A visit to a typical pet shelter will yield no end of cute faces and enthusiastic animals. A week or two later will bring a similar experience — but with some different faces. Perhaps half of the missing animals will have found their new home. But sadly, nationwide, about half of the pets that end up in animal shelters are euthanized.
Pets from shelters are a wonderful source of great companionship. But many people don’t consider the shelter when looking for a pet. They can now be reminded with their daily mail.
As part of its ongoing commitment to worthy causes, the U.S. Postal Service recently unveiled its 2010 “social-awareness” stamps: Animal Rescue: adopt a shelter pet — a 20-stamp pane featuring 10 different designs.
Over the years, social-awareness stamps have highlighted such causes as breast cancer, volunteerism and jury duty. In 2002, a block of two promoted the spaying or neutering of pets. “To this day, we still receive letters asking us to reprint the Neuter or Spay stamps,” says Terry McCaffrey, manager of stamp development.
That interest was the genesis behind Animal Rescue: adopt a shelter pet. The Postal Service asked art director Derry Noyes and photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce — co-creators of the Neuter or Spay release — to work on the new issuance.
Typically, social-awareness releases feature a limited number of stamp designs — often just one. Initially, the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) considered a set of two or four different stamps for Animal Rescue: adopt a shelter pet. But Noyes was convinced that more images were needed to cover a wide variety of breeds, and she sold CSAC on her idea.
The designs are simple and clean, each showing the face of an animal that has been adopted from a shelter. “This issue has a painful side,” Noyes says. “We could show some sad images, but it’s better to show the positive side — giving people a sense that they can do some good.”
Click here to view the stories behind the animals featured on these stamps.
“A lot of people think they’re getting a reject,” adds Andersen-Bruce, “or that there is something wrong with the animal. But they’re usually great pets.”
Most shelter pets are victims of circumstances ranging from allergies in the home to divorce to economic pressures. In fact, Andersen-Bruce says, one local shelter recently had a list of 30 cats waiting for entry — all from homes in the process of foreclosure. There are many good reasons to consider pet-shelter adoption, including low cost, variety of breeds (even purebreds) and health benefits: Numerous studies have shown pet owners to have lower blood pressure than nonowners.
And, of course, pet adoption saves a life.
The stamp project has been a labor of love for photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce. “I try to get them to look straight into my eyes,” she says — not easy when the “eye” is a camera lens. “I want the photo to say, ‘Pick me. Give me a forever home.’”