Approximately 3.9 million dogs enter shelters nationwide each year. Of those, 2.7 million get adopted. Because of this, sometimes shelters have to get creative in order to find furever homes for the fuzzbutts they take in. Here are 7 of the most inspiring, innovative things shelters and rescues have done in order to save pups’ lives.
1. IKEA
IKEA, DDB Singapore & Home for Hope realized that a home is just not complete without man’s best friend. So, they teamed up to help promote animal shelter adoptions based out of Singapore. With 26 adorable cutouts of shelter dogs placed in different showcases throughout IKEA, families realized that what their home was really missing was not just affordable Swedish furniture, but also a pup! Each cutout had a QR code customers could scan with the dog’s adoption information, making it easier to find the new addition to their family.
Through the Pound Puppy Hike Program, Red Mountain Spa teamed up with a local no-kill shelter to provide pet-less vacationers a shelter dog to hike with. The program is still running, and if everything goes well, the pup is taken back home with the vacationers for the rest of their lives. 🙂
A collaboration between the Humane Society of the United States, Maddie’s Fund and The Ad Council, a website was built to make adoptable pets in an area easy to find via search engine. Visitors to the site also learned about the plight of homeless animals.
For the Humane Society of Utah, a picture says it all. Photographer Guinnevere Shuster teamed up to photograph adoptable dogs “photo booth” style, which showcased the multiple personalities of each dog. The photos were then shared via the Humane Society of Utah’s Facebook and featured fun facts and personality traits of each pooch.
5. Tinder
No, it’s not just for one night stands of the hooman kind any more. New York-based animal rescue Social Tees teamed up with interns from agency BBH to post ten precious pictures of pups. Within a week, they had 2,700 matches. Swipe right please!
6. Chester: Waiting Five Years
Remember this story of the pitiful pittie that couldn’t find a home? With the help of Gabby Stroup, manager of North Fork Animal Welfare League a Facebook page was created that, within a few hours had over 6,000 shares. Through it, Chester found his home sweet home, and the page that garnered so many likes is now used to expose other pets that need to be adopted.
7. Pilots & Paws / Wings Rescue
These two all-volunteer rescue organizations have flown places with a surplus of pups to other partnered rescue centers that can up their chance of adoption. Pilots and Paws serves as a way to bring together volunteer pilots, rescue organizations and foster homes to communicate the organization of transporting animals in need. They have already rescued over 75,000 animals, and have no intent on stopping now. Wings of Rescue is a California based organization that flies furry friends from California up to Canada. They are expected to fly around 7,000 pets alone this year.
This Costa Rican adoption agency has found a brilliant to market all types of pooches! The group has renamed thousands of shelter breeds under new unique breed names to spur breed-blind animal adoption. The wackier the name, the more marketable the pup! (Have you ever heard of a fire-tailed border cocker?). The results:adoption rates have jumped 1,400 percent!
