“We’re absolutely thrilled to be introducing the newest class of social media mavens with these shelter cats and dogs,” said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. “The goal of The Shelter Pet Project has always been to excite and inspire people to go out to adopt one of the millions of shelter pets who need our help to find homes. Who better to tell that story than the pets themselves?”

“The combination of playfulness and technology puts the spotlight on shelter pets in a new way,” said, Amy Zeifang, Maddie’s Fund Executive Leadership Team. “This innovative concept literally gives pets the ability to create social media adoption messages, and will inspire animal lovers to share them with their family members and friends to help get more pets adopted.”

Following the launch of the first post on April 30, The Shelter Pet Project will continue to roll out new ads for the Social Paws campaign throughout the spring and summer, released on various social media holidays throughout 2017. These holidays include National Space Day, National Odometer Day, National Buy a Musical Instrument Day, National Donut Day, National Best Friend’s Day, Eat Your Beans Day, National Moon Day and Hug Your Boss Day.

The Shelter Pet Project also partnered with GIPHY, who are launching custom frames and filters to be featured in its GIPHY Cam app, as well as GIPHY Studios, who have created custom GIFs to support the adoption of shelter pets. This collaboration will allow pet lovers to show their support by creating their own GIFs, using photos of their pets with the GIPHY Cam filters, to spread the adoption message through text and social media.

“Millions of healthy, loving cats and dogs enter shelters each year, at the same time that millions of people plan to get a new pet,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. “We hope the innovative efforts of these shelter pets will inspire people nationwide to visit their local shelters and rescue groups to find the perfect companions for their families.”

Since The HSUS and Maddie’s Fund joined with the Ad Council to create The Shelter Pet Project in 2009, the campaign has worked to make shelters and rescue groups the overwhelmingly obvious choice for those looking to obtain a pet. To date, this message has inspired more than $329 million in donated media. In 2016, The Shelter Pet Project asked everyone to “Start a Story. Adopt.” with some help from fashion icon Toast Meets World, globally-recognized pianist Keyboard Cat and party animal Hamilton Pug.

“It all started with the crazy idea to let the shelter pets be the community managers of The Shelter Pet Project social media pages,” said Florent Imbert, Executive Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson New York. “We decided to create an interactive lab to let the pets express themselves. Because when you think about it, no one will be better at creating cute posts to convince people to adopt more shelter pets.”

Prospective pet owners are encouraged to visit TheShelterPetProject.org, where they can search available pets by zip code, read adoption success stories and learn valuable information about pet adoption. For daily updates, follow The Shelter Pet Project via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Individuals can also use the hashtag #StartAStoryAdopt to share a story about how their adopted pets changed their lives for the better.

For more information, please visit www.TheShelterPetProject.org.

About the Shelter Pet Project
The Shelter Pet Project is the first national PSA campaign created to bring together large animal welfare organizations, The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund, and shelters across the country for one unified goal – to increase pet adoption. Along with the Ad Council, these partners aim to break down stereotypes associated with shelter pets and make shelters and rescue groups the overwhelmingly obvious choice for obtaining a pet.

About Ad Council
The Ad Council is a nonprofit organization with a rich history of marshaling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver crucial messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit AdCouncil.org, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or view our PSAs on YouTube.

About The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization, rated most effective by our peers. For more than 60 years, we have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. We are the nation’s largest provider of hands-on services for animals, caring for more than 100,000 animals each year, and we prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns. Read about our more than 60 years of transformational change for animals and people: HumaneSociety.org

About Maddie’s Fund
Maddie’s Fund is a family foundation created in 1994 by Workday^® co-founder Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl, who have endowed the Foundation with more than $300 million. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $187.8 million in grants toward increased community lifesaving, shelter medicine education, and pet adoptions across the U.S. The Duffields named Maddie’s Fund after their Miniature Schnauzer Maddie, who always made them laugh and gave them much joy. Maddie was with Dave and Cheryl from 1987 - 1997 and continues to inspire them today. Maddie’s Fund is the fulfillment of a promise to an inspirational dog, investing its resources to create a no-kill nation where every dog and cat is guaranteed a healthy home or habitat. #ThanksToMaddie. Learn more at www.maddiesfund.org.

Press Contacts:
Ben Dorf
Ad Council
[email protected]
212-984-1991

Melissa Rodriguez
Coyne PR
[email protected]
973-588-2000