Pawsitively Thriving: Strategies for Work-Life Balance in Animal Welfare
[embedded content] Work-life balance is never easy for people who work in animal sheltering, and increased lengths of stay and high staff turnover have only made the job more challenging. As you support the people and pets in your community, caring for yourself and your teams can feel like a secondary goal. Listen to this webinar recording featuring Lindsay Hamrick, Director of Shelter Outreach & Engagement with the Humane Society of the United States, to learn why work-life balance can be difficult in animal welfare and practical tips...
People, Pets, and Purpose: Best Friends’ Brent Toellner, and Clare Callison of HASS
[embedded content] Welcome to the next installment of People, Pets, and Purpose, our (no longer quite brand new!) interview series exploring the human-animal bond, and what really matters. Check out previous PPP episodes with the Arizona Pet Project’s Leanna Taylor and Michigan Humane’s Matt Pepper. What does a humane community look like, in and out of its animal shelters? That’s the topic host Diaz Dixon—the Maddie’s® Advisor for External Affairs and Partnerships for the Human Animal Support Services...
Kitten Season is Here Again, and We’ve Got Resources for You
Well, it’s that time of year again. Kitten season. You’re either in it already, or the kittens are coming. You don’t need us telling you how hard kitten season is, especially in these very challenging times. The good news is we have a lot of tools and resources that will help you communicate with and engage your community, in the work of saving cats’ and kittens’ lives. 6 Tips for Building a Barrier-Free, Inclusive Foster Base When the ASPCA launched its LA Foster Program in 2017, a first...
Unleashing the Power of Data: Key Insights from 2022
[embedded content] Data, data, data! This webinar goes over key highlights from 2022 sheltering data on lost pet reunification, better data practices, ways data can help us improve. Hear from Maggie Lynch, Senior Director of Research and Development at Austin Pets Alive!; Amanda Foster, Assistant Director of Implementation Analysis for the HASS project; and Kate McHugh-Westfall, Embedded Data and Implementation Coordinator for the HASS project, in this live webinar moderated by Vincent Medley, Maddie’s® Director of Human Animal...
Case Management: Make It Your Animal Shelter’s Superpower!
“Case management” for pets housed in your shelter may sound new—but don’t worry, your organization is already doing it! Strengthened awareness helps you practice this care model more skillfully. What is it? Case management is the umbrella term for work done to recognize and serve individual pets in institutional settings, meet their unique needs, and match them with good homes. When you take a shelter dog on a walk, snap a flattering photo of them, or craft their online biography, you fulfill responsibilities as that...
From Lost to Found: How a 48 Hour Window Can Help Reunite Pets With Their Families
About half the pets who enter animal shelters come in as “strays,” but many aren’t stray at all—they are owned pets who’ve gotten away from home. Developing, refining, and teaching, data-backed, effective ways to reunite lost pets with their owners is one of the Human Animal Support Services’s top priorities, because it’s a key way to keep people and pets together, and prevent shelter overcrowding. Data from Shelter Animals Count shows that the majority of pets coming into shelters, come in as...
People, Pets, and Purpose: The Arizona Pet Project’s Leanna Taylor
[embedded content] Welcome to the next installment of People, Pets, and Purpose, our brand new interview series exploring the human-animal bond, and what really matters. In this incredible episode, if we do say so ourselves, host Diaz Dixon—the Maddie’s® Advisor for External Affairs and Partnerships for the Human Animal Support Services project—speaks with one of the most inspiring people we’ve ever come across. Leanna Taylor is CEO of The Arizona Pet Project, an organization that keeps pets with the people...
Sharing Stories, Shaping the Future: A HASS Town Hall
[embedded content] Listen to this thought-provoking discussion where we delved into the past, present, and future of the Human Animal Support Services project. Hear from Vincent Medley, Maddie’s® Director of Human Animal Support Services; Spencer Conover, Assistant Director of Animal Services for Pasco County Animal Services; Kylie Ortega, HASS Programs Coordinator for Fresno Humane Animal Services; and Jorge Ortega, Director for Guilford County Animal Services about their insights into the evolution of HASS and the future of animal...
Where We Find Hope and a Call to Action in the (Pretty Dismal) 2022 Shelter Data
You probably didn’t need to see a comprehensive report to know that 2022 was a tough year in sheltering. But we do have the data, thanks to Shelter Animals Count. Here’s their newest report: Intake and Outcome Data Comparison for the Full Year, Q1-Q4 2022. The long and short of it is that by most metrics, 2022 was worse than 2021, but still significantly better than 2019. While encouraging you to read the whole report, some of the most important and salient data points and findings include: 2.7 percent more pets entered shelters...
The H in HASS: Q&A
[embedded content] When people experience a crisis, it often leads to being separated from the pets they love. The Human Animal Support Services project is a collective of animal welfare organizations working to create a system to better support pets and their people. In this live webinar, HASS leaders came together to continue the discussion of human services, animal services, and, overall, the “H” in HASS. Dr. Ellen Jefferson, President and CEO of Austin Pets Alive!; Vincent Medley, Maddie’s® Director of Human Animal...
