(NAPSI)—Theres good news for people who love animals. The percentage of dogs and cats in homes adopted from shelters and rescue groups has risen from 27 to 29 percent in the last few years, while the number of healthy and treatable pets losing their lives for lack of a home has dropped from 3 million to 2.7 million. It would be even better news if that number dropped to zero. Thats the goal of The Shelter Pet Project, the national PSA campaign to encourage pet lovers to make shelters the first choice and desired way for acquiring companion animals. The television, radio, print, outdoor and Web public service ads direct audiences to visit www.theshelterpetproject.org, where they can search for a pet from a local shelter or rescue group, read adoption success stories and learn more about pet adoption. Approximately 17 million people will acquire a pet within the next year, but many remain undecided where they will acquire their pet. Pets end up in shelters through no fault of their ownthey are often victims of circumstance, said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. If enough people in our nation choose adoption, we can eliminate the euthanasia of healthy and treatable pets in our country. The campaign hopes to encourage people to adopt from shelters by explaining that A person is the best thing to happen to a shelter pet. The Shelter Pet Project is the first animal welfare campaign that the Ad Council has undertaken in its 60-year history. The campaign was taken on in partnership with The Humane Society of the United States and Maddies Fund. According to Maddies Fund president Rich Avanzino, We are hopeful that the new ads will also inspire the 14 million animal lovers who have already adopted to tell their friends why shelters are the first and best places to go for a new four-legged family member. The ads, created pro bono by Draftfcb, focus on the relationship between shelter pets and their owners by featuring pets observing their humans quirky yet lovable behaviors. We are confident that the optimism of our message will resonate with the millions of potential adopters who are still out there and bring us even closer to our goal, said Nick Paul, EVP, global chief growth officer, Draftfcb.   On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate(NAPSI)

Each year, approximately 4 million pets are adopted. (NAPS)