Title	THE GOOD DOG CATCHER
Brand	FOUR PAWS
Product/Service	VIER PFOTEN ROMANIA
Category	A04. CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS & ISSUE MANAGEMENT
Entrant Company	GMP ADVERTISING Bucharest, ROMANIA
Advertising Agency	GMP ADVERTISING Bucharest, ROMANIA

Name	Company	Position
Ioana Gheorghita	GMP Advertising	Head Of Strategy
Ioana Gheorghita	GMP Advertising	Copywriter
Simona Miron	GMP Advertising	Account Manager
Alexandra Rus	GMP Advertising	Account Executive
Bianca Negre	GMP Advertising	Junior Account Executive
Mihai Gongu	GMP Advertising	Creative Director
Radu Rebei	GMP Advertising	Art Director
Ioana Munteanu	GMP Advertising	Copywriter
Hypno		Director
Corina Bordeianu		Social Media Director/Webstyler
Ioana Stangacilovic	GMP Advertising	A/V Producer
Silvia Jalea		Senior Pr Executive/Gmp Pr
Robert Calin	GMP Advertising	Film Production
Zoran Stangacilovic		Post Production
Catalin Cornea		Other Credits
Raluca Bararu	Freelancer	Art Director
Anca Negoescu	VIER PFOTEN Romania	Head Of Communication
Victor Chitic	VIER PFOTEN Romania	Psychologist
Livia Cimpoeru	VIER PFOTEN Romania
Veronica Tulipan	VIER PFOTEN Romania	Head Of Programs

The Campaign

After the tragic death of a child, killed by stray dogs in Bucharest, a mass euthanasia law was adopted in Romania. Dog catchers rounded up the dogs to be executed sparking protests defending Romanian strays all over Europe. For the NGO Four Paws, we created The Good Dog Catcher and took the challenge of turning a stray dog into the first Stray Assistance Dog in the world. The daring experiment received massive support from people and celebrities alike and was featured an all major TV stations. Inspired by our initiative, the Parliament issued for the first time in Romania, a law allocating government funding for the training of assistance dogs to help people with disabilities, stray dogs included. The mass euthanasia law was invalidated by the Court of Appeal and as a side-effect adoptions increased significantly, with 8,000 newly adopted strays in Bucharest alone. Our campaign totaled 20M PR impressions and EUR 550,000 in earned media. With a total budget of just 116 Euros.

The Brief

Four Paws needed to find a positive solution to the stray dogs’ crisis. Mass euthanasia of dogs by the authorities had to be stopped. And most importantly, people’s vilifying attitude towards strays that resulted in more violence had to be radically changed. If these two issues were a fixed, Romania would have a chance to redeem its image on the global and European scale as a heartless place for both dogs and people. We needed to influence the public agenda, the political agenda and ultimately the legal agenda.

Results

Our initiative has contributed to solving the crisis. For the first time in Romania, the Parliament issued a law regulating the existence, training and funding of assistance dogs, strays included. The Court of Appeal decided that the ordinance that made the mass euthanasia possible is invalid. Adoptions have increased, totaling 8000 strays legally adopted in Bucharest alone. With no media budget, The Good Dog Catcher was covered by all major TV stations in prime-time news and top audience shows. The free coverage totaled nearly 20 million PR impressions and EUR 550,000 in rate card estimate. People from 43 countries and 5 continents became fans of our Facebook page creating a highly involved community around the cause. The FB Engagement Rate peaked at 145% (vs. 20% = pets category average), Interaction Rate reached over 5 interactions/fan and the Average fan interactions totaled over 145/day (vs. 115 = pets category average).

Execution

Just like his infamous counterparts, our trainer wondered the streets and shelters of Bucharest in his branded van, searching for stray dogs. His trips were documented and the campaign’s Facebook page was flooded with posts of people who wanted the Good Dog Catcher to visit their neighborhood. People submitted pictures and stories of the stray dogs that lived on their streets so they can become the selected candidate for the experiment. Our fan base also gave the selected dog its name: Karma. People posted their messages of support as Karma trained hard and learned new tricks. After several months of hard training, we found an owner for her: a young man named Mircea who lost both his legs in a car crash. He now legally owns Karma, the first Stray Assistance Dog in the world. They have proved that stray dogs can also be a solution, not just a problem.

The Situation

Romania ignored its stray dogs' problem for years. Tens of thousands of dogs were roaming the streets of Bucharest and many other cities. On September 2nd 2013 tragedy struck: a 4 year old boy left unattended was killed by a pack of stray dogs triggering a chain reaction with disastrous effects. A mass euthanasia emergency ordinance was immediately adopted by politicians. As dog catchers flooded the streets, the hysteria pushed people to mutilate and kill dogs on their own everywhere. Spontaneous animal rights protests broke out all over Europe with people deservedly shouting: 'Shame on you, Romania!'

The Strategy

The strategy was to stop the crisis through the power of example, in a never-done-before experiment. In order to turn “dogs against people” in “dogs for people” we created The Good Dog Catcher. We partnered with a professional dog trainer specialized in rehabilitating abused dogs. He became the world's first Good Dog Catcher, who instead of hunting down stray dogs to put them to sleep, looked for stray dogs that could help. And so the search for the world’s first Stray Assistance Dog began. Namely, a stray dog that would be trained to help out people with disabilities. Assistance dogs are normal in the western world, but the trained dogs are always breed dogs. Nobody has tried it with a non-breed. And especially with one which had a tough life in the street. We approached Romanian celebrities who agreed to help out for free and become ambassadors of our cause.