Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 12 days ago

    Hi everyone — I’m Chris Roy, Founder & CEO of Doobert and host of the Top Dog Podcast.

    We recently launched the podcast to spotlight leaders in animal welfare who are creating meaningful change in shelters, rescues, community programs, and advocacy work across the country.

    We release new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday featuring conversations with “Top Dogs” — the leaders, innovators, and changemakers helping shape the future of animal welfare. The goal is simple: share ideas, lessons learned, and real-world strategies that can help all of us improve outcomes for animals and the people who care for them.

    Our first few episodes include:

    • Stacy LeBaron, Founder/Head Cat of Community Cats Central, discussing the evolution of the community cats movement and the importance of humane, community-based solutions.

    https://doobert.com/stacy-lebaron-leading-the-community-cats-movement/

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    • Esther Mechler, Founder of United Spay Alliance, sharing why prevention and accessible spay/neuter programs are critical to solving pet overpopulation.

    https://doobert.com/esther-mechler-why-prevention-is-the-only-way-to-solve-pet-overpopulation/

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    • Casey Shook, Executive Director of Homeward Bound Pets Humane Society, talking about leadership, prevention, and building stronger community-centered animal welfare programs.

    https://doobert.com/casey-shook-building-community-solutions-through-leadership-and-prevention/

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    We’d also love suggestions from this community. Are there other shelter, rescue, transport, foster, veterinary, or advocacy leaders you think we should interview and feature on the podcast?

    Always looking to highlight great people doing impactful work in our field.


    #OrganizationalManagement

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    Chris Roy
    CEO, Doobert
    www.doobert.com
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  • 2.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 8 days ago

    What a cool idea!

    Human Animal Support Services (HASS) for pet retention programs and keeping pets/people together - https://www.humananimalsupportservices.org/

    Orphan Kitten Club for neonatal kitten care (especially medical cases) - https://orphankittenclub.org/

    Cat Adoption Team for their awesome cat/kitten foster program - https://orphankittenclub.org/

    Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACCD) for their research into non-surgical sterilization (which is amazing considering the backlog for Spay/neuter we currently are seeing) - https://www.acc-d.org/ 

    Dogs Playing for Life for playgroup formatting and teaching shelters to run playgroups - https://dogsplayingforlife.com/

    Fear Free Shelter Program for handling that takes the pets' emotional well-being into consideration - https://fearfreeshelters.com/



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    Erin Dams
    Operations Director
    Roanoke Valley SPCA
    Roanoke VA
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  • 3.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 3 days ago

    I second the suggestion of Cat Adoption Team!  

    I would add RedRover, Annie and Millie's Place, The Pongo Fund, Ruthless Kindness, and Hazel's House.  There are many more, but I'll stop there. 

    https://redrover.org/

    https://www.annieandmillies.org/

    https://www.thepongofund.org/

    https://www.ruthlesskindness.org/

    https://www.hazelshousepdx.com/



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    Sincerely,
    Johanna Spielman
    Founder of Jamie Brianna's Legacy Fund
    https://jamiebriannaslegacyfund.org/
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  • 4.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 3 days ago

    I would love to hear about some of the quiet heroes, running shelters in real time and making big changes in unassuming ways, out of the spotlight. Two of my heroes:

    Colleen Bray, Director at the Boone County Animal Shelter in Boone County, KY. She has humbly led that shelter for over a decade, through incredible professional change - transitioning from a 50+% euthanasia rate to a 90+% save rate; while dealing with tremendous personal struggle.

    Tina Hunter, Director at Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach in North Myrtle Beach, SC. She's an incredibly dedicated animal welfare advocate who has been at that shelter for decades working her way up, as radical change shifted the paradigm in animal welfare. She has embraced that change in our industry in a no-nonsense, very southern way - without looking for attention or credit; without ruffling feathers; and by building an incredible rapport with community leaders (whose feet she can hold to the fire, still with a smile). 

    I am also in immense awe over Ruth Parkin, formerly of ViDAS (who shifted from a budding career in, I believe, finance or economics, after seeing the plight of animals on a trip to Mexico; and immediately went back to school to be a vet, and lead the charge for free spay/neuter in communities in Latin America, on US reservations, etc). 



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    Devon Smith
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  • 5.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 3 days ago

    Hi Chris,

    I'd recommend Mara Velez and her group Shelter Playgroup Alliance. 

    https://www.shelterdogplay.org/ 

    They are leading the way at teaching (1) how to conduct safer playgroups for shelter dogs and (2) how to provide alternative forms of enrichment for dogs who do not do well or are not safe in playgroups. 



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    Ferdie Yau
    Behavior Consultant
    Sits & Wiggles Behavior Consulting
    BRONX NY
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  • 6.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 2 days ago

    I was excited to hear about this program as we are trying to do more in the area of playgroups. I only wish we could afford to attend their programs! Unfortunately we are a small rescue group with limited funds that must be used to keep the roof over the heads of our 100+ animals! 



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    Janet Ferguson
    Volunteer coordinator
    Pals Haven
    CA
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted yesterday

    In Southern California, there is a group called START - Shelter Transport/Animal Rescue Team. It does not have a physical space, but instead goes to the overfilled shelters and areas in Central California (and wherever the need), and transports animals who have been overlooked and are on the euthanasia list. They transport them to rescues in Washington and Oregon who do not have the overload of animals that we have in California. It is an unique way to help out shelters with the high number of dogs and cats especially in Central California where the adoption rates are very low. In addition, START sponsors low-cost spay/neuter clinics in areas in which owners can not afford these services from regular vets and/or there is a dearth of vets for people to go to.  https://www.startrescue.org/



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    Stefanie Holzman
    Volunteer
    START Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team
    CA
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted yesterday

    I am so looking forward to checking out the Top Dog Podcast! 
    Another great one, specifically targeted towards leadership is Better Leaders by Meaghan Colville, the Operational Director of Cincinnati Animal CARE. 

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-leaders/id1877642859

    cincinnatianimalcare.org



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    Meg Jordan
    Foster Program Manager
    - Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society
    3949 Colerain Ave Cincinnati OH 45223
    cincycare.org
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  • 9.  RE: Which shelter or rescue leaders should more people know about?

    Posted 5 hours ago

    Hi Chris, great initiative!

    A few names that come to mind: Lori Weise at Downtown Dog Rescue in Los Angeles has done really important work around owner surrender prevention, keeping dogs with their families instead of routing them through the shelter system. Her approach flips the traditional rescue model in a way I think more people should know about.

    Also wanted to mention what we're building here in LA. Dog Foster Network is a new nonprofit that rewards foster families with gift cards for every day they care for a dog. The idea is simple: fostering doesn't scale on goodwill alone, so we made it tangible through a tiered points and rewards program. We're just getting started but I'd love to be a guest someday to talk about incentivized fostering as a solution to the foster shortage.

    Would love to hear an episode focused on what's actually moving the needle on foster recruitment and retention. Feels like one of the most underleveraged conversations in animal welfare right now.

    Looking forward to following the podcast!

    Lawrence

    dogfosternetwork.com



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    Lawrence Morera
    Founder
    Dog Foster Network
    CA
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