Shelter Pet Project

I've been seeing some commercials around about The Shelter Pet Project, a cooperation between the Ad Council, Humane Society, and Maddie's Fund to raise awareness about the importance of animal adoption. Here is some interesting information from their very cute website:

BACKGROUND:
According to The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund, of the eight million pets that enter animal shelters and rescue groups every year, approximately three million of these healthy and treatable pets are euthanized due to a lack of adoption. While there has been steady progress on the issue (in the 1970s approximately 24 million pets were euthanized), the continued euthanasia of our best friends and family members is a national tragedy.

Adopting a pet is a life-changing and enriching experience. When adopting a pet, people are obtaining companions that give them unconditional love, affection, and attention. Adopting a pet from a shelter not only saves an animal's life, but is also good for our own well-being as research shows that owning a pet has many positive psychological and physical health benefits. The animals rescued from shelters know you’ve saved their lives, and they typically treat their rescuers with lifelong loyalty and affection.

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES:
-To eliminate the stereotype that there’s something wrong with shelter pets.
-To make shelters the first choice and desired way for acquiring a companion animal, ultimately increasing the rate of animals adopted from shelters.
-To encourage people to visit www.theshelterpetproject.org, to find out more information about how to adopt a pet from a shelter. The website also includes a "Pet Personals" section, where users fill out a questionnaire and are then matched with potential pets from a local shelter or rescue group.

DID YOU KNOW?
-Each year approximately 4 million pets are adopted.
-Of the 8 million pets that enter animal shelters each year, approximately 3 million healthy and treatable pets are euthanized.
-It is estimated that 17 million people will acquire a pet within the next year.
-To save all the healthy and treatable pets that are euthanized, we just need 3 million of these people to adopt.
-In its 60 year history this is the first non-human focused issue that the Ad Council has worked on.