Better than winking in the dark ....

Like any Jane Austen fan, I love a happy ending!   In this dreary old world where tragedies play out everyday in the media, I will take my entertainment sunny side up please and thank you!
That is also why I love to see good news wherever and whenever it comes!  Last weekend, Pet Valus around the province hosted a Pet Adoption weekend in support of local rescues.  How did that work out?
While CAPS has not added up the tally for applications, everyone who participated is quite pleased by the interest shown!  Even better, the pawprint donations at the Greenwood store were only surpassed by the big stores in the greater Toronto area!   Best of all of course was that even the adorable adoptables who did not attend will wind up getting more attention as a result.
East Coast German Shepherd Rescue has been over the moon about the flurry of adoptions that will be happening as a direct result of last weekend's event!    Five out this weeks nine Happy Tails have been made possible because the soon to be proud new owners had a chance to meet their new Best Friends in 'furson'!
SHAID's Momma and Babies were a hit at the Bridgewater event and the South Shore supporters were both delighted to learn about TNR and generous in their support for this work!
The Provincial Animal Shelter has been having great success all along with their kitties who have been getting good exposure, not only at the Metro Pet Valu, but at the other satellite adoption centers at Petcetera and Pets Unlimited.   While it is incredibly helpful for them to have this resource coming into kitten season ... the real blessing lays in the opportunity for the beautiful adult cats to 'sell themselves'
In other words ... thanks to the auspices of the pet stores who are now helping  instead of creating situations to be cleaned up by rescues .... more kind hearts in our province have an opportunity to meet the adorable adoptables!
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, there is no downside to this:

• 'taking it to the streets' allows rescues and shelters to reach out to all the kind hearts who are either unwilling or unable to come to a shelter
• as any successful business knows, the best way to reach the target market is to make it easy for people to 'shop'
• interested folks have the reassuring opportunity to meet some of the adoptables before going out on a limb filling out applications
• seeing adoptables in established pet stores takes pet adoption out of the abstract and remote and brings it down to the achievable objective for first time adopters
• and of course, last but definitely not least, there is a whole other layer.   Not everyone who attends these events will put in an application right away.   Many people .. quite rightly ... view pet ownership as an important step that should not be rushed into.    Yet everyone of those sensible souls who attends such an event is given 'food for thought' for a later date.

At the end of the day, there is also the 'ripple effect' that comes from each and every successful adoption.   Family, friends, neighbours and coworkers all have the opportunity to see what good value that darned adoption fee really is.  Even better, they have a chance to see just how lovely these 'secondhand' pets really are.   Best of all of course is that boosting adoptions creates more space to save more pets.
What time is it?  It is always time to remember that all great ideas are brilliantly simple!  Off site adoption events provide kind hearts who love animals with the opportunity to meet pets who need homes!
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.  Steuart Henderson Britt