COVID-19 Resources: Communications

Communication is key to any organization’s success especially in times of uncertainty. Internal communication with staff and volunteers is crucial to mitigating disruption in your lifesaving. Likewise, external communication with your community about animals in your care and their own pets will be a lifeline for your organization.  

The resources on this page will assist in communicating with your community about the animals in your care and theirs.  

Communicating with Your Community

Tips for Pet Owners in Your Community

Communicating with your Community  

Communicating with your community is one of the most important tenets of your operational SOP. You need extra community support right now, but they can’t give it to you if they don’t know what your organization needs. It’s as much about your community supporting you as it is about you supporting your community.  

Be proactive and open a steam of continual communication via social media, email, signage, press releases, or TV/radio spots. Do it now and do it often. In every communication, here are 3 things to include: 

• Facility status/open hours 
• A specific Call to Action (CTA) for the community 
• Contact information for individuals to act on or learn more about the CTA. Keep in mind that simply requesting a direct message on social media is often easiest for your followers. 

VIDEOS, WEBINARS, & PODCAST

• Ask the Expert- Should we keep a lighthearted tone or strike a more serious tone in our communications?

DOWNLOADABLE PDFs, PLAYBOOKS, & SOPs

• Best Friends Shelter in Place Shelter Guidance 
• Maddie's Fund - Communicating urgency without negativity in emergency fostering 

PARTNER EXAMPLES

• Best Friends 
  • Coalition press release from Houston area 
• Gateway Pet Guardians: sample press release to recruit temporary fosters 
• HeARTs Speak 
  • Communications & Marketing Guide For Shelters, Amid COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Response: Marketing & Communications Graphics 

READY TO GO TEMPLATES

• Press release template on communicating about COVID-19 and pets 

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Tips for Pet Owners in Your Community  

Here are resources to share with your community about Covid-19 and their pets.  

COVID-19 Updates from the Best Friends Blog: 

• March 19: Animal advocacy and essential services during COVID-19 
• March 16: Animal welfare: Doing what we do best
• March 23: Shelter-in-place orders are beginning to ensure continued care for animals 

DOWNLOADABLE PDFs, PLAYBOOKS, & SOPs

• Michelson Found Animals- "So you found a lost pet" infographic

READY TO GO TEMPLATES

• Emergency Pet Care Authorization

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & INFORMATION

• Best Friends Animal Society Resources website 
• If you are a pet owner that needs help, click here. 
• If you are interested in learning how you can help, click here.  
• Best Friends Animal Society- Your COVID-19 Pet Preparedness Plan
• Best Friends Vet Access code for a free 30 days 
• Best Friends - Cats and COVID-19
• AVMA - SARS-CoV-2 in animals, including pets
• Gimme Shelter Blog - Guidance for caretakers for pets of COVID-19 positive patients
• Rehome - Rehoming your pet should be easy and stress free both for you and your pet. Our experts at Adopt-a-Pet.com, the largest non-profit pet adoption website, with support from The Petco Foundation, have created a simple, reliable, free program to help you place your pet from your loving home directly to another.
• 911 Foster Pets - At 911fosterpets.com our mission is to find foster or forever homes for the millions of homeless pets that enter rescues and shelters every year. Become a foster hero to a pet in need.
• Greater Good - stayhomeandfoster.org - easy way for public to foster pets.
• Petcademy - Petcademy is an online learning platform that offers free courses to new adopters and foster parents of both dogs and cats. By leveraging our community of trainers and experienced animal rescuers, Petcademy provides fosters and adopters with the resources necessary for the animals to successfully transition into their home.
• Finding Rover - Pet Facial Recognition. With Facial Recognition Pets Find Their Home Register your pets today and protect them if they ever get lost! It's Free!
• HelpingLostPets.com - Helping Lost Pets is FREE to use and when you list a pet as Lost or Found, our members in your area are alerted. We also partner with many amazing volunteer groups across the country that will share your listing on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
• Pet FBI - The Free Information Center For Lost and Found Dogs, Cats and All Other Pets Search Pet FBI’s big, user-friendly database!
• Home to Home - Keeping animals out of shelters through direct home placement.

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