Vermont deli dishes out more than doughnuts

© Joanne Bourbeau At Brown Bag Deli and Doughnuts, patrons can enjoy their coffee over something much more interesting than the morning paper. The faces of adoptable animals—along with profiles and information about the North Country Animal League—peer up at diners from underneath clear tabletops.

What's for lunch, you ask? At Brown Bag Deli and Doughnuts in Stowe, Vermont, you may be enticed by more than just a sandwich and pickle. How about a beautiful two-year-old spayed female calico who's litter box-trained? Or a six-month-old Labrador puppy with just the right energy level for your 14-year-old son? No, the animals aren't actually on the menu, but if you move the salt and pepper shakers, you'll find their pictures and biographies underneath the glass tabletops.

The creative idea is part of the North Country Animal League's (NCAL) "Profile Program," which seeks to promote adoptable animals in public places outside the shelter. Since the program began about a year ago, Brown Bag Deli and Doughnuts has generated between 30 and 35 adoptions—an impressive seven percent of the shelter's total adoptions for the year.

"This deli program allows us to reach out into our community, essentially bringing the shelter to the people," says NCAL Executive Director Jennifer Farnam. "We receive inquiries about adoptions about two to three times a week from community members as a result. It's almost like having a branch office. At the same time, this program has almost become a signature of the deli's business—a result that they didn't [expect] in the beginning."

The idea for the program started simply enough. The deli was the breakfast hangout of the shelter's board president. "The shelter approached us about putting shelter animals' pictures on our bulletin board weekly, and it just grew from there," says the deli's owner, Tese Hartigan Ziminsky. "The feedback from customers has been just awesome. We've sent so many people out of here to the shelter, and some just come in to look. It just heightens awareness to the cause of homeless animals. My part of it is pure joy."

While the program may seem labor-intensive, it really isn't. "We wanted professional, clean, nice-looking profiles . . . that were low-maintenance," explains Farnam. Updated by volunteers about once a week, the photos at the deli are taken with a digital camera as part of the shelter's normal intake process.

Pet profiles aren't just served up at lunchtime hangouts, however. Twelve "profile books" are kept in locations throughout Stowe, including a dentist's office, a mobile veterinary unit, a pet food warehouse, and local veterinary offices. Profiles and photos hang in the administrative offices of the shelter, where prospective adopters can read about animals up for adoption before even entering the kennels.

"Quite simply," says Farnam, "we've found that we can increase our adoptions by going to where the people are."