Stephanie Shaterian’s Post

How is our branch responding to the animal rehoming crisis? As some of you may know, there has been a huge decline in animal adoption numbers,  which is now taking its toll on the animal welfare community. The implications are far-reaching and show no signs of improvement. This is why we are channelling our efforts into delivering the best service possible to our beneficiaries. What we are doing: 🐱 Placed the adult cats at our animal centre into foster homes to ensure that they can enjoy a familiar, homely environment whilst waiting to be adopted. 🐰 Seeking feedback from our adopters through a post-adoption survey. This allows us to adapt and respond to ensure we offer the best experience possible. 🐹 We pride ourselves on making the journey to adoption as easy as possible. Testimonials from adopters include: “slick process”, “clear steps”, “easy to follow”, “staff are extremely helpful”. 🐱 Some of the ways we make our cat adoption process easier is through tutorials that come both in written and video format, as we know everyone processes information differently. 🐰 We are at the forefront of difficult conversations about the future of the animal welfare sector. We believe a head-on approach, working in partnership with others, is necessary to deal with the crisis and to finding solutions. You can find our video guides here - https://lnkd.in/gSwUgYUe This fight requires us all to work together. Want to buddy up? Get in touch! 💬

🐾 Last night, I urged San Antonio city leaders to prioritize an independent investigative assessment for our city’s Animal Care Services. 🚨 For years, we’ve been hearing about the systemic issues plaguing ACS - unanswered 311 emergency calls, aggressive dog cases closed without resolution, countless strays roaming our streets, spay and neuter goals falling short, and an insanely high number of animals being killed daily ... it feels like the whole system is broken. 🔔 So here are a couple thought provoking questions: 1️⃣ Given the history of underperformance from ACS operations, how can we ensure that concerns are accurately represented with ONLY internal audits? 2️⃣ Do our city auditors really have the specialized knowledge and experience in the field of animal welfare and shelter operations to successfully address ACS’s systemic problems? 3️⃣ Are we really willing to risk the continued suffering of animals and potential health safety hazards for our residents by continuing with ONLY internal audits? 🚨 We need an outside, unbiased, independent perspective - to evaluate ACS’s policies, protocols, staffing, resources, data, practices, and overall effectiveness. 🤨 And you know what? ONLY an external deep dive can provide the credibility and transparency that the public is craving, when it comes to the care of our community and welfare of our animals. 💔 Because, let’s get real - we’ve tried only the internal approach before … and it clearly isn’t working. Public trust has been eroded. Something needs to done showing that we’re serious about accountability and finding strategic solutions…. 💪 It’s time for transparency, accountability, and action to address the systemic issues affecting our city’s animals. 👀 For anyone reading this, I invite you to join the fight for San Antonio’s Animal Care reform - Please click the link below, to stay in the loop on our future initiatives: 🔗 https://gforms.app/mkAMKaz . . . #SanAntonio #AnimalWelfare #CommunityAdvocacy #satx #saacs #sanantonioanimalcareservices #animaladvocate #publiccomment #cosa #citycouncil #dobettersa

Calling all members working in animal welfare! Lindsay Baker, CVA and Jessica Pang-Parks, CVA are examining the BC SPCA’s foster program and would love your help. Please share insights about your foster program through a 20-minute survey (closing on Wednesday, May 15 at noon Pacific Time): https://lnkd.in/g3u_zJVG All survey participants will receive a summary of the survey results, which will provide animal welfare organizations with a "snapshot" of foster programming from around the world and may support your organization's foster program planning. Please feel free to forward the survey to other animal welfare/ animal rescue organizations in your network. The more data we have, the more we can learn from one another! This survey is part of the BC SPCA's Foster Experience Project. If you have any questions about the survey, please feel free to email Jessica: [email protected].

Have you checked out Humane Canada’s Articles & Opinions? 📰 Get the story behind the headlines with expert insight and opinions on recent animal welfare news that matters most to you! In our most recent article, the award-winning journalist Holly Lake takes a closer look at the amendments made to B.C.’s Family Law Actand what you need to know about it. The number of Canadian homes that include a pet continues to grow, and it’s imperative that our laws and our social safety net recognize and support people with pets. Recent amendments provide guidance for people and judges involved in custody disputes to determine what’s best for all involved, including animals. Until now, the factors that determined who kept companion animals were similar to those for dividing other types of property, such as how the animal was acquired and who paid. Now, courts must consider the best interest of the animal involved. Dive into our Articles & Opinions here: https://lnkd.in/gX35gZD6

We control more than we think we do. It's no secret that 2023 has been a tough year in animal welfare. Higher intakes. Sluggish adoptions. More animals filling up our shelters. It's stressful. And deflating. It can be easy, and sometimes make us feel better in the short term, to blame things outside of our control: the economy, housing challenges, people going back to work, people purchasing pets vs adopting them, etc. But we control a lot more than we think we do. Are we being transparent & forthcoming with our public on the help we need? How are our animals being marketed? Are we open when the public is available to adopt? What is the adopter's experience like when they visit? Are they greeted warmly? Is our staff helpful? Are we removing unnecessary barriers? How well do we know our local political leaders that influence policies that impact us? What is our relationship with our current media outlets for public relations? My hope for you in 2024 is that you are able to take back control of the things you can control, and not dwell on the things you can't. Empowerment will lead to meaningful changes, the results you desire, and the feeling of accomplishment that leads to lasting good feelings. 2024 is a new year. A time to start anew. What changes or goals do you hope to make in 2024? Happy New Year. Let's make the most of it.

Building credibility in animal welfare requires strategic PR efforts. At Orange Orchard PR, we help organizations establish trust through targeted media outreach, thought leadership and compelling social media content. Check out this blog to learn more about how we do that. https://lnkd.in/e5YsB8qY https://lnkd.in/e5YsB8qY #animalwelfarepr

As a passionate advocate for animal welfare, I believe it's crucial to spread awareness about the importance of cat neutering. 🔹 Overpopulation Control: One unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce hundreds of kittens in just a few years, contributing to overpopulation issues in communities and shelters. 🔹 Health Benefits: Neutering not only prevents unwanted litters but also reduces the risk of certain reproductive cancers and infections, leading to longer, healthier lives for our feline friends. 🔹 Behavioral Improvement: Neutered cats are often less likely to exhibit mating-related behaviors such as spraying, yowling, and roaming, making them better companions for both indoor and outdoor living. 🔹 Community Impact: By neutering our cats, we can play a proactive role in managing the cat population in our neighborhoods and reducing the strain on animal shelters and rescue organizations. Let's work together to create a brighter future for cats everywhere! Spread the word, support local TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) initiatives, and consider neutering your own cats to make a positive impact on their lives and the community. 🌍🐾 #CatNeutering #AnimalWelfare #SpayAndNeuter #CommunityImpact #TNR

Have you checked out Humane Canada’s Articles & Opinions? 📰 Get the story behind the headlines with expert insight and opinions on recent animal welfare news that matters most to you! In our most recent article, the award-winning journalist Holly Lake takes a closer look at the amendments made to B.C.’s Family Law Actand what you need to know about it. The number of Canadian homes that include a pet continues to grow, and it’s imperative that our laws and our social safety net recognize and support people with pets. Recent amendments provide guidance for people and judges involved in custody disputes to determine what’s best for all involved, including animals. Until now, the factors that determined who kept companion animals were similar to those for dividing other types of property, such as how the animal was acquired and who paid. Now, courts must consider the best interest of the animal involved. Dive into our Articles & Opinions here: https://lnkd.in/gX35gZD6

Bruno-types are common along rural roadside settings; they wait and wait in the hope that their owner returns. More often than not, Bruno-types are less than optimal health, unsocialized, sexually intact, and fearful of strangers. That sums up Rural Roadside Rescue Challenge #1. The second rural challenge is animal welfare resources, most notably county budgets, to support animal control officers' ongoing education and 21st-century modalities to help a stray or injured dog in distress. To make matters more challenging, there is a need for more humane shelters that provide veterinarian treatment services for dogs of all ages vs. those reserved for puppies and quick-fix adoption candidates. Led by LGCR's Founder, Rhonda Minardi, Project Roadside Rescue is mapping new routes of hope, health, and happiness by building a coalition with Midwest sanctuaries that save, serve, and value a dog's life regardless of government-funded zip codes. Big Dog, Little Dog, and Old Dog Dreams Can Come True when ordinarily people come together in the spirit of compassion. 💜🤝Let's never give up on what we value. #whereloveresides #lgcanineranch #roadsiderescue #dogsanctuarylife

Anyone who knows me (or has seen my Instagram account where 90% of the content relates to this!), knows that one of the areas I’m most passionate about outside of work is animal welfare. So when I came across a new certification program through Best Friends Animal Society and Southern Utah University focused on Dog Lifesaving, I jumped at the opportunity to participate this fall. Over the past two months, I’ve learned from experts in the field and explored ways to save the lives of dogs in animal shelters through adoption, dog behavior and well-being, foster programs, canine handling, shelter medicine and more. The ultimate goal of the course is to increase animal lifesaving nationwide. Aside from the deep understanding I gained of the complex animal welfare ecosystem, I was also charged with designing a pilot program as my culminating course assignment. It has been so rewarding to work on this practical and implementable pilot program for a local animal shelter. The process has reminded me yet again of the incredible power of feedback and collaboration–in this instance, through partnering with local shelter team members, as well as our wonderful course lead Caitlin Gill of Best Friends’ Learning Advancement Department, and program participants from all around the country in various roles at shelters. Where I had ideas, but perhaps not the inside industry knowledge or data points, they helped me advance the program objectives. Where I developed KPIs, they supplemented with additional ideas to prove the value of the program. And where I dove deep on how to amplify the program and participants through marketing, they shared end-user perspectives on what might make for the most engaging and impactful initiatives. Suffice to say, while this certainly falls into the “extra-curricular” activity category, there will be a few new tools in my toolkit to bring back to my full-time professional role too! I’m really looking forward to not only the next steps with the pilot program, but also exploring ways to incorporate the course lessons into my animal welfare volunteering work too. Thanks so much to Best Friends Animal Society and Southern Utah University for the impactful learning experience! If anyone is interested in learning more about the program and my experience, I’d be happy to chat: https://lnkd.in/g5-MSpZE Julie Castle Cathie Myers #animalwelfare #continuingeducation #volunteering #animalrescue