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The Advertising Council, in partnership with The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund, announced today the launch of The Shelter Pet Project, a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign, designed to encourage pet lovers throughout the country to make shelters their first choice for acquiring companion animals. The Shelter Pet Project is the first national PSA campaign to bring together the largest animal welfare organizations and many shelters across the country for one unified goal – to increase pet adoption.

There are approximately 75 million dogs and 88 million cats in American households. Presently, most people do not obtain their pets from shelters, but rather from pet stores, the Internet, friends, neighbors, breeders or other sources. According to The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund, eight million pets enter shelters and rescue groups every year, with three million of these healthy and treatable pets euthanized due to a lack of adoption.

The Shelter Pet Project aims to change the public’s perception of shelter pets and encourage Americans to save a pet’s life by adopting from an animal shelter or rescue group. The campaign is geared toward all Americans, including current, past and potential pet owners, but particularly those who are planning on acquiring a pet within the next year and who have not yet decided where they will get their pet from.

“By reaching a subset of the population uncertain about where they’ll obtain their next dog or cat and convincing them that an animal shelter is the best source, we can end the euthanasia of homeless dogs and cats in this country,” said Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. “The animal welfare cause has never had an advertising campaign with this creativity.”

“The death of animals in shelters is a national tragedy–one that we’ll finally be able to end thanks to this historic campaign,” said Rich Avanzino, Maddie’s Fund President. “We are deeply indebted to the Ad Council and Draftfcb for turning national attention to the plight of shelter animals and inspiring people to adopt.”

The humorous PSAs, created pro bono by Draftfcb Chicago, aim to break down the stereotypes associated with shelter pets and make shelters and rescue groups the desired place for people to find a pet. The ads feature stories of how pets come into shelters through no fault of their own, but due to owners’ issues, such as divorce, financial difficulty and ill-prepared owners. The television, radio, print, outdoor and Web ads direct audiences to visit a new comprehensive Website, www.theshelterpetproject.org, to find out more information about how to adopt a pet from a shelter. The Website also includes a “Pet Personals” section, where users are asked questions about themselves and are then matched with potential pets from a local shelter or rescue group using the Petfinder.com database.

“We are proud to join with The HSUS and Maddie’s Fund on this very important campaign, the first in our 67-year history that will benefit pets,” said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of the Ad Council. “This campaign will help change the conversation about pet shelters and help Americans understand that they are a wonderful place to adopt a pet. Ultimately, our efforts will provide loving homes for healthy shelter dogs and cats throughout the country.”

“This is an excellent and overdue opportunity to put our expertise to work on behalf of perfectly healthy, wonderfully friendly animals desperate for someone to care for them,” said Mark Modesto, President of Draftfcb Chicago. “When our Executive Chairman Howard Draft first approached Peggy Conlon with the idea, everyone recognized that this was an unprecedented opportunity to educate a national audience on this important issue.”

How Social Networking Sites Are Helping Dogs

In addition to the new PSAs and website, The Shelter Pet Project will engage the target audiences through a series of social media strategies, including blog and online outreach, as well as social networking initiatives. The campaign will encourage advocates, shelter workers, pet lovers and all Americans to become a “fan” and take a pledge to adopt a pet on Facebook. Audiences will also have the opportunity to sign up on Twitter to receive tweets about adoptable shelter pets, and view the new PSAs through YouTube.

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All of the new PSAs are being distributed to more than 33,000 media outlets nationwide this week. Per the Ad Council model, the PSAs will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media. Initial partnerships include a commitment from Animal Planet to air the TV PSAs on their network over the next year beginning September 24 as part of their national campaign R.O.A.R., Reach Out. Act. Respond dedicated to helping animals in need, whose principal partners include The Humane Society of the United States and Petfinder.com.

A second series of PSAs, including TV, outdoor and Web banners, were developed in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and will be distributed nationwide. The PSAs, which feature the lovable characters from Disney’s Santa Buddies, aim to further elevate the issue of pet adoption by engaging parents as well as their children.

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