Animal-Related Signs

While thinking of ways of sharing knowledge of feral cats, I have been looking at a lot of currently available street and warning signs. These signs are all animal related and were found both on the internet and while walking around my neighborhood. Perhaps this could lead to something...?

Sign at SFSU

Close-up of Sign

Along walking path in Pacifica

Project Bay Cat Sign

Found around the world...

Not a sign but a instead a message on the street... Interesting idea.

Change in Panel of Experts

Through the course of this research project, I have attempted to get in contact with someone in the advertising or marketing fields but have been unsuccessful. Every time an opportunity would present itself, either the person would never get back to me or would briefly answer a few questions; no one seemed to want to go into any detail. After trying to reach 4 different people, I was pretty frustrated... And then I went to a birthday party.

This was not just any regular party but a birthday party for my dog. The breeder was throwing a party for my dog's litter (her first time as a breeder) which I was a little hesitant to attend. After some persuasion, I agreed to go and its a good thing I did as yet another opportunity presented itself. The owner of one of my dog's siblings happened to work in advertising for Shape magazine. She said that she would be more than happy to answer any questions that I might have AND that she preferred talking in person or on the phone versus emails. Finally I have my final panel member: Kathy Kuza.

Broadmoor Village in Colma, CA

A lot of people that I have talked to about my project have asked me about the area I'm targeting because they are completely unfamiliar with it. I also experienced a lot of trouble in my research as there is very little information about Broadmoor in general, ie demographics, population, etc. I am guessing that this is because of the fact that Broadmoor is a town within a city; it is an unincorporated part of the city of Colma in San Mateo County. Even the website for Colma doesn't mention this specific area, sometimes called the "doughnut hole of Daly City," even though it has its own police department and has fought time and time again against incorporating itself with Daly City.

Anyway, for those interested here is some information about this tiny little neighborhood. Depending on the direction of my final solution, contacting these resources might prove crucial in spreading the word about feral cats.

Broadmoor Police website, with information on the history.

http://www.broadmoorpolice.org/index.html

Town of Colma website 

http://www.colma.ca.gov/

Raising Awareness-Stuff that's already out there

After having conducted my surveys for cat volunteers, a lot of them said that they would be interested in seeing kids getting involved. They feel that children for the most part like animals and are open to and curious about animal welfare. Hopefully, this in turn would lead to them running home and telling their parents about the issues and therefore bringing the subject to light for the community... Something to consider.

Here are some examples of great resource tools already out there.

http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=468

http://www.aspcapro.org/blog/2011/02/10-cat-marketing-campaigns/

http://www.aspcapro.org/creating-a-communication-plan.php

Here are some examples of merchandise targeted for feral cat lovers created by Alley Cat Allies, a great feral cat resource that most organizations (including the Homeless Cat Network) refer to.

CafePress Feral Cat Stuff--Alley Cat Allies

Surveys

I decided to create 2 separate surveys to try to gain a better understanding of the different perspectives on feral cats. The first one was designed for regular people (specifically people living in the Broadmoor neighborhood) to see what they knew about feral cats in general. The second survey was created for cat volunteers and was sent out to members of the Homeless Cat Network. It was created with the help of one of my experts, Melissa Riofrio.

Here are the links to each:

How Much Do YOU Know About Feral Cats? (for everyone)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P23QG6H

Feral Cat Survey for Volunteers

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KNRCL8W

PERT Chart

Timeline