Adoptions

Saving lives by increasing adoptions is the fastest way to achieve a no-kill nation. Various methods to increase adoptions are provided in the articles below. Great marketing ideas from dozens of organizations are also available in Marketing Hard to Place Pets.

High Volume Adoptions

• The Truth About Free Cat Adoptions

  May 2011
  Research has proven that worries about free cat adoptions are unfounded. Now fee-waived adoptions are catching on in animal shelters nationwide.  Read More

• Marketing Resource Guide

  September 2011
  Nothing boosts adoptions like great marketing. For some clever, out-of-the-box marketing ideas, take a look at these great resources.  Read More

• Oregon Humane Society: A Place for Second Chances

  November 2010
  Discover how great customer service, marketing and out of the box ideas enable the Oregon Humane Society to adopt nearly 11,000 healthy and treatable dogs and cats each year.  Read More

• Getting to No-Kill by 2015: The HSUS Animal Care EXPO 2010

  February 2011
  On May 12, 2010, Maddie’s Fund presented Getting to No-Kill by 2015, a day-long workshop at The HSUS Animal Care EXPO. Seven power point presentations with audio from the workshop are available for viewing. They include: building a no-kill community, shelter medicine dos and don'ts, shelter enrichment, top adoption and marketing strategies and sustaining no-kill communities.  Read More

Hard to Place Adoptions

• Seeing Dogs as Individuals Key to Managing Behavior Problems

  November 2011
  An innovative program to evaluate and rehabilitate shelter dogs as individuals leads the way in helping dogs with all kinds of behavior challenges find lasting, loving homes.  Read More

• Incorrect Breed Identification Costs Dogs Their Lives

  February 2012
  Can you be sure of the breed of dogs in your shelter? A recent study suggests that visual identification of breed is unreliable.  Read More

• Our Hearts Are Ready: Are Our Shelters? Editorial

  October 2011
  It's a deadly mistake for shelters to assume that animal lovers won't open their hearts and homes to the most challenging cases in their care.  Read More

• Marvelously Mature

  September 2011
  Senior pets may have an advantage with some adopters. Maddie's Fund surveyed several successful senior pet adoption programs, and found out what it takes to tap into a senior-friendly adoption market.  Read More

• Bully for You!

  May 2011
  Special events are significantly increasing pit bull adoptions in Erie County, New York.  Read More

• Humane Society Silicon Valley: Going the Extra Mile for Animals in Need

  January 2011
  Saving animals with treatable health and behavior conditions is the focus of this Northern California animal shelter.  Read More

• Sherri Franklin: Fairy Godmother to Senior Dogs

  June 2010
  Sherri founded Muttville, an organization devoted to finding homes for senior canines, and in just three years, has placed nearly 700 dogs.  Read More

• Solving the Pit Bull Problem

  February 2010
  Even though 70 to 80% percent of the dogs at Berkeley Animal Care Services in Berkeley, California are pit bulls or pit bull mixes, the dogs are getting adopted. Read how the City of Berkeley does it - and how your community can, too.  Read More

• Defenders of Pit Bulls

  2006
  Pit bulls have a friend in BAD RAP.  Read More

• Finding Homes for Senior Pets

  2007
  Shelters find that many adopters have a "soft spot" for graybeards.  Read More

• Saving Hard to Place Pets Editorial

  2008
  If animal welfare leaders are serious about wanting to end the killing, every animal welfare organization is going to need to sharpen their marketing skills to get the hard to place animals adopted.  Read More

• Imperfect Pets for Imperfect People Editorial

  2006
  Unless shelters plan to get in the breeding business, it might be time to think about how to find homes for hard to place animals.  Read More

• It Happened at EXPO: A Summary of Maddie's Daylong Workshop

  2009
  Maddie's eight-hour workshop, Is An Adoption Guarantee Really Possible? Four Steps to Success held in Las Vegas at The HSUS Animal Care EXPO, drew more than 200 attendees interested in saving the lives of their communities' healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats.  Read More

Offsite Adoption Programs

• Mingle With Our Mutts: A Successful No-Frills Adoption Event

  2004
  Shelters get together for a simple, easy, cheap, and effective adoption event.  Read More

• SPCA of Texas

  2000
  The adoption, PR, and fundraising benefits of a strong offsite adoption program.  Read More

• Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley

  2004
  Located in a bad part of town, HSTV took their pets to the people.  Read More

• Furburbia

  2002
  Finding a site in a popular shopping mall works wonders for adoptions.  Read More

Placement Tools

• Maddie's Shelter Medicine Conference

  November 2009
  On October 23 and 24, 2009, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine hosted the second annual Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Conference in Gainesville, Florida. Eight power point presentations from the conference are available for viewing. They include: transitioning to adoption guarantee, creating a pet evaluation matrix, top adoption and marketing strategies and foster care.  Read More

• Meet Your Match: Does It Deliver?

  2006
  Color coded systems matching dog behaviors to pet owners preferences: how it works, and what the shelters who are using that system have to say about it.  Read More

Dog Transport

• The Pros and Cons of Dog Transport

  2006
  How good of an idea is it to ship animals from over-populated shelters to communities with dog and puppy shortages?  Read More

• Dog Transport Editorial

  2006
  When outside puppies and small dogs are imported, they'll get adopted while old and ugly local dogs languish in shelters and eventually get euthanized.  Read More