I find that opportunities are never found where you'd expect. That said, when you recognize those that are once in a lifetime you need to hold on tight and not let go.
Jessi Badami is a film maker and actress, who resides in Albuquerque, NM who came upon just such a situation when running across Lucky Paws, an animal shelter located in a local mall.
It's a remarkable story. Remarkable enough that Jessi and her team of talented individuals started a Kickstarter program to share her dream that others would follow the Lucky Paws Model to film.
SP: What's your background? Where do you come from? What's your experience with adopting shelter dogs before coming across Lucky Paws?
JB: I’m from New York City and grew up in a home without dogs. Although I’ve always loved animals, my Mom was afraid of them. So our only companion animals were neon tetra fish. After graduating from college, I moved to Manhattan and occasionally volunteered walking dogs for the ASPCA, as well as helped the campaign to improve conditions for the horses that were used for carriage rides throughout the crowded streets of Manhattan. After moving to Seattle, I became very involved with rescue.
Before seeing Lucky Paws, I visited shelters in many cities. More often than not, they were depressing. Many were located in industrial or undeveloped, out-of-the-way places. The city of Albuquerque’s shelters were at least located in populated areas. But, even after years in rescue, it was extremely difficult to walk into the shelter and not leave in tears. And I didn't feel that I was being helpful to the animals when I was that sad.
SP: And that's when you found Lucky Paws?
JB: I stumbled upon Lucky Paws accidentally. I was visiting the Coronado Mall for the first time after moving to Albuquerque and I saw what I thought was a pet store. When I discovered that this ‘pet store’ wasn't a pet store at all and instead part of the city shelter, I was so surprised...and intrigued! I started asking my friends and acquaintances about it and everyone was raving about it. Well, not everyone. One woman I bumped into in the mall parking lot said she thought it was terrible to put dogs in a mall to get them adopted—as if it was sending a message that animals are something to be purchased, like new shoes.
But that was looking at things in a skewed way. Some folks I’ve met in rescue have a hard time seeing things from someone else’s point of view. I thank my extensive background in advertising for training me to see things from the customer’s point of view. Thinking about who the target audience is and what action we want them to take. For people who are already animal advocates, or who work in rescue, they may not need a ‘nicer’ shelter to motivate them to adopt. But for most other people, who aren’t adopting, environment and messaging can make the difference between adopting and not adopting. And reaching those people is a worthy goal! After all, just 21% of people who acquire a family pet do so from a shelter. [From the HSUS statistics]
Think of the depressing messages that abound regarding shelter animals—most people will shut down when they hear about depressing things, rather than change their behavior. But if you create something positive, that shows benefit, they will be more open to learning and possibly changing their behavior. In this case, choosing to adopt.
After that experience, I was working on another film project and the person we were filming was a volunteer at Lucky Paws, so she asked if we could film her there. When I got to know Lucky Paws, the incredible manager, the staff, the systems in place, and how they approach things—I became convinced that this was a story that MUST be told.
SP: You talk about how colorful and friendly the shelter is, in comparison to what what people traditionally think of when visiting a city run facility, but what did you see with the dogs that were interacting with people at the shelter? How were the people reacting? How busy was it?
Jessi Badami is a film maker and actress, who resides in Albuquerque, NM who came upon just such a situation when running across Lucky Paws, an animal shelter located in a local mall.
It's a remarkable story. Remarkable enough that Jessi and her team of talented individuals started a Kickstarter program to share her dream that others would follow the Lucky Paws Model to film.
SP: What's your background? Where do you come from? What's your experience with adopting shelter dogs before coming across Lucky Paws?
JB: I’m from New York City and grew up in a home without dogs. Although I’ve always loved animals, my Mom was afraid of them. So our only companion animals were neon tetra fish. After graduating from college, I moved to Manhattan and occasionally volunteered walking dogs for the ASPCA, as well as helped the campaign to improve conditions for the horses that were used for carriage rides throughout the crowded streets of Manhattan. After moving to Seattle, I became very involved with rescue.
Before seeing Lucky Paws, I visited shelters in many cities. More often than not, they were depressing. Many were located in industrial or undeveloped, out-of-the-way places. The city of Albuquerque’s shelters were at least located in populated areas. But, even after years in rescue, it was extremely difficult to walk into the shelter and not leave in tears. And I didn't feel that I was being helpful to the animals when I was that sad.
SP: And that's when you found Lucky Paws?
JB: I stumbled upon Lucky Paws accidentally. I was visiting the Coronado Mall for the first time after moving to Albuquerque and I saw what I thought was a pet store. When I discovered that this ‘pet store’ wasn't a pet store at all and instead part of the city shelter, I was so surprised...and intrigued! I started asking my friends and acquaintances about it and everyone was raving about it. Well, not everyone. One woman I bumped into in the mall parking lot said she thought it was terrible to put dogs in a mall to get them adopted—as if it was sending a message that animals are something to be purchased, like new shoes.
But that was looking at things in a skewed way. Some folks I’ve met in rescue have a hard time seeing things from someone else’s point of view. I thank my extensive background in advertising for training me to see things from the customer’s point of view. Thinking about who the target audience is and what action we want them to take. For people who are already animal advocates, or who work in rescue, they may not need a ‘nicer’ shelter to motivate them to adopt. But for most other people, who aren’t adopting, environment and messaging can make the difference between adopting and not adopting. And reaching those people is a worthy goal! After all, just 21% of people who acquire a family pet do so from a shelter. [From the HSUS statistics]
Think of the depressing messages that abound regarding shelter animals—most people will shut down when they hear about depressing things, rather than change their behavior. But if you create something positive, that shows benefit, they will be more open to learning and possibly changing their behavior. In this case, choosing to adopt.
After that experience, I was working on another film project and the person we were filming was a volunteer at Lucky Paws, so she asked if we could film her there. When I got to know Lucky Paws, the incredible manager, the staff, the systems in place, and how they approach things—I became convinced that this was a story that MUST be told.
SP: You talk about how colorful and friendly the shelter is, in comparison to what what people traditionally think of when visiting a city run facility, but what did you see with the dogs that were interacting with people at the shelter? How were the people reacting? How busy was it?
