the shelter pet project

At least three million healthy, treatable and lovable pets are put down each year in the U.S., simply for lack of homes.  In covering this staggering breach of trust which companion animals have placed in us, I wrote in a previous post that the thought of such persistent and gratuitous waste of precious lives, each and every one of them, makes my own mind race and my heart sick.  And I know I'm not alone.

Perhaps you can relate.  And perhaps you too have wondered what can be done, urgently, to prevent one more dog or cat, no different than the ones beloved in our own homes, from suffering the same fate (see the touching video "In Hope, An Animal Shelter Story" by Brightlion).  Well, even a tragedy on this staggering a scale can only be overcome by one life being rescued at a time.  And while no doubt many of us are already involved in the heroic effort, we all intuitively know the rest of mainstream society needs to be on board.

To that end, The Shelter Pet Project is nothing short of a cultural breakthrough for the shelter and rescue movement.  It's a joint effort of the Ad Council, The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie's Fund, "in partnership with all the entire animal welfare community," enabling pro-adoption advertisements to be sent to 33,000 media outlets throughout the country.  The ads include the two below, which as you can see are very accessible and playful (see behind the scenes for more).  Wayne Pacelle of the HSUS further writes:

The thrust of the campaign is that pets land in shelters through no fault of their own, but instead because of a human circumstance—allergies, a divorce, a relocation, financial hardship, or just plain selfishness. The advertising theme turns the misperception of shelters on its head, and then urges would-be pet parents to make shelters their first stop.

Please stop by the very interactive The Shelter Pet Project website, watch the ads, read their factsheet and spread the word!  This is a development which we can all be thrilled about, and thank God for.  To everyone out there who has already adopted a companion animal from a shelter or rescue, my heartfelt commendations to you.  And to anyone considering taking in a pet, please consider adopting a precious life which needs a home ...

(images and video courtesy, copyright The Shelter Pet Project)