Humane Society Takes Addy for Hispanic Effort.

The Humane Society SPCA of Bexar County along with K. Fernandez & Associates announces the success of its Public Service (PSA) awareness campaign on increasing spay/neuter surgeries and recognizing and reporting animal cruelty in the community. In addition, the successful PSA campaign has been selected to win an Addy Award from the San Antonio Advertising Federation (Ad Fed) annual industry competition. The Ad Fed awards ceremony will be held Saturday, February 7 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.

“The Humane Society SPCA of Bexar County is extremely proud of its affiliation with K. Fernandez & Associates as we’ve accomplished our goal to help raise awareness about animal cruelty and over population of dogs and cats. The spot creates empathy as to what it means to respect all types of animals and to be a responsible pet owner,” said James Bias, Executive Director of the Humane Society SPCA of Bexar County. “The Humane Society’s expectations were exceeded by the campaign results – all of San Antonio and the Bexar County area benefit.”

The public service announcements began airing in June 2003. During that time, the Humane Society noticed an increase in community awareness in how to recognize and report animal abuse. Also, the Animal Resource Center (ARC), a partner in these public service announcements, noted a correlation between when the spots ran and the number of calls they received regarding spay and neuter surgeries. ARC reported a 25% increase in spay and neuter surgeries over the last half of the year; the same time period that the public service announcements were running in the community.

The award winning creative spot “Beware of Owner” begins with a tight shot of Pancha a female dog who as the spot progresses, we find out has been neglected, pregnant many times over, and left tied up in a backyard. A sign outside the fence of the yard reads “Beware of Owner,” a twist on the Beware of Dog signs typically seen around town, and emphasizing the issue of animal cruelty.

“Beware of Owner” raises awareness of the daunting statistics involving animal cruelty in the San Antonio area. The campaign was produced in English and Spanish for TV and radio along with former in-house creative partner, A Big Chihuahua. The spots began airing June 2003.

“Effective public service campaigns should communicate important understandable messages to varied audiences, and that’s what “Beware of Owner” accomplished,” said Karla Fernandez Parker, President and Owner of K. Fernandez & Associates. “The agency’s goal was to create awareness for owners to take better care of their pets, and we have met those goals by bringing more attention to animal overpopulation and cruelty issues through the “Beware of Owner” spots.”
All planning, coordination, creative and production time was donated by K. Fernandez & Associates, A Big Chihuahua, Maverick Studios and Farias Productions. Special contributions were made by Uriel Vasques, Eli Flores, Carolyn Emanuel, Marcos Hernandez and Eva María Campbell.

“We’re proud to be a recipient of this prestigious award alongside our agency, K. Fernandez & Associates,” said James Bias, Executive Director of the Humane Society SPCA of Bexar County, “We’re not surprised that Karla Fernandez Parker and her team’s strong passion for the care and love of animals were effectively demonstrated in the PSA campaign.”