Filmmaker Launches Effort to Increase the Rate of Adoptions at Animal Shelters

July 25, 2012 - PRLog -- One of the most innovative city animal shelters in the country is not located in some non-descript municipal building on the edge of town. It’s located inside the biggest indoor mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico—right next to retail heavyweights like Sephora, The Gap, Victoria’s Secret, and Macy’s. Lucky Paws Adoption Center is run by the City of Albuquerque, but with its bright colors and customer-friendly signage, the shelter looks more like something dreamed up by a retail expert than a typical animal shelter. Actress and filmmaker Jessi Badami was so surprised when she first visited Lucky Paws that it inspired her to create a documentary about how they achieve their success.

“When I first saw Lucky Paws I thought it was a pet store and my heart sank. We need more people adopting pets instead of buying them,” says Ms. Badami. “But then when I got closer I saw the words “City of Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department” etched on the window and I realized that this was a city shelter.”

Impressed by the accomplishments of Lucky Paws, Ms. Badami has embarked on an effort to raise money through the popular crowdfunding site, Kickstarter.com, to produce a feature-length documentary that will not only be an entertaining and positive story about how Lucky Paws connects people and pets, but will serve as a blueprint that will help other shelters and rescue groups around the country improve their adoption rates using the techniques that Lucky Paws pioneered. With much of the crew donating services, the filmmakers need to raise $57,000 by August 19, 2012 to produce the film and are seeking individual donations as well as corporate sponsorships. More info can be found at the Kickstarter project website: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1903261906/mall-dogs-the-documentary

Ms. Badami sees the documentary as the first step in increasing the rate of adoptions at animal shelters. “If we can get the best-practices of Lucky Paws out to other shelters around the country, it could mean that thousands more pets get adopted instead of killed every year.”

According to the Humane Society of the United States just 21% of pets are adopted from animal shelters. Animal shelter experts believe that by generating greater awareness, increased public education, and creating a more positive experience at the shelters, they can increase that rate substantially.

About the Mall Dogs Project

Actress, filmmaker, and animal welfare advocate, Jessi Badami, began the Mall Dogs project in 2011 and is currently fundraising for the production of a feature-length documentary film scheduled for completion in Spring 2013. Interested parties, individual donors, and corporate sponsors can learn more at the project’s Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1903261906/mall-dogs-...