Let’s Talk About Burnout in Animal Welfare
As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s only right that we talk about a topic that hits really close to home for so many of us in the animal welfare space—BURNOUT! Burnout is something that any person working too many hours, under too much stress, and in a challenging environment, is likely to experience at some point in their lives. As a social worker, and particularly a social worker in an animal shelter, I’m often asked if burnout is avoidable. I don’t, unfortunately, have a universal answer to...
Facing a Space Crisis? Here Are 8 Ideas to Try Right Now!
The weather is warming and kennels are getting fuller. (No kidding, right?) Just to lay this on the table: we’re all of us working toward a future where space crises are rarer than they are today. One where most pets are in homes—foster homes, and supported in their family homes—leaving ample room in physical shelters for the pets who truly need to be there. These eight tips and ideas—plus a whole bunch of bonus extras—are aimed at helping mitigate a space crisis today, and preventing one tomorrow, as we...
How I Learned to Love ChatGPT for Shelter Marketing
This blog is for anyone who is curious, and perhaps a little nervous, about ChatGPT’s uses in animal shelter communications. When marketing and communications spaces started exploding with talk about ChatGPT earlier this year, my first instinct was to bury my head in the sand. Most feelings of anxiety in my life can ultimately be traced back to a fear of inadequacy or failure. I was terrified that a machine could possibly do my job—I’ve done marketing and communications for a major metro government shelter, for...
Compassionate Communication: Supporting People and Pets Through Human-Centered Language
[embedded content] Have you ever been scrolling through social media and read through a post calling someone a “horrible pet owner” or worse during a time of need or crisis? The answer is probably yes; we’ve all seen this, and perhaps we’ve even used harmful language ourselves not knowing the full story. The words we use have an impact and can push away the people who need support so we’d like to take the time to evaluate how we can have more compassionate communication. In this presentation, Shannon Glenn,...
People, Pets, and Purpose: Mark Castaneda Lived on the Street With His Dog
[embedded content] These days, Mark Castenada and his dog Jelly Bean share a home in California, where Mark is studying space sciences at the University of the Pacific. Mark has interned with NASA—yes that NASA—and also advocates for bringing healthcare services to communities in need, through his work with CommonSpirit Health. Mark brings a very personal passion, and understanding, to this part of his life. It was only a couple of years ago, that he and Jelly Bean were themselves unhoused, living on the street, and looking...
Learn how to become more community-centric with these free courses on Maddie’s University
Is your animal organization working to become more community-centric and need a little help? Maddie’s® University now offers Human Animal Support Services (HASS) curriculum, covering the most important concepts of the community-centric model. From lost pet reunification, pet support services, intake to placement, and creating a foster-facing medical clinic, the curriculum starts with a brief introduction to the HASS model and then dives into each element. It’s free to enroll and you can take the courses at your own pace....
How I Lost My Cat, and Found My Community (and Found My Cat)
Chappy got out of the house. It was a freak accident, on a Sunday morning in February. The wind blew the door open, while my husband Ray brought an Instacart order in from the front stoop. The noise scared our cat, our shy, happy, spoiled, fluffy, black-and-white prince, and he jumped through the open door. Chappy, who hadn’t spent a moment outdoors since he was picked up by a cat rescue group as a baby kitten, and hadn’t shown the slightest inclination to make a break for it in the six years we’d had him, tried...
It’s Raining Cats and Kittens: How to Save More Feline Lives This Kitten Season
[embedded content] It’s raining cats and…kittens. Kitten season is upon us and feline lifesaving is front of mind. We’ve convened a panel of experts to share their best kitten season tips, tools, and tricks to help you save lives this year—and prevent a seasonal population boom in years to come. Our Q&A-style panel includes Peter Wolf, Senior Strategist for Shelter and Community Research at Best Friends Animal Society; Monica Tarant, Chief Innovation Officer: Feline Lifesaving at Cincinnati Animal CARE with the...
Get Inspired With 5 Must-See Webinars!
We’ve been offering webinars galore in 2023. They’re on so many of the critical topics relating to the work at hand of keeping families together, and pets alive, while focusing on the humans who are at the very heart of animal welfare. Here are five you don’t want to miss—and stay tuned for more, more, more! We’ve got some incredible, super inspiring, and very actionable webinars planned for the coming months. Crisis Sheltering for Pets: Keeping People and Pets Together There are times when someone...
People, Pets, and Purpose: Derrick Garrett, Founder of Zoundz Music For Pets
[embedded content] Pets get stressed at the vet. They get upset in the car. Being home alone isn’t always a picnic. And of course animal shelters can be one of the most stressful environments for pets, with the noise, smells, and constant activity—and the stress can lead to behavior that makes it harder for pets to get adopted, and can even put their lives at risk. Enter Derrick Garrett. Derrick is a successful music producer and engineer who’s worked with Bobby Brown, the Spin Doctors, Chantay Savage, K-Ci & JoJo, and...
