I lied...

[bunn]

OK, I said I would shut up about the OC.  I lied.  :-p

We're thinking of doing a special promotion campaign aimed at converting the heathen dogfree.  At the moment we have rather a lot of dogs (and not a few cats, actually) on the books that need to be only pets.  Usually they are animals that don't really get on too well with other dogs - OK out on a walk, but not so good at close quarters longterm. All of them, looking for homes that have no other pets (or possibly, only small caged pets or birds or something contained).  

This is difficult. People who already have pets are proven soft touches and can often be convinced to add another one. But people without pets - ah.  They are a mystery to us.   Where do they go?  Why do they not already have pets?   How do we talk them out of buying a puppy from the local paper*?

Now admittedly most of them will not have pets because they can't for some reason or just don't want to, which is fair enough.  But somewhere, there must be a pool of prospective dog owners that don't have dogs.   There is no point advertising, as we normally do, in pet shops and vets and so on, because why would they be in there?

So I'm thinking, libraries, supermarkets, post offices?  Schools maybe?  Any cunning ideas out there from non-petowning people?


* like the lovely colleague of philmophlegm's who was telling us all about her bulldog, how she had bought it relatively cheaply as a pup, but it had proved to have an amazing list of incredibly expensive ailments that ate up all her bonuses for years. 

Comments

[king-pellinor.livejournal.com]

To be slightly callous, perhaps - pet cemeteries? People who've just lost their dog and might like to have another, but don't want to take on a bouncy little puppy that needs training and energetic walking and so on.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Would vets allow you to put some leaflets out / posters up?

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd say schools/ children's libraries/ creches/ toddler groups/ child activity places in general might be worth looking into. A lot of people, it seems to me, like the idea of getting a pet once their baby is a bit older so the kid gets used to the idea of looking after someone else etc. I imagine the main issues with this might be that (a) these people do not necessarily know the ramifications of taking on a pet in real terms and thus might not be the best owners, and (b) I also imagine that at least some of your dogs/cats also need to be in homes that don't have lively young children in.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

The breeders hoping to sell those expensive puppies to non-dog owners will be advertising in classified ads - local papers, Loot etc. Advertise next to them? If you speak to the publication and play up the charitable aspect, they might offer you discounted rates on slow advertising days.

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

My mother was turned down by a number of dog-re-homing organisations (I don't know which ones) because she didn't tick all their boxes about being a suitable owner. The primary box that she didn't tick was being able to walk the dog. She has double-scoliosis (twisted spine) and has difficulty walking, because of this she has an off-road golf-buggy. This means that she can actually walk the dog quite well.

Eventually she found somebody who thought a bit outside the box. OK, they weren't certified (or whatever) that most of the dog-re-homing organisations are, but she managed to match up a dog that wouldn't otherwise have got a home with somebody who otherwise wouldn't have got a do.

The dog was an seven year old, un-spayed bitch, border-colly cross whippet. She had lived in a town for all her life and was very nervous. It took her three months to readjust to her new home in the country. She didn't like new people, she didn't like being left. We think the latter was because she thought that she was losing her people again. Unfortunately even after almost three years she still has to be taken for a walk on the lead if mum isn't there as she will get so far and head for home.

Anyway, mum found her through an advert in the local paper.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

What about leisure centres and gyms, focusing on the fitness benefits of going on walks every day?* Singles clubs etc, focusing on the opportunities dog-walking offers to meet up with fellow dog-walkers and get chatting? **

* Though "Fed up with expensive gym fees? Get a dog and take exercise for free!" might not go down very well with the gym owners.

** "Too boring to get a date? Get a dog. At least somebody will love you." "A dog: a ready-made topic of conversation when you meet hot girls."

[purplecat]

We have at least two friends who have become dog owners on concluding (erroneously in one case) that they were unable to have children. I'm not quite sure how you would target such people (though Doctors' surgeries are probably a good idea) and a poster which states "can't have children? why not foster a dog?" leaves much to be desired on the tact front.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

"proved to have an amazing list of incredibly expensive ailments" -- don't all pets?? As a non-pet-owner, one of the things I have made a mental note about from all you pet-owners out there is how expensive the bloody things are -- I seem to remember you spending what struck me as a fortune on your rabbit recently! (I remember thinking at the time, bloody hell, is it compulsory to stump up, or are you allowed to have them euthanised if you don't consider that Bunny is worth the spondulicks?)

Yours callously,

Neuromancer :-)

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

How about that local paper? Get in there before all the staffie breeders.

I agree it is a mystery why some people don't have animals. What do they do all day? Crazy.