AAHA launches public awareness campaign

Denver — The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) launched a public awareness campaign geared toward educating the public on AAHA-accredited hospitals.

Dr. Daniel Aja

All accredited practices will receive promotional materials that can be given to clients and local media.

AAHA has gone a step further than television and radio to include kiosks at select airports that will air a public service announcement (PSA) about what receiving accreditation entails.

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"I like to use a daycare analogy when explaining what accreditation means," says Dr. Daniel Aja, AAHA president. "When you take your child to a daycare, you feel better knowing that the facility is monitored by an authority that approves of the standards of operation. The same holds true for AAHA hospitals. A veterinary hospital cannot claim accreditation if it doesn't follow protocol."

The PSA features a senior Labrador Retriever and spotlights AAHA while educating viewers on senior pet healthcare.

Aja says 7,500 TV airings and 20,000 radio spots are expected to broadcast for the campaign.

"Our profession is small, having about 75,000 practitioners in the country," Aja says. "Considering that number, the association is even smaller, so we rely on individual veterinarians to tell clients what AAHA is about."

AAHA will be providing CDs for office staff with the promotional kits that that can be used for new hires and current staff to more accurately field client inquiries about the association.

Pfizer Animal Health provided an educational grant that funded part of the campaign.

Correction: Dr. Daniel Aja was misidentified in the May issue of DVM Newsmagazine.