In terms of playing on animal lovers’ emotions, a current run of Pedigree Food for Dogs TV commercials ranks right up there with “Old Yeller” and “My Dog Skip.”
The ads, which started in January and will run through March 23, feature close-ups of mixed-breed dogs in shelter cages. With melancholy music in the background, Archie, Dixie and Oliver introduce themselves via an actor’s voiceover. They say things like, “I know how to sit, how to fetch and how to roll over. What I don’t know is how I ended up in here.” Or “I’m a good dog, and I just want to go home.”
Some people can’t even describe the ads without tearing up.
“My mother called me a couple of weeks ago,” said Nadine Walmsley, vice president of development at Chicago’s Anti-Cruelty Society.
“She was crying. `I saw that commercial! It makes me want to adopt three more dogs.’ “
Although it might be presumptuous to credit the commercial, a quick survey around the Chicago area indicates that adoptions from shelters are on the upswing. What is certain is that the ad is part of a trend of better marketing campaigns and increased public awareness that is resulting in more adoptions. There are other factors as well: smart use of the Internet, cooperative ventures among shelters and the public’s acceptance of shelter animals, to name a few.
The bottom line is more animals finding homes.
“Shelters are hiring more professional people who realize that getting the word out is important,” explained Peggy Froh Asseo, vice president for external affairs at PAWS.
“Another thing, there are a lot of celebrities adopting, and they’re getting out there and telling how they got their animals.” Singer Emmylou Harris, actress Alicia Silverstone and writer/musician Kinky Friedman have actively promoted shelter animals.
“And I see a real sea change in the way all of us in the animal welfare world are approaching it.”
For PAWS, a 10-year-old no-kill facility best known for its highly successful spay and neuter programs, that means bringing adoptable animals to Bloomingdale’s in Oak Brook for an adoption event or having members of its Professional Board be guest bartenders at a fundraiser at a Lincoln Avenue bar–locations and events that might have seemed bizarre not too long ago.
“People love to go to events at venues where you don’t typically bring a dog or a pet,” said Kevin Morrissey, PAWS’ director of communications.
“A hotel, for example. We’ll get 200, 300 people [and sometimes 100 or more dogs] at these events.”
PAWS Chicago had 629 adoptions in 2005 and 832 last year, and, buoyed by a state-of-the-art Lincoln Park shelter it’s opening later this year, is aiming for 1,600 in 2007. Elsewhere around Chicago, the story is similar. The Anti-Cruelty Society went from 6,168 adoptions in 2005 to 6,336 in 2006, and this year is off to a strong start.
At Chicago’s David R. Lee Animal Care Center, an increase in weekend traffic is resulting in dozens of Saturday and Sunday adoptions, and the number of animals being transferred to other shelters is climbing steadily.
But the shelter, which received more than 28,000 strays, empoundments and surrenders in 2006, also is among the most active in another burgeoning marketing tool: taking its animals on the road. Animal Care and Control employees and volunteers–and dogs–will be at the White Sox’s Dog Day this season, at the Gay Pride Parade this summer and, like most shelters, at adoption events around the city. Last month they took 10 dogs to the Schaumburg Boat & Sportshow and found homes for seven of them. Charles Craft, the shelter’s supervising animal-care clerk, hopes to do future adoptions at Bears games, the Bud Billiken Parade and elsewhere.
Perhaps the shelter’s best-known adoption event is its monthly trips to Chicago Wolves games at the Allstate Arena. Filling the Animobile–a 30-foot mobile unit donated by Wolves Chairman Don Levin–Craft and his staff regularly bring 20 to 30 dogs to the game. (The next visit is scheduled for April 7.) There, fans can get information, mingle with the animals and, maybe, take one home. The program has resulted in more than 500 adoptions in six years. At hockey games.
This outside-the-box thinking also extends to programs that shelters run. PAWS has its Meet Your Match Program, which matches a prospective adopter’s lifestyle with that of an animal through an Internet survey. And earlier this month, Anderson had a half-price adoption day for cats and dogs 6 months and older.
Another innovation that seems to be working at Animal Care and Control is its partnership with Comcast’s Pets On Demand feature, which lets customers view a selection of available animals. Pets On Demand got 30,000 hits in January, according to Craft.
“I come in early in the morning and check my voice mail,” he said. “And I’ve got messages from 12:30 [a.m.], 4:14 . . . little kids calling, asking about a dog. It’s interesting.”
Shelters also have learned that cooperation can mean more adoption success. Because of the huge number of animals coming in the door at Animal Care and Control, the agency has formed alliances with more than 100 other shelters and rescue groups. PAWS may come in and take a shipment of animals off Craft’s hands. Or breed-specific rescue organizations will pull animals out of the pavilion where strays are kept.
The Wisconsin Humane Society, based in Milwaukee, already has taken 200 cats north this year. The idea is to get adoptable animals to where they will have a greater chance of finding new homes.
Maybe the best example of the synergy in the shelter world is on the Internet, whether it’s e-mails flying back and forth or Web sites devoted to adoptions.
“We’ve had super good luck with posting our dogs on Petfinder.com and also 1-800-save-a-pet.com,” said Teri Grandt, who heads Rover Rescue, a 3-year-old organization in North Aurora. “Those have been absolutely phenomenal. And whenever I have people who call me [for a specific type of dog] and we don’t have one, I send them to Petfinder. You can put them in there by breed. That has really helped with adoptions.”
The Internet, the off-site events, the positive publicity about shelter animals, and things such as the Pedigree commercials have all helped change the image of the dogs and cats available in shelters. Instead of going to a breeder, people are now seeking them out.
“We see it every day,” said Sarah Hill, executive director of the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin, about the increased demand for shelter animals. “People who come to us frequently say, `It’s time to get a new pet and we wouldn’t consider purchasing one at a pet store. We want a shelter animal.’.” – – –
Shelter wallflowers
Thousands of animals will be adopted out of Chicago-area shelters this year. Some, though, won’t be going anywhere. Some dogs are just difficult to find homes for, and usually it’s not their fault.
“An animal could be really nice, but no one wants it,” explains Dr. Marek Dygas, supervising veterinarian at Chicago’s David R. Lee Animal Care Center at 27th Street and Western Avenue. “It’s a German shepherd mix. It’s not handsome. It’s not a purebred.
“People are looking for something special. But the mixes are nice. They just take a little longer.”
Cat adopters are fairly open-minded. People looking for dogs, though, can be extremely picky. And if there’s a “type” that gets overlooked, it’s the large, black mixed-breed dog.
“Basically, three-fourths of the people who come in want a small to medium version of a golden retriever,” says Peggy Froh Asseo, vice president for external affairs at PAWS Chicago. She says that in addition to big, black dogs, the “bully breeds,” pit bulls and Rottweilers, tend to end up as long-termers because people perceive them as dangerous by nature.
“That said, all it takes is one adopter to come in and fall in love and adopt that dog,” she points out.
Sometimes, a perfectly good dog will do something to scare off a potential owner. A dog that has been caged all day sees a visitor and gets excited, perhaps to the point that it looks uncontrollable.
A suggestion: If you’re thinking of adopting, keep an open mind.
“Great Danes are great apartment dogs. Who would have guessed that?” Asseo says. “Whereas a bored cairn terrier can rip up your carpet in no time.”
–William Hageman
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About that weepy ad
The current run of Pedigree Food for Dogs TV commercials probably deserves some of the credit for the increase in shelter adoptions. And maybe for a slight uptick in the sale of tissues.
“We’ve gotten very strong feedback,” says Pedigree spokeswoman Renee Kopkowski. “I myself have gotten a few phone calls to my line, people saying, `We want to thank you for doing that ad.’.”
Shelters are hearing about the ad as well.
“In the last month or so I’d say adoptions are up slightly,” said Sarah Hill, executive director of the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin. “I don’t know if it’s the commercial, but I do know we get a lot of people coming in here and talking about it.”
The ads are part of the Pedigree Adoption Drive. The company heavily promotes adoptions on its Web page, answering questions, directing people to affiliated shelters, and even providing a month of free food for newly adopted dogs. A recent six-day fundraising push that was part of the drive, to benefit the American Humane Association, raised more than $1.5 million, six times the goal.
And the ad campaign had a happy ending. Archie, Dixie, Oliver and all the other dogs in the ads were adopted. Millions of other animals, though, aren’t so fortunate. The Humane Society of the United States estimates between 6 million and 8 million dogs and cats are brought into U.S. shelters annually, and 3 million to 4 million of them are euthanized. So there’s still work to be done.
“Absolutely,” says Teri Grandt, who heads Rover Rescue, a 3-year-old organization in North Aurora. “My goal is to have Rover Rescue put out of business. I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. But hopefully we can get closer.”
–W.H.#
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More information on the Pedigree Adoption Drive is available at pedigree.com/home.asp. Shelter Web sites are andersonanimalshelter.org, www.pawschicago.org, roverrescue.org, www.chicagoanimalcare.org and anticruelty.org.
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bhageman@tribune.com
IN THE WEB EDITION:
See one of the tear-jerking Pedigree ads at chicagotribune.com/shelterdog.
