Meet the 2020 Avanzino Leadership Award recipient!
We’re thrilled to announce that the 2020 Avanzino Leadership Award goes to Dr. Michael J. Blackwell for his outstanding leadership and purposeful dedication to honor the human-animal bond. The award is named after Rich Avanzino, the father of the no-kill movement and Maddie’s Fund President from 1999 – 2015. This award recognizes significant achievement and courage to look beyond the status quo and make bold decisions to improve the lives of pets and their people. The award is presented with a $25,000 grant to be...
Jennifer Garner Dressed Her Dog As The Characters From Her Most Popular Roles
Over the course the pandemic this year we’ve all found our different methods of coping. Most of us have gone more mainstream routes, like trying to become our own sourdough bread bakers, while others have gotten very into Marie Kondo-ing their spaces with all the extra organization time that there’s been. For celebrity Jennifer Garner, lockdown has meant making videos staring her golden retriever, Birdie. The precious pup is often featured wearing costumes that draw inspiration from her many films and TV shows. Jennifer’s...
How animal welfare organizations can use technology to reunite lost pets with their families
Animal welfare organizations have been transitioning to a more community-centric model of animal sheltering, including how animal shelters and rescue organizations can support their community reunite with their lost pets. Does your organization offer services to your community that increases return to owner rates AND decreases your intake? Do you know the biggest obstacles someone trying to pick up their lost pet faces? Return-to-owner (RTO) expert, Gina Knepp, states that the two barriers blocking reunification are lack of...
Underwater Footage Shows The Weird Feeding Habits Of Flamingos
Flamingos are a funny breed of bird. They’re pink. They stand on one leg. They’re so quirky, you can’t help but wonder what their other habits look like, like when they eat. But because flamingos dip their heads underwater when they chow down, it’s difficult to tell exactly what is happening under the surface. But there is no need to wonder anymore. Thanks to the San Diego Zoo, the feeding habits of the flamingos are now public knowledge. The zoo inserted an underwater camera into the flamingos’ feeding pool,...
Magpie Always Comes Back To See The Family That Rescued Him
When it comes to magpies, there’s an old rhyme that goes something like “one for sorrow, two for joy.” But there is nothing sorrowful about the adorable little magpie named Penguin. The magpie has become a standard fixture in the backyard of the Bloom family who lives in Newport, Australia after they rescued him and nursed him back to health. Though released back into the wild, the magpie makes frequent trips back home just to hang out and say hi, or to seek shelter whenever it rains. The Bloom family first found Penguin...
Giant Crocodile Swims Like A Dolphin As It Races A Boat
We all know that Australia is a vast landscape full of natural beauty. But it also has a lot of dangerous animals – saltwater crocodiles being amongst the list of scary predators that dot the Australian wild. These crocs are quite a common sight around the tropical areas of North Queensland, where they can grow up to 22 feet in length! Needless to say, these large reptiles are something to be feared. These massive beasts date back centuries and have actually outlived the dinosaurs by something like 65 million years. One fisherman,...
There’s A Group Of Women In Zimbabwe Who Risk Their Lives To Fight Poachers
No matter what some might say, women are more than capable of doing the same jobs as men – no matter how dangerous the task might be. And one group of women in Africa are doing just that. These brave women have formed the Akashinga unit, which is working to protect African wildlife against poaching. In recent years the number of poaching cases has increased. Now, it’s the women of Zimbabwe who are standing up and saying enough is enough. This Akashinga team are working as Zimbabwe’s Phundundu Wildlife Area, a 115-square-mile...
Maddie’s Weekly Roundup: HASS empowering animal welfare organizations to think outside of the box to keep people and pets together, Best Friends Professional Development Symposium and more!
Below is a brief round-up of new blog posts and resources we’ve added over the past week. #HassInAction: LifeLine Animal Project thinks outside of the box to keep person and pup togetherWith the animal welfare movement constantly evolving and transitioning to meet the needs of people and their pets, animal shelter and rescue organizations are realizing they may need to think outside of the box to find ways to best serve their communities. One organization in particular, LifeLine Animal Project in Atlanta, GA, had a pup and...
Only In Australia Would Two Snakes Fall Through Someone’s Ceiling
I don’t think that any of us enjoy having critters in the house. It doesn’t matter if it is a spider, ants, or anything else that is a creepy-crawly, they are better on the outside of the home. If you think that you have a reason for complaint, you might want to look to the home in Brisbane, Australia. After all, they had 2 huge snakes fall through their kitchen ceiling recently. Steve Brown works for Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation as a snake catcher. He was recently on a call in which he was supposed to remove...
Extremely Rare Bird Photographed For The First Time In 130 Years
You’d have to look back quite a few decades to find a time when pioneers were roaming through areas that were vastly unknown. Those individuals would often draw pictures of what they found and amaze people when they got back to civilization. These days, we may not be pioneers in that sense, but we do have opportunities to make discoveries. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you might just be surprised by what you are able to find or hear about others’ findings. The South Philippine dwarf kingfisher was discovered in 1890. Most...
