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Utah! Home to Butch Cassidy, Donny and Marie Osmand, and animal rescues galore, including the aptly-titled Humane Society of Utah.
The HSoU is like many great Humane Societies around the country – it’s an open admissions no-kill shelter (which means they’ll take in as many animals as they’re legally able to) intent on saving the lives of shelter pets through an education-focused adoption process.
But they’re also known for the creative ways that they promote rescue and adoption to the public.
You may have seen the following picture before (or one very much like it):
It’s a photo booth-style photograph of an adoptable Pit Bull sticking his tongue out and just generally being one of the more precious creatures on the planet.
In 2015, the HSoU decided that, instead of taking low-quality photos of their adoptable animals—looking sad in dimly-lit cages—they were going to take professional photos that depicted the animals as they truly were: happy and full of love and personality.
With the help of the aforementioned photos, social media, and a clever marketing campaign, the HSoU saw an unprecedented number of adoptions that year. Which, I mean, come on. Of course they did! How could you see the Labrador Retriever above—with his goofy, endearing face—and not want to adopt him immediately?
Or this Husky, who looks like a supermodel crossed with a cartoon character.
The HSoU was also responsible—in partnership with FreshPet—for one of the greatest “Dogs eating with human hands” videos that has ever been produced, using thirteen adoptable dogs and one cat for a single Thanksgiving feast.
Each of the animals provided by the HSoU were available for adoption at the time, and the video went on to be viewed eleven million times. Pretty good publicity for a bunch of pups in need.
The Humane Society of Utah continues to do so much good for shelter animals year in and year out. If you appreciate them as much as we do, make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And if you’d like, you can even contribute to their cause by donating here.
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