February 7, 2009

While other shelters across the country flounder for funding and homes, a handful of facilities continue to adopt animals out at a steady, promising rate. (Photo Courtesy of The Tallahassee Community Animal Service Center)

Troubles abound in virtually all sectors of the American economy and consumer industry, but the need to re-home surrendered and stray animals remains. Some shelters, though, have found a way to stay afloat and maintain a steady adoption rate. A few rely on creative thinking, while another simply credits its success to sheer luck.

NEW YORK -- The walls of many animal shelters across the country continue to collapse on dogs, cats and workers alike, leaving them no room to breathe.

The economy's effects have been felt across the board, from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.

The Pennsylvania SPCA closed its Monroe shelter last week, after more than 50 years in operation; at the end of January, Animal Haven, a Queens, N.Y., shelter, said it would also have to soon lock up its doors.

Another major blow to the shelter community came yesterday, when the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced it would shut down three of its nine animal care and adoption centers, in addition to cutting 46 staff positions.

Like other business sectors, it's now the familiar story of worsening financial struggles -- but some lucky, rare shelters have a different tale to tell. Not only are they surviving, but their adoption rates continue to increase at a steady pace.

The Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center, for example, witnessed an increased intake rate throughout 2008, yet its adoptions kept pace with the shelter's flow.

The shelter not only broke even, but surpassed expectations this past January when it set a monthly adoption record with 319 successful placements.

"We're fortunate enough, that it's not like we are not facing the same challenges that everyone else is," said Stephanie Sikorski, the TLCAS' interim director. "We have had one of our highest intakes this year, but we are keeping up with it."

The Tallahassee, Fla., shelter adopted out 3,049 animals, or 27 percent of its total intake last year; 905 animals were placed into foster homes, compromising another 8.24 percent.

Its greatest achievement, though, was keeping the euthanasia rate under 50 percent -- something the shelter has been able to do since 2006. In spite of the economic pit falls of 2008, the shelter kept to its track record by putting down only 48.80 percent of unadopted animals.

"A lot of it [our success] is taking a look at what we are doing in house, what other facilities are doing, and thinking outside the box as to how we can get the word out," Sikorski explained of the shelter's 'get-out-the-adopt' message.

Keys to Adoption Success

Part of the challenge, Sikorski says, is refurbishing the shelter's image to market it as a place the public actually wants to visit.

"People tend to think of a public shelter as a prison, as a place they want to avoid," she said. "Instead of waiting for people to come here and hoping they fall in love with an animal, we wanted to give the community reasons to come here."

Three years ago, the shelter enlisted the help of the Humane Society of the United States, which visited its facility and made nearly 880 recommendations for improvement.

It also helped the shelter establish a five-year plan; in the first year, adoptions jumped from 2,638 to 2,720. That number increased to 3,023 in 2006.

The shelter started hosting "bark and wine" events, during which people would sample drinks from local wineries and walk the shelter's halls to view animal-themed art.

"We then brought in some people who never would have thought about adopting before," Sikorski said.

The facility also began sponsoring annual 5k and 10k runs, which lace through the shelter's grounds. Another technique is appealing to the public by advertising outside of the shelter walls; the center's animal control vans, for instance, are plastered with signs encouraging people to adopt, and for pet owners to microchip their animals.

"It's all about getting creative," Sikorski said.

Other shelters have also recognized the importance of selling the animals like a product, and not relying on the animals' cuteness factor to sell themselves.

A Little Imagination Goes A Long Way

The Austin Humane Society, in Austin, Texas, has also benefited from thinking outside the box. The city shelter has seen a 12 percent increase in adoptions over the past year, says Marketing Director Lisa Starr.

"We've increased from 2007 to 2008 and 2009 is looking very good as well," Starr told ZT Pet News.

Last month, the shelter facilitated around 300 adoptions, nearly 30 more than it did in January 2008.

"We've just always had our eye on what is important, which is saving animals' lives and finding them homes," Starr said. "We are always trying to find media partners to publicize our adoptable pets."

Like the Tallahassee shelter, the Austin Humane Society relies on unique events and marketing strategies to augment its public support; it hosts "puppy bowl-a-thons" and "meet your match" programs, which pair individual prospective owners with pets based off of personality and lifestyle criteria.

Part of their success, though, could simply be attributed to location, Starr says.

"We're lucky because we live in a city that is relatively progressive when it comes to animal welfare, and we live in a city that is aware of the importance of adopting shelter pets," she said.

Teamwork is also key for the Tallahassee and Austin shelters, whose representatives both mentioned the significance of appealing to all employees, volunteers and other surrounding shelters for active participation.

"It's a big team approach, and we have close relationships with other shelters and low-cost spay and neuter clinics," Starr said. "You have to work together."

'Big Ticket' Pets Still Find Homes

The Friendship Animal Protective League, in Elyria, Ohio, doesn't have a major metropolitan area to fall back on, like the Austin and Tallahassee shelters do. Yet it still continues to maintain a "steady rate of adoptions," according to shelter supervisor Denise Willis.

Willis says that the shelter was initially nervous looking at 2008 and the worsening economy.

"I don't think you can avoid that [sentiment]" Willis said with a chuckle.

So far, though, so good -- the shelter has yet to lay off any employees or become overwhelmed with animals. Over last weekend, it moved around 10 dogs, a solid rate for the small facility, which normally holds around 50 dogs at a time.

"I guess we are just blessed," Willis said. "I see a lot of people bringing in their animals because they lost their homes, but there are also a lot of people coming in and wanting to adopt two dogs or cats at a time."

The Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, which rehabilitates and adopts out neglected or abused horses, is also keeping its head above water. In a given year, the group normally re-homes 36 to 40 horses, says Jo Deibel, president of AAHHR.

In 2008, it found families for 46 horses.

"We have a pretty solid program," Deibel said. "The horse world is a luxury world anyway."

The horses are not "companion" animals, according to Deibel, and are mostly utilized for competitive shows. Adopting one can cost between $1,800 to $2,500, an arguably hefty price for troubled times, even within a "luxury" industry.

Still, the rescue group, along with the other successful shelters, continues to focus on its hopeful statistics, and simply hope that its luck won't run dry in the months to come.

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