In 2023, Sara Ondrako asked one of the best questions I've seen on this forum: how can we provide more community behavior and training services to reduce intakes and returns? (Link: https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/how-can-we-provide-more-community-behavior-and-training-services-to-reduce-intakes-and-returns) That post got more engagement than almost anything else here, and for good reason. She named a real gap.
I want to widen the lens on that question.
Behavior is one of the top reasons families surrender. But it's not the only one. Housing barriers, veterinary costs, a family crisis with no safety net, a landlord who says the dog must go. By the time any of these problems land at a shelter's front door, the window for keeping that family together has already closed.
Where is the infrastructure that catches these families before they reach that point?
We are building that in Central Alabama right now. Seven counties. Our model is prevention-first, meaning every program we run is designed to reduce shelter intake by solving the problem upstream. We have a spay/neuter program with a financial stipend for qualifying households. We have a crisis stabilization program that keeps pets in homes when families hit a wall. We have a foster-to-train program where animals get basic behavior training in a foster home before adoption, which is exactly the gap Sara identified. And we have a triage hotline where families call before they surrender, not after.
None of this replaces shelters or rescues. It reduces the pressure on them by catching preventable intake before it happens.
I'm here because I think the field is asking the right questions but we're still mostly building answers on the back end. What would it look like if more of us built on the front end?
For anyone working on prevention, diversion, or family retention programs: What's working? What's not? What do you wish existed in your community? I'd love to hear from people who are trying to close this same gap.
#PetSupportServices*------------------------------
BJ Adkins
Founder/Director
Animal-Angels Foundation
Pinson, AL
bjadkins@animal-angels.organimal-angelsfoundation.org
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