Intervention Plan By: Olivia Bergstrom, Lia Donato, Ashley Hasler, Steve McCollom, and Ashley Staley Since our first phone call with Dave Flagler, our group has been focused on the topic of microchipping and identification tags. Through the research that was done, we have become more aware of why it is important for animals to have identification on them in some way. In order to make people more aware of microchipping and identification tags, the group has decided to form an intervention in hopes that more people will adapt to having identification on their animals. For this intervention to be successful, we have come up with objectives for the intervention components, along with intervention materials and an implementation plan. Objectives In discussing what we hope to gain from this intervention, the group decided that our general goal would be to increase the animal safety of the animals in the Milwaukee area through raising awareness and providing education for responsible pet ownership. To be a bit more specific, our long-term goal that we hope to accomplish from this intervention is to reduce the number of animals in the Milwaukee area that end up lost on the streets or in an animal shelter. In order to reach this general goal and long-term goal, we had to develop a few interim and outcome objectives that we hope are attainable. We developed three outcome objectives: 1. To increase the number of pets to wear a collar with an ID tag. 2. To increase the amount of pets that are microchipped. 3. To increase the number of pet owners who register or license their pets.
For an interim goal, we felt it was important to increase the belief of the benefits that could come from having your pet microchipped or ID-ed. With these objectives, the group has been able to come up with a few intervention materials that would help to reach the goals we have set for ourselves. Intervention Materials Creating useful materials to achieve a well-done intervention takes hard work and creativity. As a group, we collectively came up with several different materials that we felt would be useful for our intervention. One of the first, and probably the most important part of our intervention, would be the live event that would take place in Milwaukee. Whether we create our own event, or tag onto an event that will be happening in Milwaukee at some point in April, we figure this is an important step to raising awareness about microchipping and identification tags. This live event would include information about where to go in order to get your pet microchipped. Along with that, we also hope to some how be able to create identification tags for dog owners to send to them after they are processed in order for more people to get involved with having identification on their pets. The live event may be a huge step in this process, but we also feel it is important to have several other smaller materials to raise awareness of microchipping and pet identification. Therefore, we feel that flyers would be appropriate to make for this intervention. The flyer would be an informational flyer that could provide information on pet identification along with some statistics that may make people more aware of how important it is to identify their pets. This flyer will have strips of paper that one could rip off with a number to call MADACC for more information. This flyer will help to spread more information, not only about microchipping and pet identification tags, but also about MADACC.
Along the same lines of a flyer, we felt that creating an informational brochure would spread the word about the important facts that one may need to know about microchipping and pet identification tags. We felt it is easy to make a visually appealing brochure and that they are generally a hit among the people who read brochures. Since these are informational for pet owners, we felt it might be best to find places in which pet owners frequently shop and ask for permission to place a few on the counter for the shoppers to take as they please. This would be a very beneficial way of spreading the information that is important for the public to be aware of. One last part of the intervention we thought would be important would be to create a radio advertisement. As we wrote out the script for the advertisement, we realized it was easiest to go for the emotional approach, considering the thought of dying animals can hit a soft spot for just about anyone. With this radio advertisement, we are able to call out what is happening and share that there needs to be a rise to action to prevent all of these animals from losing their lives. We feel that this radio advertisement could help to make one think of how easy it is to get their pet microchipped or to put an identification tag on their collar. Among all the different materials provided for this intervention, we feel that there are some good materials that could lead to some of our goals being reached at some point over the course of time. These materials are good for raising awareness of what should be done in order to be considered a responsible pet owner. Rationale Two theories we all agreed were helpful were Social Cognitive Theory and Theory of Reasoned Action. If pet owners feel that the behavior is not necessary, they won t do it. If pet owners feel that it is necessary and important but feel that there are barriers (such as finances) that prevent the behavior, it won t happen. We wanted to emphasis the need for identification of
pets (they re worth it, it s the law, etc.). We also wanted to attempt to remove barriers by making the event a one-stop place for pet owners to obtain or sign up for affordable pet licenses, microchipping and identification tags. Some studies we looked at showed that most pet owners agree with the behaviors and perceived them as beneficial, painless, and responsible. However, not all pet owners follow through. We also used Social Cognitive Theory to influence our audience. We believe that if pet owners see that the behavior is positively reinforced, affordable, and can be done in one place, it will increase the self-efficacy and follow-through. In doing this intervention, our aim is at the emotional benefit appeal. When a person commits to having a pet in their home, there is some sort of attachment to the animal. Our PSA offers an emotional benefit that losing your pet may be less likely to happen if they are microchipped or identified. Our live event wants to get across the importance of microchipping and pet identification in order to save your pets. The benefit of microchipping leads to a better chance of your animal being safe, which means that you will still have your pet in your life. We feel this is an effective way to deliver the message considering it hits people with the appropriate information and should be effective in making our message clear to the audience. Implementation Plan In order to step forward and go through with our intervention, there are several factors to consider when implementing this plan. There are costs to determine, locations to pick, and time to be set aside. Before putting any of our plan into motion, we must first be sure that MADACC approves of all of the information we are letting out to the public. Considering we are representing them throughout this intervention, we want our client to feel as though there is a good image for their organization being presented.
Once things are cleared through MADACC, it is important to find a location flyers and brochures will be able to be placed. The whole intervention is revolved around pets, therefore, it is important to consider different pet stores that would allow us to place our advertisement in their stores. Also taking into consideration that some of our target audience may fall in the low income range, it may be a good idea to find grocery stores to place advertisements in considering the grocery stores also hold a place to buy pet food and other supplies. To get this plan moving forward, we would need to take the time to call the places in order to get their permission, along with taking the time to travel to the actual stores to hang up the advertisement. It is also important to find a location to hold a live event to raise awareness. This live event would either be on it s own, or linked to something taking place in Milwaukee during the month of April. In order to get this live event going, it would be best to check through MADACC and make sure whatever we choose to do seems to be a good idea. If we were to link to another event taking place in April, we would have to take the time to call the people in charge of the event to be sure that we were able to set up a table during this event. If we chose to do it at a park, or outside of a pet store, we would still have to find someone to get in contact with to get permission to set up a table. For our sake, it would be beneficial for us to find an event going on and see what it takes to get set up at the event. At our event, we d provide a table with information about the benefits of pet identification tags and microchipping your pets. Along with this information, we d provide forms that they could fill out and we would be able to submit to get them ID tags for their pets. Once they fill out the form, we would be able to take it to a pet store and register to get their ID tags made and mailed to their home for their convenience. We could also have a way for people to set up an appointment to get their pet microchipped. With these two things going on at our live
event, we would have to get ahold of someone who would sponsor our event or a place in which we could purchase ID tags at a discounted rate. The microchipping would have to be set up through another company, like MADACC, and we would have to be sure they understood what we had planned to do. The last part of our intervention includes the radio PSA about lost animals and needing to have identification tags for the pets. This would also take a bit of time to find a place to broadcast, so it would be important to start looking ahead of time in order to ensure that there would be a radio station able to broadcast the PSA. Along with finding a place to broadcast, we would want to look for a place that would not cost as much money. Considering air time on any radio will have a price, it is important to find something that would not cost too heavily. In order for the PSA to be effective, it would have to be completed before any other information is posted around so that it is broadcasted while the rest of our information is being put out for the public. Overall, placing flyers and brochures is the easy part. This could be done several times over the course of the next month. We would need the supplies to print out the flyers and the brochures, along with someone who has access to a car and can drive to the different pet stores to set the brochures and flyers out. This would provide minimal cost overall for the supplies and would provide awareness to the fact that pets need to be identified. The live event, on the other hand, could prove to be a bit more timely and costly. In order for the live event to work, we would need to take a lot of time to prepare for the event. Between finding an event or creating an event, figuring out what kind of supplies and resources we could have for our event, and trying to find a sponsor, the event has a lot of pre-preparation that needs to be done. If we would want for this event to be successful, it would be best to start looking for
a time and place around now and to already start planning out the promotional information that we would need to provide in order for the audience to care. For the event, we would need to have more materials on hand and more information to provide the people who would visit our table. We would have to bring a table and chairs for all of us to sit at during the event. It is also shown that we ll have to find a way to either have someone donate ID tags, or we will have to figure out a way to provide them at a lower cost for the people who are attempting to get ID tags. Considering money is always what stops everyone, we hope to provide ID tags at little to no cost for the people. Overall, if we could get the sponsors for our live event, this intervention would be pretty low budget. Considering costs of paper and ink to print off brochures and flyers, we may find ourselves spending a bit of money to ensure the best overall quality once the products are printed out and ready to go. The live event cost would rely heavily on whether or not we successfully find a way to reduce the costs for the ID tags. Since we are looking at giving the people their own ID tags for their pets to make it beneficial to the audience, we hope to find a way to get these ID tags at the lowest cost possible. Evaluation Plan In order for the intervention to be successful, we must ensure that the work we are putting out is of high enough quality that we ll complete our intervention feeling a bit more accomplished. To be sure of this, it is important to take the steps of looking at what each of the intervention materials would help to accomplish some of the objectives we have set for our intervention. The flyers that we are making for the intervention will hopefully help us to both take a step closer towards our interim goal and help us to raise awareness towards our outcome goals.
The flyers should present the audience with a bit of information about why it is important to microchip their pets and have ID tags on their collars. Along with that, the flyers should also present a date for our live event with a message that they can get those things done by attending the live event. Although the flyers will not be the most successful part of our intervention, we feel that they are appropriate for helping us reach the goals that we have set. A big part of reaching our interim goal would be our brochures. Considering this is where most of our information is, this would be the best way to persuade attitudes of the audience by raising their knowledge of why ID tags and microchipping are important for pets. With the information that has been provided on the brochure, we hope that people are understanding as to why it is important to identify their pets. With the raised knowledge and awareness, we hope that our interim goals would be reached and that we would be a step closer to our outcome goals and having people go out to actually get their pet identified or microchipped. When it comes to our other goals, the radio PSA would hopefully help with the interim goals and the outcome goals. The PSA talks about the need to microchip and identify your pets in order to keep them safe. With this message, and the call to action to identify your pets at the end of the message, we hope that people may feel the need to ensure their pets safety a little bit by going out and identifying their pets. Although we hope this radio PSA will be helpful for our outcome goals, we don t feel that this is the most important step to reaching these goals. The live event is the most crucial part of reaching our outcome goals. In order for us to reach our goals of having people put identification tags on their pets or having people microchip their pets, we must do a good job at our live event of offering resources for the people. If the whole process is convenient for pet owners, it ll be more likely that they ll follow through and
actually have their pet identified or microchipped. We hope that this event provides the necessary tools and information for pet owners to take action. If our live event proves to be successful, our long term goal may become apparent and there may be less lost pets in the Milwaukee area. If more pets are identified in the end of our intervention, the pets may be safer and will be easy to return to their pet owners if they are lost. The increased amount of pets identified would also lead to an accomplished feeling that there are more responsible pet owners in the Milwaukee area. In order for us to determine if our intervention would be successful, we could use evaluation during our live event. Considering the information that is provided to the audience, we would be able to survey the people who attend the live event in order to see if the information may have made some changes in their views on microchipping and pet identification tags. We could also watch to see if the number of lost pets has decreased since we first started our intervention. Considering MADACC provides information monthly on their statistics of animals retrieved, we could see if there is any noticeable changes in these numbers. Although this does not directly show if our intervention succeeded, it could help to give us an estimate of what we did. Conclusion Throughout the rest of the semester, we hope that the work we put in towards this intervention provides a little bit of awareness of the importance of responsible pet ownership. The different materials we have planned to provide for our intervention have good messages and will hopefully find their way to affect the public and raise awareness to what needs to be done.