Advertising Help Needed

Now that I have a lot of free time (with only one foster dog and three foster cats, life is very calm!), I've found a new project.  It might be silly - it might be expecting too much - it might even be a huge waste of time.  But then again, it might help a pet find a home, so I'm going to do it anyway. 

There are certain pets out there, like this guy, who have been waiting a long time for a good home.  You may remember me talking about Kermit before.  He caught my attention when I first started helping with rescue, and I've felt an attachment to him ever since.  He even came and stayed at my house for a few weeks so we could see how he did in a real home setting.  He did great, but because he has some balance issues and he had to navigate stairs to go outside at my house, it wasn't a good fit long-term for him.  So he's back at the shelter waiting for a real home.  There are so many pets like him - ones that are great dogs, or great cats, but for one reason or another they are just passed over for adoption time and again.  Maybe they're like my foster cat Scribbles who doesn't do well at adoption events.  Or maybe they're like Kermit and have physical limitations.  Or maybe they're just shy, or too old.  Whatever it is, pretty much every no-kill rescue group or shelter has at least one or two pets that have been waiting for too long for a home. 

I believe there are adopters out there who would love to give one of these special animals a home.  But they don't always know who has been waiting the longest, or who needs them the most.  And with the thousands of animals in the St. Louis area out there on websites like PetFinder and AdoptAPet.com, they are going to have a hard time finding the ones where they can make the biggest difference. 

Best Friends Animal Society, one of the largest and best-known rescue groups in the country, recently created their "Purrty Dozen" - a list of the twelve cats that had been waiting a long time for homes and that the staff most wanted to see adopted.  Since they created the list in January 2009, seven of these 12 cats have found homes.  That's pretty amazing, considering how long some had been waiting (at least 7 years in the case of one cat!).  Obviously Best Friends has more resources and a wider range of adopters than I do.  But I hope that with some support and help from others, we can make a difference in the lives of a few hard-to-adopt pets right here in the St. Louis area.

I've created the Ten Most Wanted list of pets that have been waiting awhile to find a home.  Kermit is on there of course.  So are nine other pets from other rescue groups.  I hope to get some adoption posters made up for these pets and recruit volunteers to post them on bulletin boards in the area.  I'd also like to add some buttons so you all could share these pets with people through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  If you're interested in helping with this project, please contact me.  I really need help with things like advertising, web design, creating posters, etc, and we will eventually need volunteers to be willing to put up posters at their local library, restaurants, grocery stores, churches and work places.  This project is just getting started, so you can get a sneak peek at the website here, but it may be changing a lot before we're ready to "go live" with it.  I am getting three or four puppies to foster sometime this weekend, so my free time may quickly be dwindling away!

Stay tuned... puppy pictures should be available within a few days!