Animal Welfare Professionals

 View Only

  • 1.  I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 27 days ago

    I'm in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, North Carolina, and I'm working on developing a community-based approach to animal stewardship that starts upstream of shelter intake. I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce the number of stray dogs euthanized and socialize them to find good homes. We have access to land and willingness; we just need infrastructure and support. Thank you! 

    What especially caught my attention from a recent post was the shift from "Will you fund our nonprofit?" to "Here is a community project your municipality can co-own." I think there is something powerful there, particularly in a county where different municipalities and community organizations may each have a role to play.

    I'd love to learn from what others are building in other counties, especially:

    • How did you identify the first municipalities to approach for partnerships?

    • What made a municipality say yes?

    • How are you structuring the financial commitments and accountability?

    • What does the volunteer infrastructure look like behind the clinics?

    • How are you recruiting and retaining veterinarians?

    • Have you identified specific volunteer roles that can be done without veterinary credentials?

    • Are you building an advisory group or steering committee, and if so, who is represented?

    • What data are you collecting to demonstrate that the work is reducing shelter intake or owner surrender?

    • What would you do differently if you were starting over?

    I'm particularly interested in the people infrastructure behind any models-not just the clinic itself. If anyone here has experience building countywide volunteer networks, veterinary partnerships, municipal coalitions, advisory boards, fundraising models, or prevention programs, I would love to learn from you.

    I'm interested in studying what you've learned and seeing what pieces could be responsibly adapted here rather than trying to reinvent them.

    If anyone in North Carolina has built something similar, I'd especially love to connect.


    #CommunityPartnerships*

    ------------------------------
    JOY WILLIAMS
    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    HOPE TO THRIVE
    NC
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 26 days ago

    Hi Joy,

    It sounds like your work would benefit from reaching out to BJ Adkins. You can find her thread here. Upstream is her strength and she is really skilled at building people infrastructure. You can search for her on the forum here.  Good Luck. Thank you for your compassion and enthusiasm in helping homeless dogs. 



    ------------------------------
    Julielani Chang
    The Life of Kai: Compassion Connections Inc.
    Davis CA
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 26 days ago
    Thank you! I did reach out to BJ Adkins, and thought there might be others who also would be able to chime in. If you think of anything else, please let me know. I appreciate you responding. 

    Grateful,
    Joy

    --



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 24 days ago

    Hi Joy,

    I'd love to connect with you on this. I've done a lot of collaborative work with municipal shelters and other organizations as well as prevention programs. I think it would be easiest to jump on a call, though, if that works for you? You can grab a time on my calendar here.  (You'll see in my signature that I'm a consultant, but this would just be a conversation, not anything formal.) 

    Karen



    ------------------------------
    Karen Green, CAWA
    Ask Karen Green
    http://askkarengreen.com
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 23 days ago

    Thanks, Karen!

    I just booked some time with you. I really appreciate you offering to connect, especially given your experience working collaboratively with municipal shelters and prevention programs. That is very much in line with what I'm trying to learn right now.

    To be transparent about where we are, Hope To Thrive is considered a start-up grassroots organization-I am currently the primary staff person-still looking for funding to fund my position, and we're in the early stages of building out our community animal stewardship work. We're trying to learn the landscape, identify where funding opportunities exist, develop the right partnerships, and build a team of people who can help us think strategically as we get started.

    Currently, we are interested in developing an advisory group of professionals who might be willing to contribute their expertise on an ongoing basis. I don't want to presume that would be something you're interested in, but I wanted to be upfront about where we're headed and why a conversation with someone who has your experience is especially valuable to me.

    For now, I'm simply grateful for the opportunity to learn from you and hear what you've seen work-and what you would caution us against-as we begin building this. I took a peak at your website and resume, and I'm super excited. Thanks again for choosing me to talk with. I am truly excited and grateful for this opportunity. 

    Looking forward to our conversation!

    Joy



    ------------------------------
    JOY WILLIAMS
    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    HOPE TO THRIVE
    NC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: I need help!!! What should be our next step? We are trying to reduce euthanizing stray dogs, and socialize them to find good homes.

    Posted 19 days ago

    Hi Joy, 

    Those are all such great questions! HASS has a few resources that may be helpful in your scenario:

    HASS Intake Triage: An Overview - This guide outlines a structure for data collection from the community to better understand community needs. It was originally created for use in animal shelters, but could certainly be adapted for other scenarios. But perhaps if shelters in your community collected robust data, that could serve your goals as well?

    Intake Triage: Applying Findings - This guide is an extension of the one above, but specifically highlights HOW the data can be put into action to support community programs. 

    How to Form a Community Coalition Toolkit - This guide not only covers basic steps for organizing a community coalition, but also features resources to support community ecosystem mapping, to better understand the resources in a community and how to indentify resource gaps.

    I hope these are helpful and don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to connect further! HASS always loves to brainstorm--especially when it comes to data! 

    All the best,

    Jen



    ------------------------------
    Jenifer Reed
    Senior Education and Engagement Manager
    Human Animal Support Services
    TN
    ------------------------------



Related Content