A PSA Template for Promoting Awareness of the Links Between Animal Cruelty and Family Violence

What is a PSA?

dalmation dog sitting A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest intended to raise public awareness and change behavior. PSAs can be used by federal, state, local, or tribal governments or non-profit organizations to promote programs, activities, or services. They can be developed as a stand-alone project or as part of a larger campaign. Creating a PSA can also build a forum for people to participate in the project and allow them to develop community collaborations and address local issues.

Why is the use of video PSAs on the connections across animal abuse, interpersonal violence, and public safety important?

The development and promotion of video PSAs offer opportunities for judges and communities to:

hand with floating light bulb Increase awareness and understanding of the links between animal cruelty, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, juvenile offenses, and elder abuse.

hands holding family shapes Promote the safety and well-being of youth and families, including companion animals.

holding hands in a circle Engage in community-specific collaboration among stakeholders and local child-, family-, and animal-serving practitioners to address the needs of each community.

Here’s How You Can Create Your Own Video PSAs

Know Your Resources

Identify partners who can support your effort, including those persons who can participate in the production of the video itself and/or help with its distribution. You can also identify organizations you wish to build partnerships with and use the PSA production as an opportunity to engage them in the process. Who are the community stakeholders and local child-, family-, and animal-serving practitioners who share your concerns on the impacts of animal cruelty and interpersonal violence that might help you develop and market your video?

dog hiding

Consider the financial resources available for the development and production of the PSA. Can you hire professionals to help with the filming or distribution or are any of your partners able to help? Having a tight budget is not necessarily a limiting factor, and effective PSAs can still be developed through smart use of resources and choices such as media distribution.

Choose Your Media for Distribution

Traditionally, a video PSA was developed for television viewing and distribution. Television remains a great option, especially if your resources include a local contact with a public access or other television station. Many stations donate portions of their commercial time to non-commercial causes and air community calendars with information about local events and activities. The television option might require more resources for development of your video (higher production values), and there are many more media options now available for PSAs beyond just a television ad.

Social media such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are alternative platforms for cross-posting and distributing your PSA. If you have a social media presence already with followers that can help spread the word, consider how you will engage them. Ask your partners to publish and promote your video on their webpages or social media platforms. Your target audience should inform your choice of social media for publication of your PSA, with younger audiences being more likely to see your PSA on Instagram or TikTok and older users more likely to visit YouTube or Facebook.

media icons

For help finding a public access television station near you:
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For information on the different video requirements on social media and social media demographics:
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Focus On Your Topic

brown rabbit A PSA should be focused enough that it can grab the attention of your intended audience and inform them in a short amount of time. Consider what aspect of the link between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence is of particular importance or concern to you and your community. Domestic violence? Elder abuse? If you have more than one topic you wish to focus on, consider doing more than one PSA to increase the impact of what you have to say and avoid confusing your audience. Similarly, if you have more than one target audience, you may choose to focus on a different topic for each.

Use Your Data

charts It is important to use the most updated and relevant information to make your PSA credible and convincing. This can include research-based statistics, data, or studies. The National Link Coalition has compiled research resources regarding the link between animal abuse, child abuse, and neglect, domestic violence, elder abuse, and other forms of family violence. The Animal Legal Defense Fund has information about each state’s animal protection laws. If possible, look for data and information with a local focus and related to your topic and audience. Smart use of data in your PSA can help you both inform and convince your viewers.

State-by-state data are available on domestic violence, child abuse and neglect and elder abuse.

Domestic violence: https://ncadv.org/state-by-state
Child abuse and neglect: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/statistics/can/
Elder abuse: https://ncea.acl.gov/What-We-Do/Research/Statistics-and-Data.aspx

Create Your Storyboard

A storyboard is a visual breakdown of your video, using graphics. A storyboard can be a helpful tool for imagining your PSA – its length, speakers, use of tag line, etc. It can help you think through your script and picture the format for your PSA, i.e., are you using an interview format? Are you planning to have speakers or just use a voiceover with pictures? It can also help you identify any visual affects you may wish to incorporate. Attention getting images are helpful, but they must be carefully selected and a storyboard can help you think it through.

storyboard

For tips and sample storyboard development tools:
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Write Your Script

Develop a script for your PSA with your target audience and topic in mind. Consider developing a simple “tag-line” or “hook” to get your audience’s attention. If using TikTok, you may want to develop a catchy “hashtag” such as “#CityName,” “#animals,” or “#DomesticViolence.” Are you targeting your PSA to bring attention to a particular event such as Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October) or Child Abuse Prevention Month (April)? If so, your script can use that focus as part of your hook. Does your script have a clear “ask?” What do you want your audience to do because of the information you are providing? Consider your tone – though PSAs on serious topics such as animal cruelty and interpersonal violence do not have to be somber to be effective and impactful, they should not treat those topics too lightly.

writing on paper Consider developing scripts for different length videos and/or for different types of media. For instance, if you do use social media like TikTok to get the word out, your PSA and script should be short (currently 3 minutes or less). For media platforms that offer longer options, such as television or YouTube, decide how long you want your PSA to be and use that as a guide for script-writing.

For technical specifications and other information about videos on social media:
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For tips, ideas and other examples of PSA script writing, see:
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Create and Edit Your PSA

When it comes to the actual creation and editing of the video, consider the resources available to you and your partners, including the time and money necessary for equipment and/or videographers or editors. As with choices of media for your PSA, the options for creating and editing video footage are no longer limited to the use of traditional film equipment and videographers. There are now multiple alternatives, including using smartphones, computer webcams, phones, applications, and online resources to craft and edit videos.

laptop computer If using a smartphone for your video:

Check out the video aspect requirements for your media platform to determine your settings and whether to film with your phone horizontal or vertical.
Hold the camera with both hands and grip it firmly – a tentative touch inevitably results in shakiness and creates distortion and image noise. If possible, use a tripod designed for smartphones.
Frame your subject from the shoulders to a couple of inches about the subject’s head.
If videotaping indoors, try to not have the light source directly behind the subject (or the subject directly in front of a window). If shooting outdoors, try to be in the shade outside of the full glare of the sun. Cameras cannot capture drastic changes in light easily.
Have as little background noise or sound as possible.
Avoid standing or sitting behind a distracting background.
Avoid wearing white.

For examples of video creation and editing applications:
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Distribute and Market Your PSA

Once you have a final version of your PSA, it is time to distribute it to your choice of media. Your use of a hashtag may also help improve viewership and distribution. Strategize ideas for announcing your video to your target audience; try to use the PSA to get more extensive media coverage, such as a media story on your work or anything the PSA is promoting.

For help with marketing and distribution ideas:
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Judicial Resources

An Example: Pulaski County, Virginia’s PSA Series

For more information about how Pulaski County developed their PSAs:
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“Judicial leadership is absolutely crucial in our communities. We are the natural leaders, innovators, collaborators, and conveners – and we are often the most recognizable face in any project. I strongly encourage all judges to participate in the PSAs created in their communities.” H. Lee Chitwood, Judge, Pulaski County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, Virginia.

For information on judicial ethics and community leadership:
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Video PSAs, An example: Pulaski County, Virginia’s Community Partners Coalition educational video series for Domestic Violence Awareness Month

In 2020, the Pulaski County Community Partners Coalition formed a committee to focus on community-based education around domestic violence. The Coalition Committee was comprised of representatives from community human services agencies, the school system, law enforcement agencies, the faith community, and youth and members of the community at large. The group identified family conflict and violence as a pressing issue for the county. They focused on the creation of a film series to highlight various aspects of domestic violence for Domestic Violence Awareness month, with a video planned to be released each week during October. Each focused on a different topic or “hook.” One was the link between animal abuse and domestic violence. The Coalition Committee chose a video PSA format to provide community education on domestic violence-related issues to reach a broad audience of community members at a time when in-person activities and interactions were restricted because of the COVID pandemic. They chose to feature different speakers, which included a mayor (selected for his visibility and name recognition in the community), a judge (to provide a legal perspective), a local veterinarian (to provide the animal-medical perspective), a domestic violence advocate (to highlight the impact on victims and services), and an animal shelter provider (to highlight the impact on both victims and their animals). The Committee used resources from the National Link Coalition to provide statistics on animal abuse and domestic violence. With available grant funds, Pulaski County purchased equipment to do the actual filming but used a member of their Coalition with technology experience to act as their filmographer and editor. They developed a script with talking points for each of the featured speakers to assist in the process. The Committee filmed footage at different locations, helped some of the speakers with cue cards, and chose to use YouTube as their media for viewing and distribution in order to make the videos accessible to the public. They publicized the PSAs using a press release carried in the local newspaper and engaged their partners to cross-post the video series on the webpages and Facebook pages of their organizations.

For a sample script based on the Pulaski County PSAs, click here:
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For other PSA examples on different aspects of the relationship between animal abuse and interpersonal violence:
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Additional PSA Resources

There are many more resources available online regarding PSAs, including additional guidance on how to make PSA videos, why PSAs work and why they don’t, as well as a PSA toolkit developed by the Office of Victims of Crime.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) have developed this template and set of resources to support local collaborations in developing PSAs on the connections between animal cruelty and family violence.