Feature Article
Before you click “post,” “tweet” or “share” one more time, stop and think for a moment. You could share that Grumpy Cat photo, but will it help get your animals adopted? Done right, social media can be a powerful tool for building a community of volunteers, donors, foster caregivers and adopters for your organization. Learn from a shelter social media expert how you can make the most of your organization’s online presence.
Feature Article
In his forthcoming book, The Humane Economy, HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle describes a revolution in American business and public policy that is changing forever how we treat animals and conduct commerce. In this excerpt, Pacelle explores the ways in which the savvy, compassionate choices of two major pet supply chains and the creative vision of two young entrepreneurs have changed the landscape for homeless animals. Learn how the humane economy is shaping the future of animal protection, and get some behind-the-scenes knowledge in a Q&A with the author himself.
Scoop
Mew-ey decimal system
‘Kitten lending library’ boosts adoptions—and morale
Not-so-simple life with Simon
A challenging dog reminds a sheltering pro that we’re all human
Operation Roger keeps on truckin’
Transport group celebrates its 10th anniversary
The modern cat caretaker
Tips for taking your colony care to a higher level
101 Department
When animal control officers show up at your shelter’s clinic with an animal from an alleged cruelty situation, your veterinarian doesn’t need to call in a forensics expert, but she will need to know some basics about cruelty exams. If the case goes to court, your veterinarian may be a key witness, and everything she writes in a report will be scrutinized. But as long as vets know what to look for and how to document their findings, they can perform exams that both guide effective treatment for the animals and provide clear, compelling evidence.
Life Preservers
Surrendering a pet is usually a crisis point in people’s lives—a devastating, emotional experience. But if your front desk staff are overwhelmed, your shelter’s intake process can seem about as personal as the DMV. That realization led the Animal Care Centers of New York City to revolutionize its approach to owner surrenders, adding 30 trained admissions counselors and private offices where clients can tell their stories. It’s a strategy that’s connecting many owners with resources that enable them to keep their pets and facilitating better solutions for the animals who can’t stay in their homes.
The Human Element
Volunteers are vital to the work of many animal welfare organizations, but when you mix an emotionally charged workplace with people who may prefer animals to their own species, it’s no surprise that tensions arise. Forestall problems from derailing your organization’s mission—learn from experts in volunteer management how an organized approach (and a dash of psychology) can keep volunteers and staff working side by side in the name of animals.
Unforgettable
Mutterings
Entrepreneur Kanchan Singh opened Crumbs & Whiskers—a cat café inspired by one in Thailand and based in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood—in June 2015 to feverish excitement and long lines.
Mutterings
When weatherman Al Roker completed a “Rokerthon,” setting a Guinness World Record for “longest uninterrupted live weather report” during a 34-hour forecast, it sparked a flash of inspiration in Santa Cruz Veterinary Clinic employee Clara Lee Arnold.
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could do a world record spay/neuter-thon?”
Mutterings
In Pound for Pound: A Story of One Woman’s Recovery and the Shelter Dogs Who Loved Her Back to Life, author Shannon Kopp details her eight-year struggle with bulimia and the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA jobs that ultimately allowed her to heal.
Mouthpieces
Some people have difficulty providing the basics, including food, for their pets. Download this Mouthpiece to let your community know they can talk to you about ways you can help.
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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