The NAPRP Blog

Apr 3

Written by: NAPRP Admin
4/3/2009 2:29 AM

Every year around the holidays you have an educational opportunity. Next up is Easter, which is a case in point. For reasons I certainly don't understand, people still give kids bunnies, chicks, and ducklings as Easter presents. Statistically, within the first few weeks after Easter, 30% of the pets are dead and another 60-70% have been abandoned or left at shelters.

You may be thinking, "oh everyone knows that" and we don't want to run that same old press release again. But you'd be wrong. If everyone really DID "know that," we wouldn't be getting all those bunnies dropped off at the back door every spring.

There's an old adage in marketing that you should never get tired of your own message. This concept is true in the non-profit world as well. As long as people continue to behave irresponsibly about pets and pet care, you need to keep putting out educational messages. Unfortunately, it may require an incredible amount of patience on our part to keep saying these things, even when we're sick of hearing ourselves say it!

The good news is that if you look around, some groups have had great success in getting their message out and saved lives in the process. For example, it's now considered reprehensible for people to get behind the wheel while drinking. Smoking in places where it is banned is also completely unacceptable. It doesn't mean people don't do it anymore, but it's definitely not socially acceptable. That's progress, since in both cases, it used to be that you were just a "whiner" or "uncool" if you said anything.

It may take time, but continuing to spread the word does make a difference. As always, thank you for all you do to help the animals ;-)

 

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