The Best Friends Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Consumer Adoption Survey Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

The Best Friends 2021 Lifesaving Dataset showed that over the last year, adoptions did not keep pace with the increase in the number of cats and dogs entering shelters. Unfortunately, that trend has continued into 2022, and with many around the country experiencing the same issues, transports are happening less frequently, adding to the strain on animal shelters.

We wanted to learn more about the public’s attitudes towards pet adoption during this turbulent time. Have we hit a national saturation point of pet ownership? Are external factors like the economy and housing issues to blame? For those who still want to add a new pet to their family, where are they acquiring them from?

To find out more, Best Friends Animal Society commissioned a survey and gathered insights from hundreds of members of the public who considered acquiring a pet or did acquire a pet in the past 12 months.

This week we sit down with the director of strategy and network operations for Best Friends, Bethany Heins. She shares the results, and we discuss how to use the insights to ensure you’re maximizing your adoptions.

Check out the survey results and access the full analysis: https://network.bestfriends.org/research-data/research/consumer-adoption-survey

Visit the website for episode 119 of The Best Friends Podcast: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-119

The 2022 Best Friends National Conference kicks off today! Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

It's the return of the Best Friends National Conference! Animal welfare professionals from across the country (and beyond!) have made their way to Raleigh, North Carolina, for our first in-person conference since the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event.

This year we're in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like the previous host communities, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Atlantic City, and North Carolina are important to the animal welfare movement.

We can't tell North Carolina's story in just one episode, but with the conference kicking off today, we thought we could offer a little context about the state and its lifesaving story. To learn more, we spoke with native North Carolinian John Graves, a strategist for the east region at Best Friends.

Check out this episode on the Best Friends Network website for resources related to this episode and more: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-118

Fraily Rodriguez Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

As we begin the final preparations for the 2022 Best Friends National Conference happening next week, we sit down with one of this year’s speakers, the director of lifesaving centers for the east region, Fraily Rodriguez.

Fraily started in animal welfare with the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando in 2006. Over the next 15 years, he did just about everything there is to do in this field, becoming the COO of the organization, where he dramatically reduced intakes into the organization’s two shelters by implementing programs to keep people and pets together. He’s passionate, intelligent, funny, eternally upbeat, and just an all-around great guy!

Learn more about this innovative animal welfare leader, hear what Fraily loves the most about the work, and what he would do if he could change anything with the snap of his fingers.

Check out more resources related to this episode: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-117

Got a story to tell? Email us: podcast@bestfriends.org

If "nobody's perfect," then why do we expect all pet adopters to be? (rebroadcast) Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

The Best Friends National Adoption Weekend is coming up July 22nd-24th. This network partner exclusive event helps organizations like yours adopt more animals. To learn more about the event and to register, check out this link: https://network.bestfriends.org/join-us/events/best-friends-national-adoption-event

To get us all geared up for the adoption event, we're dipping into the archives to revisit one of our favorite adoption-themed episodes.

Every time someone chooses to adopt an animal, we have the opportunity to positively change that person's life and save an animal's life. So why do we still put up so many barriers that make adopting an animal so unreasonably difficult?

The reasons to deny a pet adoption are as vast as they are inane. Sometimes it's because of age (of the adopter and/or the pet). Others because they are a renter, while another potential adopter may own a home, a fenceless yard can lead to rejection. Some organizations go so far as asking if you plan to have children anytime in the next decade. Unfortunately, this often grueling and unnecessarily invasive adoption process does little to determine how much a pet will be cared for and drives good people away from our lifesaving work.

This week we speak with Lawrence Nicolas, the Chief Operating Officer for the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach, Florida (currently, he is the COO of the Jacksonville Humane Society in Florida). Lawrence tells us about their open adoption process that sends roughly 6,000 animals to new homes each year while maintaining a return rate of under 4 percent.

Check out the website for The Best Friends Podcast: bestfriends.org/podcast

Dr. Louiza Chan Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

The animal welfare field is full of incredible people doing extraordinary things to save lives. This week we chatted with one of them, the regional strategist for the south-central region at Best Friends, Dr. Louiza Chan.

In her role at Best Friends, Louiza consults with organizations across several states to help them save more lives. She’s a veterinarian, she’s from Australia, and she is a faculty member at the University of Florida’s veterinary shelter medicine online program.

Are you attending the conference and interested in being a guest on the podcast? Email us and let us know! podcast@bestfriends.org

The 2021 Lifesaving Dataset Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

When saving shelter pets' lives, you can't know what's working or not if you're not tracking your efforts. So in 2016, Best Friends began an ambitious project to create the most comprehensive and accurate dataset tracking the lifesaving efforts happening in shelters across America.

Since we began collecting the data in 2016, the number of animals unnecessarily losing their lives in shelters has steadily decreased. But there were many questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected our lifesaving work. Would the number of pets entering shelters rise as the world tries to return to normal? How would the staffing crisis and the challenging economic period in 2021 impact our ability to save lives?

This week we welcome the senior director of lifesaving programs for Best Friends, Brent Toellner, back to talk through the headlines from the 2021 dataset.

Check out the full dataset at the pet lifesaving dashboard: https://bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025/animal-shelter-statistics

Using transparency to empower and support your community Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

As we talked about in last week’s episode, many communities across the country are struggling as they try to deal with crisis levels of shelter capacity. More pets than usual are coming in, and while adoptions are up in many places, they’re just not keeping the pace with the rising intake levels.

Successful communities know that they need the community to help them save lives, so they are transparent, sharing the good, the bad, and even the ugly because that sharing engages people in the mission. An engaged community is a lifesaving community.

To dive into transparency a bit deeper, this week, we’re sharing a Best Friends Network town hall. “Using transparency to empower and support your community” was moderated by Executive Director of Best Friends in Utah, Michelle Dosson.

You can watch the video version of this town hall and see resources related to the topic of transparency here: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-113

The Best Friends National Conference is happening July 7th-9th in Raleigh, North Carolina. Check out the agenda, the list of speakers, and information on how to register here: https://bestfriends.org/events/best-friends-national-conference

Marketing during a crisis w/ KC Pet Project's Tori Fugate May 26, 2022

Show notes

Many animal shelters across the country are struggling right now. In most areas, intake is up, and positive outcomes are down. With other factors impacting our industry, such as staffing issues and the economy, what is happening is nothing short of a crisis.

If you are experiencing this, you know that it can be hard to maintain lifesaving when the number of animals coming in doesn’t slow down. Creating compelling content for the public and the media is a vital piece of the puzzle to getting the animals in your care out into foster and adoptive homes.

One community that has found ways to maintain its impressive live release rate is Kansas City, Missouri. This week we spoke with Tori Fugate, the chief communications officer for KC Pet Project, about how they’ve managed to keep up the lifesaving pace.

We want to hear from you. How is your community doing right now? Share your story with us. You may be featured on a future episode! Email: podcast@bestfriends.org

Check out resources from this episode by visiting the website for The Best Friends Podcast: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-112

Gaining the hiring edge during "the great reshuffle” May 19, 2022

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected our lives in many ways, and it seems to have transformed the American workforce.

Last year the experts dubbed the shifting economy “the great resignation” as millions of workers left the workforce during the pandemic. Now, thanks to more data, the experts say this period has become “the great reshuffle.” Millions of workers are still leaving their jobs each month, but the data shows that the majority of people are not leaving the workforce for good. Instead, people are seeking new careers, often in new fields, working for companies that can offer great benefits, flexibility, and a positive internal culture that values them and their contributions.

That means there is more competition than ever when it comes to finding and retaining your staff at a time when no shelter or rescue organization can afford to lose anyone. So this week, our guests share some insight on how you can gain the hiring edge.

We want to hear from you about your staffing situation. Are you fully staffed? Are you struggling to find and retain workers? Share your story with us. You may be featured on a future episode! Email: podcast@bestfriends.org

Check out resources from this episode by visiting the website for The Best Friends Podcast: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-111

Building better boards May 12, 2022

Show notes

This week we're talking about an important but often underutilized and sometimes dysfunctional component of every nonprofit organization - the board of directors.

Boards can take on different forms, but all boards of directors provide a governance role. Sometimes (most often in the case of small organizations), the board can be a "working board," where members take on operational responsibilities on top of the governance duties.

No matter the approach, board members play an essential role in the oversight of organizations, such as fiduciary duties, leading the strategic planning, and supporting the organization's management. With the programmatic shifts in the industry and issues such as the economy affecting all of us, now more than ever, animal welfare organizations need board members who are ready and willing to step up to the challenge.

We chatted with the senior specialist with the Best Friends national embed team, Trish Tolbert, to learn more about boards.

We want to hear from you about your boards. What's working, and what's not? You may be featured on a future episode. Email: podcast@bestfriends.org

Check out resources from this episode by visiting the website for The Best Friends Podcast: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-110

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