Pet rescue Mattie’s Place officially presented its “pet-ition” campaign – the first petition signed by pets – in the House of Commons, with the backing of federal MP Julie Debrusin.

In a first-time partnership with creative agency Publicis Toronto, the campaign was launched in response to what Mattie’s Place calls antiquated federal animal welfare laws and an influx of pet abandonment. In Ontario alone, there are more than 40,000 pets surrendered or found as strays each year, according to Mattie’s Place.

Mattie’s Place founder Denise Angus tells strategy that Canada lags behind the rest of the world in terms of animal welfare, with the World Animal Protection Index giving the country a “D” grade. “Canadian Federal laws do not recognize animals as living, sentient beings, listing them merely as ‘property,’ a classification that other countries have changed and which our petition calls for,” she explains.

The campaign was built upon an insight pulled from petition law, which doesn’t specify that you must be human to sign a petition, Angus says, adding you just need a name, address and unique signature, which pets all possess. Using this loophole and paw prints as signatures (since they are genetically unique), the campaign was launched at North America’s Large Dog Festival in June, before gathering thousands of signatures throughout the summer.

For this campaign, Mattie’s Place enlisted strategists, creatives and PR experts to get the message out and engage its volunteer and online communities. “In the past, the brand has looked to engage with these followers to create grassroots movements, while also utilizing PR opportunities to spread the brand’s message and goals,” Angus explains. “Overall, this campaign has looked to continue to engage with this community and pursue the avenues that have proved fruitful, while also expanding the scale.”

In its research, Mattie’s Place found that 92% of Canadians support stronger animal rights laws, Angus says. People are eager and willing to help, but they don’t know how to channel that energy,” she adds. “With the ‘Pet-ition’ campaign, we were able to channel that energy into meaningful change but also energizing them because they were able to get their pets involved as well.”