They say a house is not a home without pets. And I have to agree. Dogs and cats are without doubt treasured family members.
That’s why I was very impressed to see real estate giant Coldwell Banker’s latest initiative to help get 20 000 pet adopted into loving forever homes this year.
In order to promote pet adoption, the company has launched a naitonal campaign called This Is Home and teamed up with Adopt-A-Pet.com in an effort to help get 20,000 pets adopted this year.
Realtors can play a very important role in the communities in which they work by reporting any pets they find abandoned in properties – which sadly happens all the time – to local authoritative so that they pets can be rescued and cared for.
With this current initiative, Coldwell Banker is asking its many realtors around the country to seek out volunteer opportunities with pet organizations within their communities. Such opportunities are posted on the Adopt-A-Pet.com site and, in fact, anyone can apply.
Also realtors are being asked to use their social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to draw attention to adoptable pets in their area.
It never hurts to discuss pet adopt with their clients too! People often wait until they own their first home to adopt a pet. So having realtors as advocates of pet adoption is a really great idea.
The first national TV ad for the campaign will air during the Oscars on February 22nd .Be sure you are tuned in.
On a side note, at the height of the housing crash that started in 2008, law makers in California put laws in place (in 2009) to assist pets that were cruelly abandoned and left to their own devices.
The law provides that if an animal is abandoned at a premises when the premises has been vacated as the result of the foreclosure of the property or the termination of a lease, then the person or private entity responsible for the premises shall immediately notify the appropriate animal control officials that the animal has been abandoned.
The law specifies that the person or private entity responsible for the premises shall not be considered the keeper of the animal or acquire additional criminal or civil liability, but the person or private entity is subject to all local ordinances and state laws that govern the proper care and treatment of such animals.
The purpose of the law is to permit animal control officials to immediately retrieve an abandoned pet. Many local government agencies in California had been waiting from 24 to 72 hours after a pet was abandoned in an empty home before they would retrieve the pet and provide it food and shelter.
If you ever see an abandoned animal, don’t leave it, report it!
If your cat loves to drink water from a running tap, consider getting a drinking fountain for her. Cats in the wild drink running water and a pet drinking fountain recreates this in the home.