California4AllAnimals has partnered with Patitas y Palabras, a local translation company, to provide colloquial, customized translations for the 2nd annual CA Adopt-a-Pet Day hosted and sponsored by Cal Animals, SF SPCA and the ASPCA. Adoptions are free at over 100 participating animal shelters throughout California on Saturday, June 7th!
We know that people love pets and recent stats show that only about 40% percent of pet owners get their pets from shelters. The fact that more than 2/3 of the population identify as pet owners shows there is a huge opportunity to increase the number of adopters. And being welcoming and inclusive is a way to build trust with the community to increase those numbers. That’s what this multilingual campaign is all about.
Did you know that 45% of Californians over the age of 5 speak a language other than English at home? And that many animal shelters are only able to provide materials in English or through an automated web translation? Thanks to the Cal4All/PyP partnership, the www.caadoptapetday.org website is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Urdu and Tagalog, seven of the most common languages in the state. That means more Californians can find information about this year’s event in the language they associate with home and family. And because the text has been translated by native speakers working in animal welfare, the content is clear and culturally nuanced.
While the website serves as a promotional tool inviting potential adopters to the event, it also offers participating shelters pre-made resources to do their own publicity—posters, flyers, banners, and social media assets in all seven languages.
With over 200 languages spoken in the state, some shelters may wish for materials in other languages. The Shelter Resources pages on the site have you covered there too. Thanks to CalAnimals, SF SPCA, the ASPCA and the web development and design team at The Engine is Red, editable templates of the posters, flyers and some social media assets are available for free on Canva.
Being able to welcome more adopters to the shelter as part of a larger multicultural engagement initiative can create a virtuous cycle of community support. At our Multicultural Engagement Community of Practice calls, shelter workers share how their own personal and professional journeys have helped them deepen ties with their communities. Register to join future calls, or watch a recorded call to learn how your colleagues are working successfully with multiple language communities to run robust field services, food banks, community cat programs and more.
