Social Media Campaign for Pit Bull Rescue Central

PIT BULL RESCUE CENTRAL SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN August 20, 2019

PREPARED BY Rebecca pugh PREPARED FOR WEB WRITING AND CONTENT STRATEGY AS 480.636.81

2019

INTRODUCTION Each year, an average of 1.2 million dogs in the United States are euthanized (ASPCA, 2017). Pit bull breeds are among the highest facing death at 42% (ASPCA, 2017).

Research has shown that this high euthanization rate is partly due to the perception that pit bulls are dangerous, undesirable dogs that present a threat to adults and children.

These perceptions contribute heavily to the discrimination of pit bulls in multiple facets of society. It is for these reasons that this campaign seeks to address the stigmatization of pit bull breeds as aggressive dogs that are not suitable for families with children. The target audience will specifically be families with older children, who are in the 8 to 15 age range.

This campaign will focus on the Pit Bull Rescue Central (PBRC), a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to providing resources regarding pit bull breeds. The PBRC works with animal shelters across the United States to promote adoptable dogs who are identified as one or more of the pit bull breeds. The goal of the PBRC is to educate their audience about responsibly adopting, placing, and/or training a pit bull. The organization seeks to overcome and eradicate any misconceptions surrounding pit bull breeds by providing a multitude of guidance and information. Furthermore, the PBRC strives to help potential adopters evaluate whether or not a pit bull could fit into their lifestyle.

It should be noted that the term “pit bull” is an umbrella term for the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. These three breeds are often seen in mixed-breed combinations (such a Labrador Retriever/pit bull mix or an English Pointer/pit bull mix). This report will utilize the general pit bull label to refer to all of the breeds/mixed-breeds mentioned above.

SITUATION ANALYSIS Challenges Breed Specific Legislation Breed-specific legislation (BSL) has contributed heavily to the stigmatization of pit bulls as aggressive breeds. According to Lowrey (2018), BSL has prompted a multitude of “municipal laws prohibiting or restricting ownership of pit bulls” (p. 375).

These laws come in multiple forms of severity - some towns/cities don’t allow pit bull ownership, while others enforce a series of restrictions in regards to owning the breed (muzzling in public, requiring liability insurance, mandatory spaying/neutering). BSLs have enabled many hotels, apartment communities, Homeowners Associations, and insurance companies to enforce further restrictions in regards to the pit bull breed.

These restrictions make owning a pit bull more difficult and less desirable.

Furthermore, they perpetuate the idea that pit bulls are dangerous dogs that are not suitable for a family environment.

Increasing Popularity The increasing popularity of pit bulls is a double-edged sword. While it has led to many opportunities (which will be discussed in the next section), it has also led to an increase of pit bulls in animal shelters . This trend is primarily due to the restrictions that come along with BSL (Lowrey, 2018). The policies associated with BSL make it harder to own a pit bull, leading to more surrenders. For example, a person who owns a pit bull breed may have a difficult time finding housing options, leaving them no choice but to surrender their dog to an animal shelter. Instead of attributing the abundance of pit bull breeds found in animal shelters to BSL, many people assume that they are there because they were not fit for a family lifestyle.

Media Bias Stories of pit bulls injuring adults and children are deemed highly newsworthy and are reported more often than stories of dog bites by other breeds. This creates a mean world syndrome affect where people believe that pit bull attacks occur more often than they actually do. Media bias also makes it seem as if pit bulls are more dangerous than other breeds, implying that aggression is a natural part of their temperament. Furthermore, Lowrey (2018) notes several examples where reports regarding pit bull attacks contained inaccurate details, demonstrating that these stories are not always reliable. Research based off of media reports of pit bull attacks may therefore also be inaccurate.

History of Reports The argument that pit bulls are an aggressive breed is generally augmented by the disclosure of past reports that chronicle injuries or fatalities by pit bull breeds.

According to a report by Sacks, Sinclair, Gilchrist, Golab, & Lockwood (2000), pit bull breeds were responsible for 66 human fatalities from 1979 to 1998 in the United States. This is more than double the amount of deaths reported by subsequent breeds. More recent research has shown that pit bulls were responsible for 284 human fatalities from 2005 to 2017 in the United States. This increase in recent fatalities is likely due to the breed’s rising popularity and should not be interpreted as an increase in aggressive dogs.

Stories of pit bull attacks on children are a particularly prominent challenge as the target audience for this campaign is families with older children. A five year study by the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital found that pit bulls were responsible for 50.9% of the 1,616 dog bites treated at their (Golinko, Arslanian, & Williams, 2016).

However, the reported attacks were based on parental or children assessment of the breed. Given the vast array of what people define as a pit bull, these reportings could not be entirely accurate. This is a common flaw throughout many research studies conducted on this topic.

Breed History The sad and cruel history of pit bulls has contributed to the perception that they are aggressive fighting dogs. Although dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, its

occurrences are still frequent. Throughout history, pit bulls were used for entertainment in sports such as bull-baiting and ratting. Despite a period of time throughout WWI and WWII where pit bulls were decorated as loving and well-respected breeds, the 1980s saw an increase in pit bull breeding for dog fighting purposes (LoveA-Bull, n.d.). This history contributes to the perception that pit bulls have an “increased propensity for aggression towards other dogs and other animals, with an intensity of destructiveness in its attacks” (Gunter, Barber & Wynne, 2016, p. 2). A study Gunter et al. (2016) found that the perception of the dog breed label corresponds heavily to adoption rate. The researchers found that the dogs that were labeled as pit bulls in animal shelters tended to have longer stays and lower adoption rates. When the pit bull label was removed from those same dogs, their adoption rate drastically increased.

Opportunities Increasing Popularity As previously noted, the increasing popularity of owning a pit bull breed has its benefits and drawbacks. One of the benefits is it makes audiences more receptive to the idea of adopting a pit bull. The more potential adopters see pit bulls as companions in other families (or shown as a family dog in an advertisement), the more likely they are to interpret owning a pit bull as a desirable social norm. Social norms play a substantial impact on how people perceive what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. At many points in history, owning a pit bull was socially frowned upon. While this notion has not been completely eradicated, potential adopters are becoming more open-minded to the idea of adopting a pit bull due to their increasing popularity.

PBRC’s Network, Reputation, & Resources The PBRC is a pillar in the pit bull rescue community. Their nationwide networks allow them to foster partnerships, access information, and reach large audiences of potential adopters. Additionally, the PBRC is sponsored by companies such as Bissell and Lost Pet USA. These partnerships help establish their credibility and expertise regarding pit bulls.

Furthermore, their credibility and leadership could impact how the campaign’s messages are received by the audience, as potential adopters are more likely to accept messages from an information source that they perceive as credible.

The PBRC also has a vast array of followers on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. In terms of social networks, this campaign will primarily focus on using Facebook as a channel to disseminate messages. The type of content that is currently posted on the PBRC is focused on sharing stories of pit bulls that were happily adopted, highlighting certain dogs that are available for adoption, and displaying how they utilize donations. While this is an effective use of Facebook for a nonprofit organization, their established broad network of 185K likes and 181K followers creates a valuable opportunity for them address the larger problem of pit bull discrimination.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS The target audience for this campaign is parents of children in the 8 to 15 age range, who live in the United States and are looking to adopt a dog. Although the PBRC functions nationwide, they have a variety of pit bull allies and resources in each region of the country. The goal of the PBRC is to be the first resource that potential adopters go to to find information on adopting pit bulls.

The organization is then able to connect potential adopters to local organizations to find actual dogs looking for homes.

In terms of specific demographics, the CDC (n.d.) identifies the average age of first-time parents in the United States to be 26.8 years old. Using this average as a base point, parents of 8 to 15 year olds are in the 36 to 43 age range. Families with older children, as opposed to younger children, will be targeted as older children are typically more aware of how to properly interact with dogs. Since pit bulls come from a variety of situations, it is important that the families targeted have children old enough to understand dog language and cues.

According to the ASPCA (n.d.), 60% of American families own a dog, with 23% of them adopting their dog from an animal shelter. The messages put forth by this campaign seek to reach this 23% by demonstrating that pit bulls can be family dogs who are loyal and loving towards children. Seeing pit bulls in a family setting helps to shatter the perception of them as dangerous and aggressive dogs. Changing this perception will, hopefully, increase the number of pit bull adoptions.

CHANNEL ANALYSIS Petfinder The first channel utilized will be small advertisements placed on Petfinder.com. Petfinder is one of the first places potential adopters go to find animals for adoption in their area. Additionally, Petfinder has a multitude of resources for parents who are looking for tips on how to pick the perfect dog for their family. This is an important stage to reach the target audience at as they have already made the decision to adopt, but have not fully decided on a certain breed or dog yet. The advertisements shown on Petfinder will strategically target parents of older children by displaying images of children with pit bulls. The goal of these advertisements is to act as clickbait for the PBRC website, where potential adopters can go to find more information about adding a pit bull to the family. Additionally, the PBRC offers a list of myths that are commonly expressed regarding pit bulls. It is important to consider the fact that many potential adopters (especially parents) may not be as receptive to the idea of adopting a pit bull breed when they begin their search. Getting them to the PBRC website is a valuable opportunity to explain to parents why they should consider adopting a pit bull and clarify any misconceptions they may have. Furthermore, the advertisements will incorporate strategic design elements that are meant to evoke the happiness that comes along with owning a pit bull. These particular advertisements are more light-hearted to fit the family-friendly tone that Petfinder has cultivated throughout their website.

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) website has a comprehensive list of breeds and their characteristics that make a great resource for potential adopters. Many families visit the AKC’s breed list when they are making decisions about what breed of dog they want to adopt. Similar to what is noted about Petfinder, potential adopters visiting the AKC breed listing may be searching for the right breed for their family. However, one key difference between the audience visiting the AKC website vs. the audience visiting Petfinder website is Petfinder is strictly animals that are available for adoption. The AKC website visitors may not be looking to adopt and are instead are using the website to research a certain breed to buy from a pet store or a breeder. For this reason, the types of advertisements posted on the AKC website will be more focused on exposing the harsh realities that pit bulls face due to being stigmatized as an aggressive, untamable dog. The advertisements will explain how these are misconceptions of the breed and how they make wonderful family dogs. Furthermore, the messages will focus on the fact that there are thousands of pit bulls across the country that are desperately in need of a loving family.

The underlying messages of the “adopt, don’t shop” campaign will be utilized, emphasizing the value in adopting versus paying thousands for a puppy from a breeder.

Facebook Facebook was chosen as a channel as it is a valuable platform to disseminate a message. Since Facebook simplifies content sharing, messages can spread quickly across a wide range of audiences. According to research by Anderson & Perrin (2018) from the Pew Research Center, Facebook is one of the platforms that is most widely used by adults in the 36 to 43 years old age range. The content posted on Facebook will be created with the intent to stimulate sharing. The content will feature messages that clarify misconceptions about pit bulls, specifically the types of misconceptions that might make parents hesitant to adopt one. The call-to-action for these types of posts will be to share the message, with the overall goal of reaching the target audience.