This Shelter’s Bonded Pairs Program Has Gotten 218 Pairs of Pets Into Loving Homes
This story comes out of Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Arizona—stay tuned to our social media for more very inspiring, very HASS-y stories about how volunteers are integrated into community-focused animal organizations! And please reach out to let us know if you have a great story to share, about awesome volunteers or anything else! Some longtime volunteers at Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Arizona, kept having their hearts broken by pairs of pets who they knew came from the same home, but were separated once they arrived at the...
How This Officer Worked Differently to Keep a Cat Safe While His Owner Was Hospitalized
This National Animal Care & Control Appreciation Week, we’re sharing stories that show the absolutely critical role field services officers play in HASS’s community-focused model of animal services. This story comes out of Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, Washington—stay tuned for more very inspiring, very HASS-y field services stories on social media! And please reach out to let us know if you have a great story to share about the ways your organization is implementing the HASS model to keep people and pets together...
How One Shelter Recruited 2,000 Fosters in a Year and a Half
When we heard about how Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society, in Cincinnati, Ohio, went from having zero fosters, to nearly 2,000 fosters, in just a year and a half—we obviously had to find out more! We recently spoke with foster coordinator Amanda Graus about how in the world she did it, and lessons for other groups that want to build out their foster programs and become foster-centric organizations. The following Q&A has been edited for length because honestly we could have talked to Amanda about fostering all day. Because Peeka...
Pet Homelessness Shouldn’t Be Happening: Here’s How Companies and Individuals Can Help
Despite Americans’ overall affection for pets, the reality is that at any given time nearly 48 million cats and dogs don’t have a home in the U.S. For years, workers and volunteers at animal shelters have faced an uphill battle as they selflessly combat pet homelessness. At the forefront of this massive challenge is Dr. Ellen Jefferson, an animal welfare advocate, longtime pet shelter veterinarian, and president and CEO of the Texas animal shelter Austin Pets Alive. TriplePundit spoke with Dr. Jefferson from her office...
Animal shelters warn of a looming crisis and call on Americans to help
As we enter the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, a “perfect storm of factors” has put pressure on understaffed U.S. shelters. When the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced animal shelters across the country to close their doors, Americans answered the desperate calls for help by adopting and fostering pets. Now as we head into the third year of the pandemic, a new crisis looms — so rescue advocates are hoping Americans will step up to help once again. Source: Human Animal Support...
The Dog Pound Is Dead
We are a nation of pet lovers. Ninety-eight percent of pet owners say pets are important members of their family. An estimated 70% of Americans own one or more pets. A recent study even found that many people will even delay needed medical care because they have nowhere safe for their animals to stay while they are hospitalized. But when someone has trouble caring for a pet—they’ve lost their job or their home, or are struggling to pay for pet food or vet care—walking into the average animal shelter, that person has...
This Animal Shelter Hired a Veterinary Social Worker!
Human Animal Support Services (HASS) just put out a brand new resource: Integrating Veterinary Social Work Into Animal Shelters. It gets into what veterinary social workers do, ways they can support people and pets in the community and support shelter staff—and how shelters can hire a veterinary social worker full time, or access their services for community and staff. This gives us the perfect opportunity to talk with Kelly Bremken, who became a veterinary social worker after working in animal welfare for over 15 years. Kelly came on...
Pets and Technology: How Entrepreneurs and Innovators Can Help Save Lives
“There is a huge disconnect between how much people care about their pets, and 98% of people believe that their pets are as important as human family members, but our laws are still treating them like property that have absolutely no inherent value,” Dr. Ellen Jefferson, president and CEO of Austin Pets Alive! and American Pets Alive!, said, during a recent SXSW panel on pet tech and the changing pet-owner relationship. This is one of the critical, solvable problems leading to an estimated 1 million pets dying in shelters every...
If Your Shelter Is Full Or Close To Full, Here’s What To Do Today
Last summer, we gave you 12 tips for managing intake during a space crisis. With summer approaching again, these tips should be front of mind as your shelter prepares for the seasonal influx of kittens, puppies, dogs, and cats—or if you’re already getting full. But what can you do to prevent a space crisis before it happens, or to help prevent a space crisis from becoming worse? That’s where these five tips aimed at keeping families together come in. Supporting families in your community not only keeps people and...
Cat Who Lost 2 Left Legs in Accident Now Runs to His Favorite Boy, Gives Hope in a Hard Time
It was just about a year and a half ago that Suzanne Buffington, her then-12-year-old son Gracen, and their pet cat Shade, showed up at Cabot Animal Support Services in Cabot, Arkansas, in a desperate state. Shade had been in an accident, and it was bad. When Gracen found his cat outside that morning, one leg—the front left—was broken, with the bone poking out through his skin. Shade’s left hind paw and leg had what Suzanne describes as “holes” going through them. “He had holes in places there should not be...
