Pet Shelter Lighting

Lighting is an important element of any location. When considering lighting for a pet shelter, that lighting becomes even more important. Since the goal of any animal shelter is to help pets find their forever home, it is wise to choose lighting that will highlight the animals in the right way.

Why Does Lighting Matter?

• People are more likely to adopt an animal that looks friendly and healthy. The right lighting can help make an animal look like the right candidate for the adopter.

• Improper lighting not only hides your animals away, it also hints at the fact that you may be hiding something else. A well-lit shelter shows a certain level of pride and transparency whereas a dimly lit shelter may be hiding dirty cages, neglected animals, safety hazards, or other issues that might make adopters go elsewhere.

• Bright lights encourage buying! While adopting a pet isn’t quite the same as normal retail shopping, the principle of how lighting affects the decision to say yes to a purchase still apply.

Lighting plays a big role in pet shelters. So, how do you create lighting that helps you reach your goal of finding stray animals a new home? Here are a few tips to help you find the best lighting for pet shelters.

• Placement of the lights is a big one. When choosing the best lighting for pet shelters, where you put the fixture will matter more than the type of light. A common mistake shelter owners make is to place lights down the aisle of the cages while ignoring the cages themselves. This creates a murky, shadowy appearance that makes your shelter seem less appealing while making the animals look less friendly. Place lights above the cages to highlight the animals. This should still provide ample light for the aisle walkway.

• If you are still concerned about aisle walkway lighting, you can invest in a few lower wattage lights or even rope lighting. Make sure the brightest lighting in the area is the light over the animals since it will draw the focus to the animals instead of the walkway.

• The type of lighting solution is also important. You want to avoid lights that create excess heat to keep your animals as comfortable as possible. Halogen and induction lighting often burn too hot for this type of setting. Incandescent burns at a cooler temperature, but isn’t the best for creating an evenly distributed light spread. They also aren’t very efficient in terms of watt conversion to lumen output. A better choice would be fluorescent or even LED lighting solutions. These two options will give you better lumen output with lower watts and create a clean, crisp illumination to highlight the animals nicely.

Figuring out the right lighting based on your location shouldn’t be hard or confusing. Following some basic lighting layout ideas will ensure you get the best lighting for your pet shelter.