Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to the (Animal) Rescue!

 I have been an animal lover my whole life. I grew up with dogs, cats, hamsters, turtles and almost every other species you could think of. My favorite birthday present I have ever received was for my 16th birthday; my Golden Retriever Willie. After I moved away from home, I always said the first thing I would get when I bought my own house was a dog. Three years after buying our house, my husband and I have two big fat hairy labs that live quite a comfortable life.  Norman and Doug (my two furry boys) not only posses human names, but we treat them like they are our kids. They have doggie play dates with their dog relatives and friends, come to cookouts and if at all possible, come on vacation with us. Are my dogs spoiled? Absolutely! My favorite blanket is now a dog snuggie courtesy of Doug! But I wouldn't have it any other way. And all of my friends and family treat their dogs the same way.

 But not everyone feels the same way about their pets as myself and my friends and family. I first witnessed the indescribable abuse and neglect that animals in this country suffer when I went to visit my friend while she was working at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. She worked in Dogtown, which at the time housed 700 dogs. There were dogs there that had been neglected, abandoned, had one eye because the other had been shot out during it's owner's target practice (with the dog being it's target!), had been bait dogs in dog fighting rings, or the owner just didn't have any use for the dog anymore. I had never seen anything more heartbreaking in my life. For the two weeks I spent visiting my friend, I went to work with her every day as a volunteer helping anyway I could. When it was time to go, I had a really difficult time leaving. I wanted to help, but I lived 2,000 miles away. I would send a donation every few years and would occasionally go to local shelters to walk a dog or pet a cat, but I didn't feel there was much more I could do. But then I received an email in April 2010 that would change my life.
 I opened my email one afternoon and there was a message from a friend with a picture of a chocolate lab named Wade that was going to be euthanized at 4:00 pm if there wasn't a rescue or foster lined up. It was 1:00 pm already. I had no idea how old Wade was, if he was healthy or not, or even what state he was in. But I took one look at him and I HAD to help. I replied to the message and said I would foster him. I would figure out the details later, which included breaking the news to my husband. For the next two excruciating hours I messaged back and forth with my friend. Finally, at 3:30, I got a message that Wade had been picked up by a rescue group from the shelter in Georgia, and would be transported to my house in a few weeks. I literally burst into tears I was so happy! Even though it seemed like an eternity at the time, in just a few short hours I had helped save a dogs life literally moments before he was to be gassed to death. Right after I texted my husband with a picture of our new foster dog and reassured him we REALLY weren't going to keep him, I posted a picture of Wade on my Facebook page with a note that said, "Here's our new foster dog! He'll be here in a few weeks and is looking for his new fur-ever home."



 Within minutes people started commenting about how cute he was, was he really my foster dog, how could they get more info about him and who would they need to contact about adopting him. I answered each question immediately, and to make a long story short, within a few short days, Wade was adopted before he even got here! Something that I was positive would not have happened as quickly without Facebook.
 With Wade adopted before he even arrived, I had space for a foster dog still. I agreed to foster a yellow lab from the same shelter, and he was going to be coming up on the same transport as Wade. So again, I posted a picture and note about my new foster dog named River on Facebook. Again, in just a few days, River was adopted from someone I knew on Facebook. So again, with space for a foster, I went onto the Facebook page of Have a Heart, the rescue group I had started working with, to find another foster dog. I found a black lab, agreed to foster her, posted it on Facebook, and again, another dog was adopted. All three dogs I had posted on Facebook in one month had been adopted almost immediately! I couldn't believe it.
 Animal rescue groups are turning to social media more and more to get the word out about pet adoption. NAID Charities is a new virtual animal rescue sight. The idea behind it is to build a data base consisting of current pet owners, specific demographics, animal bloggers, tweeters, etc. in the hopes of reaching people who have a higher potential to adopt. The data base will grow and include more potential adopters the more it is used and shows up in other search engines.

NAIDCharities is a ‘virtual animal rescue’. We don’t keep any animals, we don’t feed any animals, and most times, we don’t even see any animals. But we’re making a big difference anyway. Just being invisible.
We are a non-profit organization that helps abandoned animal placement services find homes for pets faster. How? Well, it’s all about social networking. We tell more people about the pet than would have ever known with traditional methods. And not just any home will do - we work to find the right type of owner with a little extra homework behind the scenes.

Pedigree dog food started a non-profit organization to increase pet adoptions. The company uses it's commercials to advertise its product, but also to encourage people to adopt by using shelter dogs as the stars of the ads.

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Pedigree's website has links to twitter, facebook and places to volunteer. The site also has the amount of money donated so far this year along with the comapnies goal, how to pick the perfect breed of dog for your family, training for puppies, and other advice for current and potential dog owners. Obviously Pedigree is using its site to advertise its product as well, too. Listed under the "Really Good Food' tab are all possible types of dog food, all Pedigree of course. But the company is using its brand to draw people's attention to an important cause. People have found the commercials to be so touching, there are countless numbers on YouTube. And not only can you watch a commercial you liked again, there are follow up videos of some of the successful adoptions.

 Social Media has truely begun to impact almost every part of our society. We can not only reconnect with old friends on Facebook or follow celebrities on Twitter, but we can save the lives of pets we otherwise would'nt have even known about. My hope is that some day shelters will be a thing of the past. That there can be more 'virtual rescues' or rescues without walls because more people will have access to how to help and adopt. Thousands of dogs are euthanized every day because shelters are overcrowded and not enough pets are being adopted. With the help of social media, those numbers have the potential to change. The number of adoptions can increase as people have access to more available pets, which will decrease the number of pets euthanized every day in our country. In the meantime, check social media sites for pets available for adoption, and PLEASE spay and neuter your pets!




sources: http://jason-fayling.blogspot.com/2010/07/naidcharities-virtual-animal-rescue.html, http://naidcharities.org/, http://www.haveaheartfl.org/, http://www.pedigree.com/03adoption/