Snake River Animal Shelter wins “Home 4 the Holidays” contest

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – For the first time ever, an Idaho shelter has won the national Home 4 the Holidays contest.

Snake River Animal Shelter (SRAS) won the Grand Prize of $25,000.

The campaign saves the lives of orphaned pets during the holiday season by educating the public about the importance of choosing pet adoption through new and innovative promotional strategies to increase adoptions.

“We are deeply honored to be recognized for our staff’s efforts to get orphaned pets into permanent homes. Our management team worked long hours and our staff was available seven days a week during the holidays for adoption appointments to remove as many barriers as possible for potential adopters,” Executive Director Michelle Ziel-Dingman said. “$25,000 will be an incredible boost to our resources for long-term planning and ensuring our rescue facility is available to serve for many years to come. On behalf of our Board of Directors, donors, and staff, we are grateful to be selected and thank the Helen Woodward Animal Center and Blue Buffalo for their support."

SRAS’s approach to increase adoptions was multi-faceted with events, social media, promotions, media
coverage, community outreach, partnerships and shelter operations.

“We made the calculated decision to focus a little more heavily on canine adoptions as our feline adoptions are steady, the list of cats waiting to get into the facility continues to be moderate, while in contrast, the list of dogs waiting to get into the facility was well over 100 in early October 2023,” Ziel-Dingman said.

The three most successful programs were their 36-Hour Adopt-a-Thon, the Thanksgiving “Canine Turkey Tester” program (which put dogs into foster homes during the Thanksgiving holiday), and the “Here Comes Santa Claws” extended cat adoption sale. Compared to December 2022, SRAS increased cat adoptions by 53.7% and dog adoptions by 40% during the month of December 2023.

For the program, SRAS held private appointments during their closed days – Sunday through Tuesday –
and didn’t have one day in December without a completed adoption, adoption hold or meaningful
customer visit. They have chosen to extend this policy and now take private appointments seven days
each week, which can be booked by calling them at 208-523-4219 or sending them a message on their
Facebook page.