County Seeks To Increase Adoption Rates At Animal Control

By Hayley Gable
Just prior to 2011, a sign outside the County Animal Control facility on Veterans Highway in Millersville flaunted a 93% adoption rate.
The sign, however, was slightly misleading. According to a report released in December under the state’s Public Information Act, less than 38 percent of the approximately 8,500 animals taken to the Animal Control facility last year were spared their lives in some way – whether through being adopted, returned to their owners or otherwise being allowed to live.

After the publicized adoption statistics had gained statewide media attention, the sign at the Millersville facility was taken down and County Executive Leopold immediately went to work in an effort to raise the adoption rate.
“We reviewed everything that was being done and determined the best way to improve the adoption rate would be to make sure that people in the community are aware that there are always animals available at the shelter,” said David Abrams, a spokesperson for Leopold.
Whereas the county’s animal control office had previously relied on word of mouth and walk-ins, they have now turned their focus to more current methods of communication: Facebook, Twitter, a re-designed website, a 30-minute weekly televised show, and yes – all new signage outside the facility.
"No animal shelter is perfect, but we must strive to do everything we can to find loving homes for these animals,” said Leopold, who owns a Himalayan cat named Francois Rabelais, and a Labrador Retriever named Dora.
On January 21, the County officially announced a new outreach campaign to increase the adoption rate at Animal Control to 100 percent. As part of the marketing campaign, Animal Control received a redesigned website with improved navigation for easy access to photos, links, video, and basic information such as hours and directions. A weekly television show – “Pet of the Week” – would be dedicated to showcasing the available pets. The program can be viewed on the Animal Control website or throughout the week on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 38.
Additionally, social media will play a significant role in increasing the adoption rate. “The Facebook page was set up about three weeks ago, and we’re now approaching 650 fans. Once we upload a photo to our Facebook page, we literally have people calling saying they’d like to claim the animal before someone else does,” stated Abrams. “The amount of people who visit the facility with a specific animal in mind that they had seen on TV or on Facebook is increasing every day, so it’s definitely encouraging.”
Aside from increasing the adoption rate, the new campaign has an additional purpose: to raise awareness on spaying, neutering and licensing animals.
“No matter how good a job you do marketing animal control, the fact is there are too many animals being abandoned, resulting in a population that is quite large,” said Abrams. “Especially cats. If there are a couple of cats out hanging around and they’re not spayed or neutered, the next thing you know they’re everywhere; as it gets warmer Animal Control starts seeing box loads of kittens and cats.”
With the new campaign, Leopold is aiming to promote responsible pet ownership through spaying and neutering.
“The most important thing in improving this situation is that people are responsible, and in order for people to be responsible, they need to be aware,” added Abrams. “You can truly see the enthusiasm that people want to help these animals. Social media makes it much easier for them to pass the info along, and it has opened a dialogue that wasn’t there before on how to address certain problems.”