Putting the sales into the work of the soul!

The No More Homeless Pets Conference presented by Best Friends Animal Society is quickly approaching, and there’s one beloved speaker that everyone clamors to meet -Mike Arms. A pioneer in the rescue community (does Home 4 the Holidays ring any bells?), Mike’s been making strides for the animals for quite awhile, and he’s looking forward to joining old and new pals this October in Las Vegas.

“I think I’ve been at every single one of the No More Homeless Pets Conferences since the beginning,” Mike chuckled, “and it’s always a pleasure meeting the grassroots people!”

It’s obvious from his non-stop commitment to helping the people that help the animals that he’s on one serious mission! Taking ACES on the road across New Zealand and beyond, he knows what it’s like to be faced with a daunting task of helping homeless pets and he’s sharing what he’s learned globally.

“Here I was half way across the world, and I saw wonderful young people who worked in shelters and I heard how they wanted to save lives, not take lives! These beautiful 20 year olds come to work in Animal Control because they want to make a difference. The first few days they’re cleaning and scrubbing, and they see the welcoming puppy face, and their pain subsides, the hard work is worth it. Then they’re having lunch - if they can afford it, and that little face keeps them motivated to come back. But by day 4 they go to see their little guy, and his time is up. He’s looking at them, tail is wagging and…My heart goes out to these young people that didn’t go into rescue work to kill animals,” Mike explained about why it’s so important for him to get out into the communities around the world and “Teach the Business of Saving Lives”!

“The #1 killer of dogs is mankind, not parvo or distemper! It’s our responsibility to change that. We need to rethink the whole thing – the industry standards at this point are out of time and out of touch! A place that lowers their adoption fees is just lowering the value of that animal. Our society is breeding the animals to meet the demands. Only 20% of family pets come from shelters, that means that 80% are coming from backyard breeders! We’re not advertising properly and only 5% of the public will go to a shelter. The amount of people that adopt is miniscule, this industry needs an overhaul!”

Mike relayed that the stigma of the shelter or the pound is another great reason to get rid of them! He illuminates this statement with other analogies: old age homes are now senior centers; garbage collection segued to waste management, and just try to find an orphanage! Yes, perception is key, and where there once was a dog pound, we now need an Adoption Center!

“We keep telling the public that if you want an inferior animal – you get them at the shelter. We’re driving the business to the breeders! Society spends multimillion dollars a year on advertising, from televisions to radios to cars; we have learned that if you don’t advertise, you’ll go out of business. But animal welfare isn’t advertising, and isn’t using the media. If there’s a mauling, and then it’s covered on TV, what’s the last thing a person sees? The dog being taken to the shelter, that’s what people then associate with what the animals are like in the shelter.”

“Animal welfare also does not invest in the continuing education on customer service! We’re not training our shelter staff on how to engage the public properly! Here at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, we send our management staff out to the mall. We don’t have a big budget for all kinds of training and R&D, but this is a quick way to take advantage of all the big budgets that successful businesses have – we send our staff into the field and they learn where they are treated the best! Which store has the most customers? Who’s doing really well and why? They bring back with them the best practices in customer service from the most profitable stores in the world!”

A-ha! Running a shelter as a big business only makes sense, because it’s not just advertising some new product, and letting people know what you’re doing, it’s also a counter balance to all the negative notions that fill a person’s perception! And customer service, that should be a no-brainer

“We further change perceptions by bringing in a wider audience with our Home 4 the Holidays NASCAR truck. 80% of NASCAR fans are pet owners, so we’re reaching a bigger audience. We’ve got to keep being creative.”

He relayed how when Home 4 the Holidays first began, the program was frowned upon. Many shelters were closed during the holidays to try and thwart impulse adoptions and the idea to do a major adoption event totally bucked conventional thinking.

“By being closed during the holidays, what did the rescue community do? They sent people straight into pet stores! Here we are trying to educate people about puppy mills and we’re driving the business straight to them. If we’re going to stop them, we’re going to have to take their sales away – we need to control the inventory of animals going into homes.

Animals deserve our best, not one animal needs me to play with them, but they need me to use my intelligence to get that animal into a loving home!”

This isn’t your father’s animal welfare advocate talking! To learn from the masters in animal advocacy and rescue you’ll want to get to the No More Homeless Pets Conference!

What Are You Waiting For?

What: No More Homeless Pets Conference, 2008

Where: Alexis Park Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

When: October 24 – 26, 2008
Special rate available, while rooms last, until September 23, 2008!

Click here to register for the No More Homeless Pets Conference.

To check out more info on the conference, the speakers and connect with your colleagues in the movement, click here to join the Conference Community on the Best Friends Network.

by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends staff
image courtesy of Helen Woodward Animal Center

---

---