Call Topic: Community Insights for Pet Fostering
Guest Speaker: @Brandale Mills Cox, PhD, Founder & Principal, Inclusive Marketing Research Group
Despite the rise in pet fostering since 2020, according to the ASPCA, approximately 3.1 million dogs and 3.2 million cats enter animal shelters each year. Research published by the pet product retailer, Chewy, found pet fostering has increased by 17 percent over the past year, with 8 percent of U.S. households fostering pets (HumanePro, 2022). Other research has highlighted the increased intent for pet adoption (Adoption Barriers Study, 2016), which speaks to the existing interest that can be leveraged for pet fostering as well. These staggering numbers highlight the difficulty in creating strategic recruitment efforts that speak to the existing knowledge and expectations of potential pet foster caregivers.
Little research has addressed the disparities between marginalized audiences and their white counterparts when it comes to pet fostering and overall knowledge about the pet fostering process. Through a combination of a survey and focus group discussions with self-identified BIPOC animal lovers, this research provides insight and recommendations on how to best engage more diverse communities in the pet fostering process. These findings will help inform marketing and outreach efforts to address the gap in pet fostering amongst BIPOC audiences.
About Community Conversations:
Maddie’s Fund, hosts a weekly hour-long Zoom call for animal well-being professionals. These calls are a collaborative space to share exciting new programs and research, discuss uncomfortable topics, connect with peers in the industry, and more, all while sharing a common goal of preserving the human-animal bond.
This call, recurring each Monday unless otherwise posted, is for executive directors, animal well-being leaders, shelter workers, pet support professionals, volunteers, and rescue organizations.
You need only register once to attend each recurring meeting. By registering for this event, your email address will be added to our community conversations mailing list where weekly meeting agendas and announcements are shared by Maddie's Fund. We do not share your information.
All calls are recorded and uploaded to the Community Conversations page on Maddie’s Pet Forum https://forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
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Each month, Maddie's Fund will be giving away up to $5,000 in grants. You can enter to win each time you attend a call or watch on-demand during the month by completing the giveaway drawing entry forms shared in the chat during the calls.
Please note: All views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie’s Fund.
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