'Adopt Me' Jackets Saving Man's Best Friend

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Story Published: May 17, 2009 at 5:53 PM PST

By Sade Malloy

Ellensburg -- Advertising has literally gone to the dogs at the Ellensburg Animal Shelter but no one is complaining.

Pets at the Ellensburg Animal Shelter have an average of 10 days to capture the heart of a potential owner. Like most shelters, space is at a premium, leading to animals being "put down". The number is not pleasant in 2005, 70% of the shelter's animals didn't make it. But that's now changed. "It's no longer an unhappy place, it's more of a happy place to come visit and look at the dogs," says Anneliese Childress, shelter volunteer.

Now the animals that live are in the majority, only 2% are being "put down". Shelter workers attribute the change to 50 hard working volunteers and their new advertising technique.

They're called 'adopt me' jackets and the dogs where them everytime they go out for a walk brightly colored vests that advertise these dogs need a home. "We came to the conclusion that people didn't know if they were our dogs that we were walking or anybody's dog," says Anneliese Childress, shelter volunteer.

They put an end to the confusion with the 'adopt me' jackets and have turned the animals into a hot commodity. "I saw one about a
month-and a-half ago and I just thought that was too cool," says Helene Boitano, looking for dog.

Cool and eye catching. People even follow their volunteers back to the shelter to ask about certain dogs. Shelter workers say it's a gratifying knowing hard work and some creative thinking can save so many animals.

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