Can senior pets and pets with health challenges get adopted? You bet!

Do you want to raise more money, adopt more animals and recruit more volunteers for your shelter or rescue group? Ditch the depressing ads about suffering pets and animal abuse and go positive.

When “TODAY Show” anchor Natalie Morales first met shelter pup Zara on the set a year and a half ago, she fell in love. That’s why when the popular morning show partnered with the Ad Council for a week-long series focused on causes the anchors believe in, she picked shelter pet adoption.

You’ve got the cute kittens. You’ve got the great stories. How do you get the media to pay attention?

When it comes to getting shelter pets adopted, the photo tells the story. And in this slideshow of before and after images of pets awaiting adoption, it’s plain to see what a huge difference a good photo can make.

At Maddie’s Fund®, we believe that healthy and treatable pets – dogs and cats with health or behavioral conditions that could, with reasonable care, recover or maintain a good quality of life – should be saved.

You dutifully update your Petfinder listings and your shelter or rescue group’s Facebook page. You hold adoption events, and run creative ads. Still, your adoption rates seem to have a hit a plateau. What’s left to try?

It’s a matter of faith that spay/neuter programs will lead to reduced shelter intake and a higher rate of lifesaving in a community. A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science suggests that’s not always the case.

Will adopters in your community provide medical care for their adopted pets? Where do they draw the line – daily injections? Medication? Surgery? And can shelters and rescue groups find more homes for pets with treatable and manageable health conditions by knowing the answers to those questions?