Hi Kristin! Thank you for watching and for being open to reducing barriers to adoption. It is definitely a tough balance when working with staff or volunteers who are not open to the ideas. I think it's really important to share data - some good metrics are length of stay, return rates, adoption numbers.
Generally, when we do mass fee-waived adoption events, our return rate stays the same. There's no increase.
I also like to communicate to our teams that we need to trust our community. When I have presented on open adoptions to team members, I ask people - have you ever had a pet without your landlord knowing? Did you ever get a pet without other people in the household knowing? Have you ever kept a pet outside? Do you think that made you a bad owner? I also stress that people will often put their pets first before themselves.
Ultimately, we shouldn't be gatekeeping animals because we don't believe people will do the right thing or aren't good enough to own a pet. Open Adoptions allows us to get animals out of the shelter system faster (that animal gets to stay in a lovely home instead of the kennel) and we're able to connect with the client on a different level. I would put it back on the volunteers to say that they should trust their match-making skills and expertise with clients to feel confident that it's a good match. You can definitely catch red-flags in conversation without having to do the back and forth of home checks/vet checks.
When you build that trust with a client with an open adoptions philosophy, that person will go to you for advice and expertise. When you are closed to adopters, they will go somewhere else to get an animal. It not only is a disservice to the animals in your care but to the community members!
I've hosted an in-person training with volunteers that covered open adoptions and customer service recently - it gave people the opportunity to ask us questions and share their feelings. It takes time and baby steps! Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to see the presentation I gave to our volunteers.
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Isabelle Nidetz
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-05-2025 07:14 AM
From: Kristin Dare
Subject: Community Conversations - 08/25/2025 - Coupled Up: Matching Pets and People Through Barrier-Free Adoptions
Great information! We, Humane Society of St. Thomas, are moving towards a barrier free adoptions process as well. Our staff is totally on board, it is the volunteers that are struggling. We still have so many volunteers that believe that a house check should be done, vet check, etc. Many of our volunteers also believe that if you can't pay the adoption fee, you shouldn't be bale to have a pet or if its a free adoption, then the adopter will most certainly do bad things. Any suggestions on how to invite the volunteers to get some training? Be willing to read data?
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Kristin Dare
Community clinics coordinator
Humane society of st thomas
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