Feature Article
Older cats in a shelter aren’t as easy a sell as the adorable young furballs. Fortunately, a good number of people are interested in adopting more mature felines, and some shelters have devised creative ways to promote adoptions of these sassy seniors—from discounted fees and free medical exams to posters extolling their many charms and housing that helps display their more seasoned personalities.
Feature Article
You’re working and working, and animals keep coming and coming, and that light at the end of the tunnel never seems to appear. So how do you recharge? In a field full of empathetic, dedicated people who regularly bear witness to animal suffering, compassion fatigue and burnout can be serious issues. Shelter executives and managers can play a role in addressing their workers’ stress by embracing supportive measures; agencies that ignore their staffs’ needs run the risk of morale problems that affect job performance and ultimately undermine the organization’s mission.
Scoop
Building a way off the chain
In the Pacific Northwest, good neighbors make good fences
Once withering, now slithering
D.C. officers help rescue starving snake and convict former owner
Think outside the rink
Unconventional fundraiser on wheels scores in Springfield, Mo.
Under the feather?
Evaluating and caring for incoming birds
Working both sides of the law
Michigan county focuses on outreach as well as enforcement
Q&A
He might not be quite as revolutionary as his namesake, but Che Green, founder of the Humane Research Council, is shaking things up by showing animal welfare advocates the value of good data and helping them evaluate their own programs.
Extra
The longer animals stay in the shelter, the more they risk disease, stress, and behavior problems. Some shelters are combating these undesirable outcomes by embracing fast-tracking, which aims to move highly adoptable animals through the process as efficiently as possible.
Humane Law Forum
We’re a country of laws (and of lawsuits), and some of them have a direct impact on the work shelters and rescues do for animals. Whether it’s the latest tethering proposal or a piece of breed-specific legislation, there are ways to stay in the loop.
Behavior Department
We are what we eat, and what we eat can greatly influence our moods as well as our physical well-being. The same holds true for dogs. A veterinarian delves into the ways that diets and nutritional supplements may affect their behavior.
101 Department
Direct mail often provides a crucial fundraising stream for animal welfare organizations. What techniques and messages are working well today? Nonprofit fundraising experts offer their thoughts on the latest trends.
Unforgettable
He’s come to be known as “Hank,” but that’s not his real name. And his owner’s real name isn’t “McKenzie.”
We’re not going to tell you what “McKenzie’s” former boyfriend’s name is, either. (We have some ideas about what we’d call him, but they’re not printable here.)
Mouthpieces
It's not fun to be judged based on your perceived breed. Download this Mouthpiece to remind your community that all types of dogs have the potential to be wonderful pets.
Browse additional Mouthpieces designed to aid your community outreach. To submit a PSA your organization designed, contact us at asm@humanesociety.org.
Magazine Article
At a time of life when most people are savoring a more leisurely pace, Harold Sims of Cullowhee, North Carolina, is busier than ever and has no intention of slowing down.
Magazine Article
I came to the Humane Society of the United States in 2014 after a decade (more if you count those years I spent as a kid sitting in cat rooms and walking dogs way too big for me) overseeing operations at animal shelters. I wouldn’t say I was particularly excited about or motivated to fit policy into my daily workload of caring for homeless pets—until I worked for an animal shelter that was located in a city with breed-specific legislation, flawed policies that ban certain types of dogs based on their physical appearance.
Magazine Article
To see Teddy and Millie now—playful and friendly, outgoing and affectionate— you’d never guess what they’ve endured in their short lives. As part of an unnecessary test commissioned by Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva Agriscience), the beagles were force-fed a pesticide every day for more than seven months at a laboratory in Michigan.
Magazine Article
Vinnie Van Gogh, a reticent feline, spent four months at Dakin Humane Society before his photo appeared on the shelter’s website with the headline “The Socially Awkward Cat for the Socially Awkward Adopter.”
“Seriously all this guy requires is a couch and someone to give him his daily necessities,” the write-up by the Springfield, Massachusetts, shelter read. “Take him home, and have a perfect buddy for all those times that going out is just not worth the effort. He understands.”
Magazine Article
Two leaders in the animal welfare field, Washington, D.C.-based Humane Rescue Alliance and New Jersey’s St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, announced a merger in early July to create what’s believed to be the first organization of its kind in the country.
As a result of this unique combination—two community-based, but regional-focused, animal welfare groups working across state borders—the joint organization has more resources to make a bigger impact in the areas it serves and beyond.
Magazine Article
If you watched the Golden Globes back in 2016, you couldn’t miss her: Collecting a Golden Globe for best actress in a television series, musical or comedy, Rachel Bloom was visibly ecstatic, motor-mouthed and breathless, practically leaping from the screen.
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