Animal Welfare Professionals

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So we all know the sadness and broken feelings that come when you post an available dog or cat that ends up being euthanized in the shelter. Our director goes above and beyond to prevent this but sometimes medical issues just win the battle. Normally when a dog is adopted I edit the post to say ADOPTED however, Im torn on the ones that dont make it due to medical reasoning. I believe in transparency and education of the public 100% but wondered what other shelters and rescues do to soften the blow without causing crowds with pitchforks coming at you.

#MarketingandSocialMedia

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Our website only shows animals that are listed as available so when they are adopted or whatever it may be where they aren't available anymore, they just get taken off the website. We almost never say "this animal's been adopted" or "this animal is no longer available for adoption" even if it was previously posted on social media that they were available.

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Laurel Wilton
Feline Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society
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We almost never make public announcements of euthanasias, even in high-profile cases or stories that have been in the news. If it's a medical case that we've been fundraising for, then we may make an exception. Online discussions on euthanasia are not usually productive and if you're not careful in your initial explanation, you can quickly lose control of a narrative. If you find that you need to mention or talk about euthanasia, you can talk about prevention of fatal diseases and illness, the importance of fostering medical cases, or how your community can be involved with fundraising for animals who may face similar issues. Our socials aren't exclusively used for adoption promotion (nor does it only feature available animals) and our website only features pets that are available. I think having diversified content has also helped us tremendously in being able to navigate these tougher conversations.

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Aliyah Moore
Digital Media Specialist
Humane Society of St. Lucie County
FL
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

So we are not able to delete our Facebook posts (policy) so we simply put "unavailable" on them. 

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That is a tough one.  We are are a farm & exotic animal sanctuary but we do adopt out bunnies, guinea pigs etc. We tend to wait on listing an animal for adoption if they come in with a medical issue but sometimes an issue sneaks up on you. I think being transparent is important but agree with the others that it can be tricky on social media. Having a variety of content on your social media page, I think, helps. Having regular posts/conversations with your followers regarding medical conditions that you have dealt with in new intakes, reminding them that with strays you never really know their background or past. Maybe update your posts if possible stating the animal's medical issue and that adoption is on hold. 

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Lisa Burn
Co-founder/VP
Farmhouse Animal & Nature Sanctuary
Myakka City, FL
https://farmhousesanctuary.org
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Our shelter usually does not make announcements regarding these situations, except in particular circumstances. The one example I can remember is when we were doing a special adoption event where the public could vote on a "Bark-chelor" (like the tv show The Bachelor.) The dog in 2nd place had to be euthanized due to health issues, so during our announcement video we named him the honorary winner. I linked the post below as an example. Like I said, it is not typical for us to post when these things happen, but there had been a sizeable push for his adoption right before his passing.

2025 Barkchelor Winner video

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Alex Ocampo
Client & Adoption Specialist Manager
Butler County Humane Society
Renfrew PA
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We post memorials for all animals who cross under our care, on FB/Insta, but nothing on an older post would get updated, and on the website, they would just be removed (although if they were having medical issues, they probably would have already been taken off of Adoptable status.)

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Mindy Getch
Treasurer
House of Dreams
OR
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