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As I was looking for the first topic for my new blog, Shelter Animals Count (SAC) released their 2024 midyear report. Rightly so, the focus of the report is on the length of stay for animals in care; providing continued confirmation that animal welfare is experiencing an unchartered challenge. Prior to 2020, adoption numbers were dropping because the amount of “easy-to-adopt” pets were decreasing. This made transfer initiatives increasingly vital to our work. So, in market terms, there was a “supply issue” driving down national numbers.
Following the pandemic, that shifted. Between lifestyle changes and inflation, there emerged a reduction in pet ownership overall. The most definitive data to quantify this is proprietary so I can’t share it, but SAC data confirms that shelters across the country have the “supply”, but less of the “demand”. I, personally, believe that shelter data might actually be a leading indicator of this trend. While veterinary practices have reported a drop in unique animal visits, we in animal welfare were seeing these declines a year before the veterinary industry shared those stats.
Knowing this, I ask myself, “What role does animal welfare play in the overall promotion of pet ownership?”. It should be said, we have come a long way on this subject - twenty plus years ago the going opinion was if a family can’t afford a pet, they shouldn’t have one, declaring “financial means” a common reason to deny an adoption or to return a pet to its owner. Now, we have made strides in the growing opinion that all families with pets should have that opportunity to keep them healthy and safe. Up until this point, our work in the community was focused on intake-diversion – meaning, primarily on families that already had pets. But if we want to re-energize for “demand” of adoption, we need to set our focus on the factors driving down pet ownership.
I love Hill’s 2024 State of Shelter Pet Adoptions Report, which does a deep dive regarding the barriers to pet ownership and it’s wonderful to see so many organizations are looking at how to lift those barriers.
Beyond lifting barriers, what else can we do? By applying traditional market principles, one way to overcome financial concerns is to promote the value of your product. For pets, it's the amazing impact pets can have on the quality of life for humans; a well-documented concept by those studying the human-animal bond. As we consider if promoting human health through pet ownership is a part of our mission, it is important (and wonderful) to recognize the human services sectors already embracing the idea. These two human-focused organizations are leading examples:
If your organization is interested in engaging your community on the power of pet ownership, I suggest starting with the resources available with Human Animal Bond Research Institute at www.habri.org. There is so much great information highlighting the human benefits of pet ownership.
As some of you know, I volunteer in the child welfare services community; I have seen firsthand the healing power of pets. To me, this should be an anchor for the work animal welfare proponents do within their communities. I know so many of you are already doing this work, but if we don’t put these concepts into practice across the nation, we will remain at the market’s mercy of “supply and demand”, as opposed to changing the way we people envision pet ownership.
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