Please vote for my 'Rehome-Recycle' project

Hi

I like quite a few other animal rescues have applied for funding to the Nat West Community Force scheme. For those who have not heard of it it is a scheme open to all charities / not for profit groups who are asked to submit an aplication which can then be voted for by the community.

The projects with the most votes in different areas across the country are awarded £6000 for their project.

Voting opens Monday 26th September and is open until 23rd October, you can vote from any area for any area - although mine will be nationwide.

I have posted info of my project below (and there are a couple of videos on the Nat West website)- and I would love you all to vote for it. - it is not raising funds for Solo Sanctuary - the funding is for the project which will be used to promote all types of rescues - dog, cats, small animals - the aim is to promote adoption itself!

More people are choosing to live their lives with greater awareness for the impact they have on our planet. From purchasing organic food and ecologically friendly products to forgoing plastic bags at the grocery story, attempts to be environmentally friendly are everywhere. It is time to translate this movement of recycling to the animal world.

This project will build on this new trend and promote adopting, or “recycling,” dogs, cats and small animals from rescues, instead of buying them from pet stores or the Internet.

It will take forward the message that due to overbreeding there is a surplus of animals looking for new homes and encourage people to rescue and recycle rather than buy ‘new’.


And it will promote a change in the language and concept of animal rescue, to encourage people to understand that we are not pet owners we are pet guardians. Pets are not personal property to be dumped when it suits but living creatures, they are companions in life.


In order to make people aware that adoption can be a good option, challenges needed to be met. One of the biggest challenges is to clear up misconceptions about rescues and the quality and character of their inhabitants. In relation to dogs, they are thought of as damaged dogs. Mean dogs. Biters. Ugly dogs. Someone else’s problem. These stereotypes keep people out of rescues and consequently, particularly in relation to dogs, when rescue spaces cannot be found for dogs waiting in the pound, euthanasia is kept at a high rate. The same perceptions are applied to other animals; cats, rabbits etc


Animals, particularly dogs are viewed as status symbols. We are not just talking of the youths in hoodies with their bull breed dogs which are used to make themselves appear ‘tough’. Dog status is also a middle / upper class issue. The more money the dog costs, the higher the status the owner feels they gain when mentioning the hefty price and prestigious pedigree. Those who adopt dogs from rescues are often seen as financially and socially underprivileged.


Times to change! Let’s switch the roles.


In the past, adopters didn’t really advertise the genesis of their adopted rescue dog. Nowadays, adoptive parents with rescue dogs should shout it from the roof tops, and happily share their dogs’ adoption stories. The stigma should be in buying a pet.

When something becomes trendy in our culture, it is often called “the new black,” a catchphrase used to indicate the sudden popularity of an idea as the new “in” thing. So let’s make adoption the new black and make it a trend that is here to stay.

To achieve this, the project will develop and deliver talks and displays for adults that will take the idea of rescue adoption into the community. Its aim will be to break down mis-conceptions and stereotypes of rescues and rescue animals, to provide information as to where to go to adopt in the local area, and to encourage adoption no matter what the type, breed or age of animal they are interested in.

Sometimes people will buy a pet rather than adopt a rescue animal as they do not know where to go, it is just easier to do so, or they are wary, suspicious, or simply ‘put off’ approaching rescues for a number of reasons. The project aims to take the rescues to them – not literally – but as a product, a concept they can buy into, that is clearly there for them to engage with and one that makes them see that adopting an animal is not just good for the animal, but good for the community and the planet.

It is more public awareness, more public curiosity, more public support, interest and connection with the rescue community that will increase foot traffic at the rescues, and more adoptions.


Let’s make the rescue animal, thought of as ‘inferior’, the ‘superior’ - the hot ticket, the must have.


After all;
“You go out of your way to recycle a can. Why wouldn’t you go out of your way to recycle a life out of a rescue?”



(With acknowledgement to an article written by Kyra Kirkwood 2009, ‘ADOPTION IS THE NEW BLACK’)[size=12]

Please vote for this project by visiting http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/3581 - Voting opens on Monday 26th September 2011

Please, please vote for me - If you have any questions please ask.


Please also feel free to cross post to other websites / forums, facebook, twitter etc.