Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society quite correctly and wisely managed to create a media frenzy of sorts at Portland International Airport (presumed) as Sasha, a placid cat, was reunited with her human guardian after five years apart. The media activity was orchestrated by Murad Kirdar who is the shelter’s public relations consultant. He did a good job. Well done. Is this a new post for an animal shelter?
Sasha was found an astonishing 1,200 miles away from Viktor Usov’s house in Portland. He let her outside one night and she disappeared.
She was picked up in Sante Fe and ended up at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter where her microchip told the staff that her home was 1,200 miles away in Portland.
In a nice touch, an American Airlines spokesperson said that the airline was delighted to play a part in reuniting them.
“At American Airlines, our business is about caring for people on life’s journey and connecting them with their loved ones. When we heard Sasha had been found so far from home, we were honored to be in a position to get her back to her family”
That’s a bit of a PR coup for them too.
Nowadays people are far more aware of the power of social media and of companion animal reunions. They make good videos although the one on this page can’t classed as great. However, I like the press on the carpeted floor huddled around Sasha and Viktor with their cameras and lights. It is a modern phenomenon.
Quite correctly, animal shelters need to publicise themselves on social media where videos and photos are picked up by the online news media. Sometimes the videos go viral and the shelter is able to use that publicity to increase donations and increase their coffers in a crowded market.
Note: this is not a straight news report item. It contains my opinion. This is deliberate.
