63-year-old
Gives Birth to Sextuplets. MASTERING THE ART OF LANGUAGE
AS A WAY TO RE-BRAND ANIMAL ADOPTION.
Mike Arms, president of Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego has been working to change the business of pet adoption through innovative marketing and re-brand- ing strategies, through his Business of Saving Lives concept. The Home 4 the Holidays campaign originated from Helen Woodward Animal Center, adopting out more than 8 million pets since its inception in 1999.
Of replacing terms like shelter with adoption center and mixed breed
organizations doing this are just devaluing their pets and telling the public, ‘If you want to get a good dog, purchase one out of the newspa- per. If you want something cheap, that has no value, then come and get a bargain basement pet from us.’ We must put the value back into the pets, and promote them as such, as well as promote the work that we do…giv- ing value to our services.” On creating clever headlines,
Mike explains, “Several years ago, we received a nine-year-old Rottweiler
Home 4 the Holidays.
This photo: Pebbles was a stray, found full of internal parasites and fleas. Top right photo: Astro was scheduled to be eutha- nized at only six months old, simply
because the Florida shelter in which he was housed was over-crowded. Both dogs are being fostered and available for adoption through All Dog Rescue.
www.AllDogRescueOfFl.org
More families bring a new pet home during the holiday season than at any other time of the year. Home 4 the Holidays is a three- month international adoption drive that helps to save the lives of homeless pets, and raises awareness about the importance of pet adoption during the holiday season. In 1999, Helen Woodward Animal
with blends, Mike says it’s about changing public perception. “Years ago in our country, we had children’s orphanages, and they were perceived to be places that didn’t really care for children. Today, we no longer hear of orphanages. Instead, we hear of chil- dren’s centers or youth homes. The negative stigma has changed. Dog pounds have carried that same nega- tive stigma for many years, conveying a perception of having sick, aggressive and throw-away dogs,” said Mike. In marketing approaches, he avoids promoting free pets. “I feel the
18 THE NEW BARKER
that had just given birth to six pup- pies. One of our managers asked me who would be interested in a Rottweiler with six puppies. I said, ‘Well, if you say it that way, no one.’ We ran a story to get media attention for her and the puppies. The headline on our news release read, ‘63-Year- Old Gives Birth to Sextuplets.’ The story became a media frenzy, and within 30 minutes we had 20 calls to adopt the mom. Give the media something that they can have fun with to draw attention to your adoptables.”
Center organized 14 San Diego area shel- ters, finding homes for 2,563 homeless pets. Each pet went home with a holiday meal of pet food. The following year, Home 4 the Holidays grew to include 130 groups in five states. That second holiday season, 19,998 homeless pets went home with their new families. Diane Keaton became the spokesperson during the 2001 season, lead- ing 450 shelters across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More than 100,000 pets were adopted during that holiday season. During the 2012-2013 Home 4 the
Holidays campaign, almost 1.3 million ani- mals were adopted over the three-month adoption drive. Today, more than 4,000 shel- ters and rescues in 17 countries have become a part of the Home 4 the Holidays campaign, including 206 in Florida. To see a complete list of the Florida
organizations participating for the 2013- 2014 campaign, or to sign up, visit
www.AnimalCenter.org and click onto Participating Shelters.
www.TheNewBarker.com
Emma Grace Photography
Emma Grace Photography
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