ARTICLE
Singapore's largest adoption drive sees milestone figures in adoption enquiries!
By InCinemas / 20 Feb 2012 (Monday)
Organised by: National Geographic Channel
Efforts by dog shelters at the two-day National Geographic Channel Free Pet Shop paid off when the number of genuine adopters reached new highs, with close to 200 follow-ups to be conducted after this weekend. With visitors reaching close to 8,500 over two days, shelters participating in Singapore’s largest dog adoption drive reported that the number of potential adopters that have shown genuine interest soared four-fold, a figure relatively unheard of by the shelters’ independent efforts.
Commented Ms. Christine Bernadette, a long term volunteer at the Animal Lovers League, “We are very pleased with the number of people that have expressed interest over the past two days. The event has seen people who are genuinely more interested and committed to dog adoption than what we usually see at our other events. People at this event generally come here for the right reasons. We want to thank all interested dog adopters for choosing to adopt a pet instead of buying one.”
The first-of-its-kind event saw four independent animal shelters – Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), Animal Lovers League (ALL), Noah’s Ark Cares and Gentle Paws – participating in a concerted effort to further the dog adoption cause in Singapore, an occasion locals have never seen before.
One interested adopter, Mr Addy Goh, 40 who works as a designer, said, “My wife and I came to an agreement not to have children now, which allows us to consider having a dog at home. We chanced upon Mandy and Lele from one of the animal shelters, Noah’s Ark, and are definitely going to try to adopt either one of them. This is our way of providing a dog a second chance of a loving home.”
Comprehensive follow-ups from the various shelters will be conducted over the two days to next two weeks to ensure that potential adopters and their families are ready and committed to bringing a dog home. This includes understanding their backgrounds, shelter visits, home visits, home stays and eventually signing the adoption agreement and processing adoption fees to cover vaccination, sterilisation and applying for a dog license.
However, despite the vast increase in the number of people interested in taking the dog adoption process to the next level, there were some shelters that remained cautious.
Explained Ms. Wanying Loh, volunteer at animal shelter Gentle Paws, “By our experience, the number of successful adoptions are usually one to two out of 10 who initially showed interest. By our prompt follow-ups, we hope to encourage them to commit to their decision.”
(Like and share the National Geographic Channel Free Pet Shop Facebook page here!)
Ms. Tang’s sentiments were echoed by Ms. MaryAnne Lee of Animal Lovers League, “We usually lose close to 50% of the number of interested dog adopters. However, this event is different from the adoption drives and road-shows that we usually initiate as several interested adopters even came back a second time with their families or their own dogs to ensure that all factors were suitable. We are optimistic that our dogs will find a new home.”
The high attendance numbers this weekend were accompanied by increased public awareness and interest in adoption. Adding to the weekend crowd were also 400 other dogs that dog owners have brought along with them, with happy dogs going on runs along the beach and others swimming in the sea.
Mr. Avi Himatsinghani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox International Channels and National Geographic Channel said, “Our unique position as a media channel allowed the National Geographic Channel Free Pet Shop to reach out to many more people beyond just animal lovers. The attendance over these two days was extremely encouraging for the animal shelters and our partners, and to us as more people are made aware of the efforts put into re-homing and saving the lives of these dogs.”
(Click the link below to check out the photos from Day 1 of the event!)