How to better help your community find lost pets - Ep62
Release Date: 11/01/2021
Get staff and public buy-in for return-to-field - Ep68
Shelter Success Simplified
GUEST: Scott Giacoppo. Scott is the Director of National Shelter Outreach for Best Friends Animal Society and oversees the development of lifesaving efficacy and sustainability for animal welfare partners across the U.S. Prior to Best Friends, Scott was president of NACA – the National Animal Care & Control Association – as well as chief of Animal Field Services for the District of Columbia for 10 years, overseeing all animal control and cruelty investigations team members for Humane Rescue Alliance. He began his animal protection career with the Massachusetts Society for the...
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Better social media posts for your organization - Ep67
Shelter Success Simplified
GUEST: Kimberly Wade. Kimberly is an expert consultant for Humane Network focusing on communications and social media. She was campaign manager for Maddie's Pet Project in Nevada, communications director at Nevada Humane Society, news producer at KOLO 8 News Now, and has a degree in broadcast journalism and communications from the University of Central Florida. MAIN QUESTION: What are some tips for animal organizations to create better social media pages and posts? TAKEAWAYS: If you don’t have a photo, you don’t have a story. To take good photos, avoid a busy background. Get a...
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How to find help for your animal organization - Ep66
Shelter Success Simplified
GUEST: Brent Toellner. Brent is the Senior Director of National Programs for Best Friends Animal Society. Prior to joining Best Friends, Brent, his wife, Michelle, and a few others co-founded the Kansas City Pet Project to run the municipal shelter in Kansas City, Missouri. MAIN QUESTION: There's a lot of pressure in animal welfare and people can feel alone in their work — what tips and ideas might help? TAKEAWAYS: In animal welfare, we’re pushed to do more with limited resources. People often feel they just need to work harder and do more programs, but that doesn’t work in the...
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Tips for implementing new programs successfully - Ep65
Shelter Success Simplified
Main question: What are the common issues you find when doing organizational assessments of animal organizations around the country?
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A tech solution for tracking community calls better - Ep64
Shelter Success Simplified
MAIN QUESTION: How does Doobert's new Companion Case Management module improve communications with the public?
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How to engage your community without judgment - Ep63
Shelter Success Simplified
Question: How can animal organizations better meet people where they're at?
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How to better help your community find lost pets - Ep62
Shelter Success Simplified
GUEST: Kat Albrecht-Thiessen is a pioneer in lost pet investigations. She was a police officer, bloodhound handler, crime scene investigator, and search-and-rescue manager before beginning to apply her skills in 1997 to finding lost pets. She is founder of Missing Animal Response Network and author of the book “Pet Tracker.”
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Why and how to create a positive workplace culture - Ep61
Shelter Success Simplified
QUESTION: How can animal organizations build a healthy workplace culture, which is so important in a competitive job market?
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How to raise more funds by communicating better - Ep60
Shelter Success Simplified
What works to engage more members of the community with our animal welfare work so that we can raise more funds — and what doesn't work?
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How to manage staff conflict at your nonprofit - Ep59
Shelter Success Simplified
GUEST: Diane Blankenburg is CEO & Co-Founder of Humane Network.
info_outlineGUEST: Kat Albrecht-Thiessen is a pioneer in lost pet investigations. She was a police officer, bloodhound handler, crime scene investigator, and search-and-rescue manager before beginning to apply her skills in 1997 to finding lost pets. She is founder of Missing Animal Response Network and author of the book “Pet Tracker.”
MAIN QUESTION: How can shelters and rescue groups support the public in finding lost pets?
- Don’t make assumptions about found pets such as that a pet has been abused or dumped, rather than simply lost and on their own for a long time. Such assumptions can get in the way of reconnecting that animal with their people.
- Search techniques are different for dogs and cats.
- With cats, the best advice is to get permission from neighbors to do a methodical search of every conceivable hiding place in a two- to five-house radius. (That’s where most cats are found.)
- With indoor-only cats who have escaped, in addition to doing a search, put out a plate of food and set up a wildlife camera. (Then you can set a humane trap).
- With dogs, marketing is key: Dogs are often picked up by people so it’s important to get the word out widely so that the finder can learn that the dog belongs to someone who cares about and misses the pet.
- Shelters and rescues can put a link on their website to MissingAnimalResponse.com, where people can find resources on finding missing pets and connect with volunteers who can help them in their search.
- And here are a few myths about lost pets:
- It’s not true that putting a missing cat’s litterbox on your porch will bring them back.
- Calling out for your cat generally won’t help and doesn’t mean your cat is not nearby when they don’t respond. They are intentionally staying hidden and silent out of fear or injury.
- Some shelters will make a situation worse by telling people that a pet was probably eaten by a coyote. Assumptions about coyote predation kills more lost pets than coyotes actually do by inspiring people to give up their search.
LINKS:
- Missing Animal Response Network (website)
- "Pet Tracker: The Amazing Story of Rachel the K-9 Pet Detective" (book available in print, electronically and on audio)
- Leadership recommendation: "Don't Let Internal Controls Slip at Your Nonprofit Organization" by Blue Avocado (article)