The right kind.

Recently the Shelter Medicine program at the University of Florida conducted a survey of rescue/adoption staff and volunteers and volunteers with Alachua County Animal Services. They presented some of the results at a public meeting last week. The discussion was sometimes frustrating, driven as it was by some nitty-gritty concerns of rescue staff, such as the three-day stray hold (a matter of state law) and repeated complaints that ACAS should not do adoptions, only rabies tags, cruelty investigations, and stray returns. This point was made again and again, despite the obvious fact that private groups do not have the space or resources to handle all the homeless dogs and cats in our area.


That doesn’t even touch the philosophical question of whether everything that has to with the common good should be the sole responsibility of private groups. A thousand points of light, anyone?

So most of the discussion portion of the meeting focused on procedural issues rather than positive steps that we might take. This is a shame, since so many innovative and effective initiatives all over the country are increasing adoptions, reducing owner surrenders, and reducing euthanasia. We can learn from and probably implement many of these even without much money. That’s a matter for another conversation, which probably needs to be initiated by volunteers.

That said, the most interesting part of the meeting was the initial presentation of information, and, for me, the fact that local rescue groups see a lot of potential for increasing dog adoptions. The two biggest obstacles they saw were the need for more foster/adoptive homes and the need for “the right kind of dogs."

Our radar is already on the need to recruit and train foster volunteers. Foster homes not only buy time but also increase adoptability, by making dogs more sociable and providing fuller information about them. Foster volunteers also reach new potential adopters, including those who would not dream of stepping into a shelter for their next pet.


The other two issues seem to go together: there will be more adoptive homes if we have the "right kind" of dogs. The “right kind” implied at the meeting was the kind potential adopters seem to want – small, fluffy ones and puppies, rather than the medium to large, short-haired adult dogs that abound at our shelter (and almost every shelter around the country, although apparently San Francisco is overflowing with Chihuahuas).

No one wants to bring more small, fluffy puppies into the shelter system. But what if we could redefine the “right kind” of dog? Instead of a dog that looks a certain way, what if potential adopters looked for a dog whose temperament and energy level matched theirs? The ASPCA has launched a program called “Meet Your Match” that tries to do just this. It’s still a young program but seems to have been very successful in shelters that have implemented it.


Imagine if we could persuade people that among the medium to large, short-haired hound and pit mixes at ACAS are dogs for every individual and every family: running partners and couch potatoes, apartment dogs and suburban dogs, one-man dogs and family dogs, child-friendly dogs and cat-friendly dogs, dogs who fetch and dogs who nap, dogs who can learn agility and dogs who can keep you company during the late show – and every other kind of dog anyone might want.

Maybe we need some slogans and a marketing campaign.

Shelter dogs can do anything.
We have your new best friend.
Whatever you want, we have it.

Obviously I am not a marketing genius.
But someone out there is.
Maybe it's these guys?