Messages Encourage Pet Owners to Spay or Neuter Their Pets
The Humane Society of the United States has launched a social marketing campaign to increase spay/neuter rates in three pilot media markets in Louisiana and Mississippi. Radio spots begin running today in the Jackson and Gulfport, Miss. and Shreveport, La. areas.
The campaign will include radio, television, billboards and print materials. Thorough research guided the development of the advertisements, which are designed to persuade pet owners in the region to spay and neuter their pets. Nearly 240,000 animals enter shelters across Louisiana and Mississippi every year. Many of those animals are euthanized due to shelter overpopulation. Untold numbers suffer in the streets.
Local agencies operating low-cost spay/neuter clinics in each city will track the response to the campaign in preparation for a statewide launch in 2009. Each clinic will receive a $25,000 grant for their assistance.
"We are thrilled to be part of this important pilot program and have high expectations for positive results," said Kim Staton, interim clinic director for the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi. "Many people don't realize the likelihood of their pet's offspring becoming an unfortunate statistic, and we hope this message will reach pet owners on a personal level so they choose to have their pets spayed and neutered."
Much of the research into attitudes about spay and neuter was done through a partnership between The HSUS, Maddie's Fund and animal services and sheltering organizations throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. The joint project, dubbed "After Katrina: Improving the Lives of Gulf Coast Dogs & Cats," provided crucial groundwork for the two-state social marketing campaign to encourage Louisiana and Mississippi pet-owning families to spay and neuter their pets — reducing the number of animals entering shelters and facing euthanasia.
"For the first time, the overpopulation crisis in both states is quantified thanks to the participation of 57 shelters across Louisiana and Mississippi who face overwhelming numbers of accidental litters, strays and surrendered animals brought to their doors every day," said Heather Cammisa, manager of spay/neuter initiatives for The HSUS.
Shelters were awarded a total of $907,500 to support the collection of statistics through 2010 and other mission based activities.
To listen to a sample radio spot, please click here.
Facts:
- National estimates indicate that approximately 70 percent of dogs and 84 percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered. According to an October 2006 survey conducted by The HSUS, only 51 percent of dogs and 77 percent of owned cats in Louisiana and Mississippi are spayed or neutered. When considered along with significant stray populations, these lower rates of pet sterilization are a major factor in the high rates of animal relinquishment and abandonment.
- The HSUS estimates that Louisiana and Mississippi animal shelters take in an estimated 240,000 abandoned dogs and cats each year. The 57 shelters that have agreed to participate in the "After Katrina" project handle 91 percent of the states' impounded animals.
-30-
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.
