pet connection

It’s been a long, long, tiring day. Christie and I never really recovered from being on California time, but we worked hard to look awake and coherent as much as possible. She’s winging her way back home as I type; I’ve had a nap and dinner, so I’m ready to finish yesterday’s post.

The second speaker yesterday at this session was Bonney Brown of Nevada Humane Society, who regaled us with stories of NHS efforts to market pets and encourage people to come to the shelter, as well as its efforts to keep pets in homes. Her goal is to reduce the numbers of animals coming into the shelter and increase the number leaving alive. A facet of doing that is helping people who are having problems with their animals.

Shelters should be places of last resort. Behavior problems can be resolved, turned around. Most people who are bringing pets to shelters don’t know much about animals; they’re not behaviorists, not good at problem-solving. Help them with behavior modification advice, training advice, provide moral support to these people.

NHS established a help desk in 2007 and responded to more than 8,400 requests in the first six months. In 2008 it responded to 20,295 calls and e-mails.

Shelters cannot handle all the problems for all animals in a community. Tap into the broader community. We have a bigger, deeper, underlying goal: to create a truly humane society. To do that we need to involve everybody.

Be a possibility thinker. Focus on empowering and helping people. Involve the owner in the solution. Seek volunteer support. Promote trap-neuter-return. People think bringing a feral cat to the shelter means it will get adopted, but that’s not an option for feral cats.

Never give up. Talk to people, even when they are arriving with their pet to give it up. Give a realistic solution and a little help.

When it comes to getting people to the shelter and promoting pets for adoption, the focus is on fun.

Get the word out that there are great pets in the shelter. Fun events draw people in. Make the shelter a fun place to be instead of a place to dread.

NHS piggybacks on as many holidays, community events and social trends as possible. Think furry speed dating; a Mardi Gras stars party for pets that have been in the shelter for a long time and who are available at reduced adoption rates; a Super Bowl promotion; an ice cream social on Independence Day; safe trick or treating at Halloween–the shelter stays open late and families come in. On Mother’s Day, moms get a special adoption rate. Funniest story: a woman writes angrily about the NHS penchant for using every possible holiday to promote pet adoptions. “What’s next, Arbor Day?” she snipes.

What a good idea! When Arbor Day rolled around, people who adopted a pet got a free tree from a local nursery.

Because NHS has been so good at marketing itself, businesses like partnering with it to promote adoptions. Nevada Energy wants to give lightbulbs with every adoption because the NHS name is everywhere. Some businesses donate artwork or ad space. A car dealership pays for pet-of-the-week ads. And the events/promotions draw media attention.

Businesses will come to you to partner with them. They look like great corporate citizens.

Don’t those efforts just shove pets out of the shelter instead of ensuring that they get a good home? Brown says no. And she recommends lowering adoption fees.

We don’t compromise on the standard of people we think should have these cats, but it draws people into the shelter. Stop looking at adoptions as a revenue stream. You don’t save money by hanging onto cats.

She ends with a focus on building community.

Tell people about animals’ stories. Look for reasons to make an adoption succeed instead of to turn it down. Value life-saving over rigidity. Don’t make adopting a draconian experience for people. Lower adoption fees and open the shelter at times that are convenient for people to visit.

Following Brown was Mike Fry of Animal Ark in Minnesota. He spoke about environmental enrichment at shelters, with the motto “think outside the cage.”

One of the most important things is to alleviate the stress of being in the shelter. Animals have been taken away from their home, their family, their schedule and food have changed, everything is different. Stress increases disease and behavior problems, and animals are unnecessarily killed.

Enrichment includes housing, vet care, nutrition, socialization, play, exercise, training. It’s for all species, including human visitors. If you make the experience nice for everybody, it pays off.

Fry said Animal Ark received criticism for spending money on art and flat-screen TVs, but they serve a purpose. When socialization volunteers come in, they can pop in a movie and spend a couple of hours sitting on a sofa with a dog in a home-like environment. Having a movie to watch keeps volunteers there longer. When people come in who are having problems with pets, the staff can play a DVD for them that addresses a particular behavior problem or care issue. Other environmental changes/improvements they’ve made include cat condos, separate air sources and returns, custom cat furniture, ceramic tile, track lighting and piped-in music. The results after five years: increased adoptions, zero ringworm, a 95 percent reduction in upper respiratory infections, and an ability to easily accommodate challenging cats.

Enrichment challenges us to rethink outdated assumptions, from disinfecting to daily cleaning to nutrition and socialization.

The best disinfectant against feline disease is lack of stress/a healthy immune system.

Enrichment for dogs includes setting up cages so dogs aren’t facing each other. Potty breaks and meal times are scheduled, which aids in housetraining and stress reduction. Kennels contain beds, blankets, toys, treats and music. Hard, cold, slippery floors are out. There’s a parklike space outdoors where dogs can play or visit with potential adopters. Trainers, massage therapists and other practitioners who want to come to the shelter and bring students to work with pets are welcome. Socialization rooms are functional and comfortable.

The take-home message–the one I got, anyway–is that none of these organizations have huge budgets, but they set goals and think creatively about ways to improve shelter environments, adoptions and customer service.