, I called the shelter yesterday to ask about the pets there. I was advised that the facility is at full capacity for dogs and some of them have been there for many months. On January 1st, the shelter will evaluate the status of each dog. I asked the method of euthanasia and the ACO I spoke with said he did not know the method but that a veterinarian would do it. I asked if the pound had a gas chamber and he said no. I also inquired about cats at the shelter and he said they have 7, all of whom are available for adoption and space is not an issue for the cats.

The shelter has no website nor does it list its pets online. But it does have something great going for it: a professional photographer who takes beautiful photos of the dogs and posts them on Facebook. Below are a couple of the dogs currently at the shelter with captions provided by the photographer, Sherry Stinson.

"Woo-hoo! Look at all the treats!" Astro is a Sheltie mix puppy looking for a forever home. Contact the Nowata Animal Shelter at (918) 977-0721 or visit the shelter at 901 Navajo Lane in Nowata, OK for more details.

Charlie is a young Labrador Retriever looking for a forever home. Contact the Nowata Animal Shelter at (918) 977-0721 or visit the shelter at 901 Navajo Lane in Nowata, OK for more details.

If you look through the photos of these dogs, you will notice how strikingly beautiful each one is. Do you think that somehow the Nowata shelter managed to fill its kennels with the prettiest homeless dogs in the country? Of course not. The dogs at every shelter are just as beautiful with just as much personality but they don’t have the benefit of being lovingly photographed by a professional. Non-professionals can do a very good job taking photos too, if they make it a priority. Unfortunately, some shelters don’t seem to care about giving their pets the best possible chance for adoption by getting decent photos to share online.  Luckily for the dogs at the Nowata shelter, they have a caring friend in the photography business.

If you’d like to adopt a pet from the Nowata shelter, it’s open Monday through Friday from 8am to 3pm.  I asked if they would be closed any weekdays during the holidays and was told they would not.  The adoption fee is $20 and the adopter must get the pet vaccinated and neutered at his regular vet clinic.

A Little More Influence

We can’t influence everybody and thankfully, we don’t need to in order to achieve a no kill nation.  The numbers tell us that we only need to get a portion of undecided pet seekers to adopt their pets from shelters in order to increase demand to the point where killing adoptable pets would simply be bad business for shelters.  So let’s look at whose behavior we can influence.

People who go to pet stores – We have two opportunities to create change here.  One is to get pet stores to change from selling puppy and kitten mill stock to selling shelter pets.  The other is to look at the reasons why people choose to go to a pet store – many of which can be summed up in one word:  convenience.

There is no hassle in buying a pet from a pet store.  The store is likely open for business on evenings and weekends.  It’s probably in a readily accessible location, perhaps even within a mall where you are already shopping.  You pick out the pet you want, pay your money and you take your new pet home with you immediately.  What can we learn from this?

• Shelters need to be open when working people can visit.
• Location, location, location.
• Shelters need to streamline their adoption process to strike an effective balance between reasonable screening/matching and allowing adopters to have the pet of their choice.
• Shelters should have as many pets as possible neutered, vaccinated and ready to go.

The bottom line:  When our community shelters keep inconvenient hours, are poorly located, take pride in refusing adopters, and/or require a waiting period between adoption and taking the pet home, they are driving adopters to pet stores (or other sources).  The goal is to get more adopters in the door, not drive them away.  Once they are in the door, I think we should do anything within reason to keep them!

Another group we can influence is people who buy from breeders.  There are some who are buying from good breeders for reasons with which we can not compete (seeking a particular bloodline, etc.).  But there are others who are buying from not-so-good breeders for reasons to which we can offer alternatives.  These might include any of the previously mentioned reasons people buy from pet stores.

In addition, some people are under the false presumption that purebred dogs from private breeders are healthier in mind and body than shelter dogs, even if those shelter dogs are purebred.  One area where we have influence is how we market our shelter pets.  Are we trying to sell them based upon their sad stories of neglect or abuse?  Are we trying to sell them based upon a threat that they will be killed if not adopted by a certain date?

Think about the impression this creates in the minds of those seeking pets.  They may see shelter pets as damaged goods, broken in spirit and/or body, having so little value as to be arbitrarily killed due to a date on the calendar.  They may view them as unwanted, unloved and unworthy.  All because of the way we told the pet’s story.  I’m not saying we should lie or withhold a pet’s known history but in some cases, the history is not known and it’s simply assumed the pet was abused.  Often the sad part of the story is the only part conveyed to adopters.

There are lots of good things to tell about every animal.  Why would this animal make a great pet?  What is unique or fun about this pet?  How would someone’s life be better for adopting this pet?  Don’t forget to talk about the good things!

Again, we don’t have to force every pet owner on the planet to adopt from a shelter in order to bump shelter adoptions up enough to force an end to killing.  We just need to influence some more undecided people than we are now.  It can be done.  We can adopt our way out of killing.  Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

Is MAS Failing by Design?

MAS took in more than 15,000 pets in 2010.  They house several hundred pets at a time.  Today, they have 29 listings on Petfinder.  I don’t know if these are current listings.

There are 30 dogs listed on PetHarbor but not one of them has a photo and they all appear to be out of date with intake dates going back to March and April.  There are 6 cats listed but only one with a photo and they too appear to be out of date.

MAS already uses Chameleon software which allows them to photograph each pet and upload the photo and pet info to PetHarbor immediately upon intake.  But they don’t do it.

They are closed 2 days a week, one of which is Sunday – a day many adopters have off work.

Offsite adoption events?  I haven’t heard of any.

Adopters who are able to make it to the pound during their open hours are only allowed to meet a couple dozen dogs – the rest are kept behind closed doors.  In 2010, MAS killed 77% of the pets in its care.

If we see a pet on the webcams we’d like to help, we are told to file a FOIA request.  When we file the FOIA request, they write back and tell us we have to pay for the records.

Volunteers offer to help get pets out of MAS and into homes but they are told their services are not wanted.

It seems as if the protocols in place are designed to keep pets from being adopted.  If they are not intended for that purpose then hello, fail.

The city likes to say that the new MAS building will fix everything.  I’m assuming the current policies will remain in place when MAS moves to the new building so I can’t see how moving will fix any of these problems.

Can’t you do any better than this MAS?

UPDATED: MAS: Marketing Fail

Snipped from the minutes of the MAS Advisory Board Meeting March 9, 2011:

Board Members present:
Steven Tower
John Cox
Allen Iskiwitz
Jackie Johns
Cindy Sanders, acting Chair/secretary
Ex-officio:
Matt Pepper, MAS Administrator

[...]

Floor opened to public
Beverly King – public should not be kept from entering stray area to adopt. Until Pepper, all animals except most
vicious/sick were available to be adopted. City is keeping public out to hide mistakes.

MAS response – public is shown adoptable animals that come from stray area.

Board response – Miami/Dade allows public in to see strays and adoptable animals. Allowed more time to spend with
potential adopters.

Anne Marie Easton – M/D has up to date book with photos and allows public to select animal with disclaimer regarding
temperament/illness.

MAS response – strays are mostly pit bulls.

Michelle Buckalew – 13- 15% of animals at shelter available to be viewed. Potential for large scale adoption events to be
held weekly.

MAS response – people are welcome to come to the shelter any business day to adopt.

So there you have it folks.  No need to keep clamoring for the public to be allowed to help the hundreds of dogs behind closed doors in the stray area:  they’re mostly Pitbulls.  Ipso facto, they have no right to life.  And even if they did, nobody cares about a bunch of dogs who are mostly Pitbulls anyway.

As far as taking any of the dogs from the stray area out to weekly, large-scale adoption events – puh. [eye roll] [groan] [sigh] [appeal to Flying Spaghetti Monster for strength to deal with these stupidheads]  Why would we want to do that?  If anyone in Memphis wants to adopt a dog, they can damn well come to OUR PLACE, on OUR HOURS, and choose from the dogs WE SAY they can adopt.  And it’s not gonna be mostly Pitbulls either because we require a home inspection for that and frankly, we just don’t have the resources to conduct a bunch of home inspections so better just to kill kill kill.  We really do have the best system worked out here so if you annoying taxpayers would just sit down and shut up, we’ll all get along just fine.

I don’t know if the dog in the above photos is still alive but if he is, I would love the opportunity to try and help him. MAS – will you allow me to try and help this dog? Can you provide any information on the dog’s status?  You can post here, anonymously if you wish, or e-mail me or contact any Memphis no kill advocate who can then pass along the info to me.  Bloody hell, I don’t care if you send a note tied to the leg of a carrier pigeon.  Just let me try to help this dog.  If he is already dead, I will gladly try to help any other dog of your choosing in the stray area.  Just get the info to me.

Added, 6-12-11:  I received a grab of a dog who looks like the brown and white one above being taken to the kill room yesterday.

30 Second Shelter PSA

I’ve never been big on the talking babies/talking animals meme but this is a good PSA for a MN shelter about their (talking) kittehs:

My fave is the tabby point cat asking if he looks ok.

That’s What Friends Are For

Which is the better way to market pets for adoption in Memphis?

• Cherry pick a few pets out of the hundreds in need, post pictures of them on Facebook and delete posts from anyone else trying to share information about other pets at the shelter.

Or

• Teach a group of homeless dogs a couple of simple tricks and do a flashmob in downtown Memphis.

The HS of Memphis and Shelby Co did the latter.  Thank you to the volunteer dogwalkers there for being true friends to pets in need.  You are The Awesome.

You know what else would make a pretty cool flashmob?  200 shelter Pitbulls trained to do anything.  Just sayin’.

Gauntlet.  Thrown.