I'm trying to think of ways to make the cats at the Humane Society Adopt-A-Pet events seem more inviting.
Our situation has limitations: we have no building, so we hold our events at a pet store/groomers. We need to keep the cats from running all over and either hiding in the back room or running out the front door, so we've been keeping them in their cat carriers. It's hard for people to see in the carriers, and the cats are not happy. We put some in a larger wire cage last time. It gave them more room and they were more visible, but it also made them look like they were in jail.
I worry that we are turning people off with the "institutional" look. Would dressing up the cages, like is done at cat shows, help? Or are people more inclined to want to adopt a poor waif in a plain cage?
I've been told by an aquiantance that she doesn't like the adoption events because she "hates to see all the poor kitties in tiny cages" and its "just too depressing". They are only in the carriers a few hours until they go back to their foster homes, but people don't know that.
So, how do we make it less depressing to adopt a cat? Any ideas?
P.S. Ideas already discarded: Tying cash to the cats. Buy a cat, get a toaster. Free disguise (for the cat) if you need to sneak it past a spouse who said you couldn't have another. :tounge2:
Our situation has limitations: we have no building, so we hold our events at a pet store/groomers. We need to keep the cats from running all over and either hiding in the back room or running out the front door, so we've been keeping them in their cat carriers. It's hard for people to see in the carriers, and the cats are not happy. We put some in a larger wire cage last time. It gave them more room and they were more visible, but it also made them look like they were in jail.
I worry that we are turning people off with the "institutional" look. Would dressing up the cages, like is done at cat shows, help? Or are people more inclined to want to adopt a poor waif in a plain cage?
I've been told by an aquiantance that she doesn't like the adoption events because she "hates to see all the poor kitties in tiny cages" and its "just too depressing". They are only in the carriers a few hours until they go back to their foster homes, but people don't know that.
So, how do we make it less depressing to adopt a cat? Any ideas?
P.S. Ideas already discarded: Tying cash to the cats. Buy a cat, get a toaster. Free disguise (for the cat) if you need to sneak it past a spouse who said you couldn't have another. :tounge2: