The Shelter Pet Project

The Humane Society of the United States has just launched a new
campaign in an effort to help shelter pets across the US.
The Shelter Pet Project, is a new approach to the
traditional and usually sad public service
announcements we see and hear, cue
the Sarah Mclachlan music.

While I think the PSA's we are familiar with make people
aware of abuse, they have neglected shelter
overpopulation, and the animals in the
shelters, until now.

This new and more interactive campaign is using humor,
for both the web, and commercials. The pet personals
section has an online database of shelter animals,
where you can locate your potential furry friend.
There's an Adopt-E-Gram bit that lets you send
a gram to someone and pick a virtual pet to
go along with your message. These are all
features on the web page. All the while,
an interactive dog or cat hangs out
on your screen, talking to you,
and even giving you a
little dance.
I like it.


For the television commercials, common and short situations
are shown. You can even view them online. These situations
chronicle how most shelter pets come to be, well shelter
pets. Most are not in the shelters due to behavioral or
medical problems, it's because the owners are facing
foreclosure, jail, and because they are just plain
irresponsible, and do not want these animals
that will love them forever. It's done from
the animal’s point of view and what they
would probably say in human form to
us if we could understand.

I think it's pretty clever and well done. They have tailored
the whole campaign for the present. I hope it will open
people's eyes to how "normal" and loving shelter pets
are. They are just waiting for a break and someone
to bring them home into their family.

Check out the campaign:
http://theshelterpetproject.org/







Photo Courtesy of iStockphoto