Ideas to raise awareness needed

[ozziesoo]

I am feeling very frustrated and a bit hopeless at the moment - all the animal pounds and shelters in my town and also around the country (Australia) seem to be chokka-block full at the moment - not that they're not usually fairly busy at the best of time. Things just seem to be going through an unusually awful time - beautiful dogs being put down for no apparent reason, just that their owners have surrendered them. It's just terrible.

I'd like to hear from people here who have maybe run advertising campaigns in their local community which have been successsfull in raising awareness of the need for responsible pet ownership, or which have contributed to lowering the number of abandoned pets. I would like to hear ideas from all over the world - small-scale, large-scale - please share. I feel it is time to do something more than foster and re-home the few dogs that we can manage to save (not that this isn't very worthwhile) - I want to try to attack the problem at it roots - the appalling ignorance of the general public re pet ownership, and just what is going to happen to their dog if they take it to the pound. PLEASE