Home 4 The Holidays Pet Adoption Drive Saves Lives

by Steve Dale

Iams kicked off its annual Home 4 the Holidays campaign with Academy Award-winning actress Hillary Swank proclaiming how wonderful it is to adopt a pet. But Mike Arms, president and CEO of the Helen Woodward Animal Center, Rancho Santa Fe, CA, deserves his own Oscar for saving lives.

In 1999, Arms came up with an idea to promote local pet adoptions through the holiday season, and just over 2,500 pets were adopted in San Diego and nearby communities. This year, with nearly 3,000 participating animal welfare agencies participating (in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere), the mission is to find homes for 1.5 million animals!

Last year, just over 1.2 million pets found homes through the Home 4 the Holidays campaign from about Halloween through Dec. 31. "I was amazed myself (about breaking the million mark)," says Arms.

Before 1999, shelters were skeptical about pushing pet adoption during the holiday season. Conventional wisdom was that pets adopted around the holidays would only be given as gifts, and would likely be returned.

"For sure, we don't want animals returned," says Arms. "But the conventional wisdom was in reality an urban myth. The data actually shows that pets adopted at holiday time are even more likely to stay with families."

Arms' first challenge was to get shelters on board. Changing long-standing thinking is never easy and some shelters skeptical despite the success of the campaign. Early on, Arms enlisted Iams pet foods as campaign sponsor, and the company has been providing necessary resources ever since. Celebrity spokepeople like Diane Keaton, Felicity Huffman and Swank certainly help attract public attention.

"We're selling a commodity here," says Arms, who advises shelters around the world on how operate like businesses rather than a 'woe is us' non-profits.

"We love hamburgers, and they're marketed very successfully to the American pubic," adds Arms. "We love watching television, and look how flat screens have been marketed. We love pets, or at least we say we do, but we haven't been very successful at marketing these beautiful babies."

In fact, Arms wants shelters to stop using the term "shelter."

"We need to get going here; it's all about perception and terminology," says Arms. "Listen, we don't even call people who collect trash 'garbage men' anymore; they're 'waste disposal specialists.' Old folks homes no longer use the word 'old' in their names; they're assisted-living facilities. Shelters should be called animal villages, adoption centers or animal campuses."

Not only has Home 4 the Holidays saved the lives of many pets, it's also improved the lives of often-ridiculed animal control workers.

No-kill is a wonderful idea for shelters and communities to embrace. The problem is, many such shelters are filled. That leaves the municipal pound and its employees with the task of euthansia.

"Of course, these people love animals, too. They don't want to euthanize them," says Arms. "I see beautiful 20-year-old workers who look 40. No wonder people leave these jobs, and no wonder the suicide rate is so high for those who stay on."

Arms agrees with the importance of spay/neuter and making sure owners understand the commitment of maintaining pets for life. Still, the formula is simple: The more pets adopted, the fewer are euthanized.

This year, Home 4 the Holidays kicked off earlier than ever (Oct. 1). Could the campaign soon be expanded to cover the entire last quarter of every year and help even more pets find new families? Arms coyly answers, "You never know."

"Its not rocket science," says Arms of the drive. "The secret has been to communicate to the public, encouraging adoption as the right thing to do and a fun thing to do."

Learn more at www.home4theholidays.org.

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