Jeff Okazaki

RE: Looking for software for new shelter

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-15-2023 09:35 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We just looked into updating our shelter software to move from an ancient, custom Microsoft Access Database to a modern shelter management cloud software. These are the different programs we looked at Petstablished Free Gold Account petstablished.com Shelter Buddy Fixed plus monthly ...

RE: Feedback on Mobile Spay/Neuter or Wellness clinics truck size and configuration

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-14-2023 11:30 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Teresa, We do not have a mobile clinic, but worked directly with an organization who had a statewide mobile clinic service and would come to our site regularly. Having been in their truck, it was a 30' purpose built clinic truck with a surgical table and recovery area. You would walk in at the ...

RE: Multiple Org Fundraiser

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 12:21 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We've done multi organization fundraisers, multi-organization events, and been the beneficiary of a split gift from events. The biggest thing here is just setting the ground rules very specifically from the start. Have as detailed as possible, in writing, and approved by every organization: ...

RE: Requirements or Recordation's for website Forms

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 12:00 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

There's nothing really required, unless your state has specific requirements, but I haven't really heard of that being a thing. Privacy policies that include use of tracking cookies are fairly common for medium and large size businesses, but they're definitely not a requirement. Unless you're planning ...

RE: What you wish you knew then

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 09:29 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

For a new shelter: Take some time to think about and set a direction for your culture right away. Do you want to be welcoming to adopters? Do you want to let people have open access to the animals? How do you make decisions about what animals can come in and when? Do you take people's stories ...

RE: what is the process for getting local laws changed

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 08:44 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Sandy, You may have already done this, but a good place to start is to look up what your state laws and local ordinances on animal care. Typically your state will have a set of standards, and any local laws will need to be more restrictive than those standards. You may find that even if ...

Wisconsin State Statutes on Animal Care, Law Enforcement Support Sheet (2)

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 08:43 AM
Found In Library: Animal Welfare Professionals

I'm attaching a copy of Wisconsin's state statutes on animal care. It's not the most comprehensive set of animal laws out there, but it does get a little more specific about what the housing and environmental requirements should be. I'm also attaching a copy of the support sheet we provide to law ...

RE: Does your rescue have a forever care program?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 08:29 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

As part of our adoption contract, we have a clause that says, over the lifetime of the animal, if the adopter is unable to care or keep the animal and cannot find a safe rehome, we will take back our animal. Our staff sees this program as a huge comfort as knowing that one of our animals is less ...

RE: Taxes deductions for fosters?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-13-2023 08:26 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Cindy, It would NOT hurt the rescue organization at all, this is part of the basic donor service they should be able to provide and it has no financial impact on their organization. It's just related to your personal income taxes. ------------------------------ Jeff Okazaki Humane Society ...

Comprehensive Guide for Shelter Design - Barkitecture

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-10-2023 11:39 AM
Found In Library: Animal Welfare Professionals

This is a good primer document on thinking about construction of new shelters. #AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement) #Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment #FundraisingandDevelopment #OrganizationalManagement

RE: Shelter remodeling. What can you not live without ?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-10-2023 11:39 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We just built a new shelter in 2015 and it was an invaluable resource to engaging our community and better supporting the animals. Things we like We also added a 1,000 sq foot community room space with a kitchen. Great multipurpose space that we use for events, rent out to the community, ...

RE: Taxes deductions for fosters?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-10-2023 06:55 AM
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You are able to take any donations, and you can also take unreimbursed expenses for things like food, supplies, and medical care as in-kind donations. You can even claim a prorated portion of your utilities towards the part of your home used to care for the animals. For amounts under 250 you need to ...

RE: Choosing an adopter

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-08-2023 12:25 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

The best thing you can do is stick to your current policy, don't do anything different or special just because they're in high demand. Ideally in this case it's not just about adopting out 5 dogs, it's about being able to gain and maintain a network of potential adopters and donors from the 75 applications ...

RE: Heartworm Treatment & Prevention

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-08-2023 07:13 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

I think this may be the study in question: Efficacy of semi-annual therapy of an extended-release injectable moxidectin suspension and oral doxycycline in Dirofilaria immitis naturally infected dogs There is also this study that is a little more focused on pregnant animals: Use of Slow-Release ...

RE: Staffing levels at full service hospital, non-profit

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-06-2023 08:03 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Teresa, What issues are you running into now that's making you review your organizational structure? In general one manager for 12 staff and 2 vets does not seem out of line. I think the general rule of thumb in business is 15-20 people per supervisor, with 5-6 being ideal but not usually practical. ...

RE: Is it Really worth the cost & work to file 5013c?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-06-2023 07:48 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Stacy's points are all really good, a few more items to think about: 501c3 status gives you federal tax exemption which you would need in order to avoid paying sales tax, so if you're making a lot of purchases or big purchases, it would be worthwhile. 501c3 status also makes your business ...

RE: Raising funds for a new senior dog rescue and hospice

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-03-2023 03:05 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Chaucee, Couple of ideas: Write a grant - $5,000 is a relatively low ask and as a brand new business, you actually have a few different pools of grant orgs including new non-profit/seed money funders, animal welfare funders, and local or regional specific grant organizations. Being able to have ...

RE: Dog Bite Policy

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-03-2023 11:02 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

There was a really interesting program about this at the last HSUS conference. Essentially it looked at a bite as a black mark on the dog, and in many cases similar to what you're talking about, that can be a potential death sentence for a dog who bites, even if that bite is unintentional and non-aggressive. ...

RE: Big Ideas (outside the box)

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-01-2023 01:31 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

"I understand where the thought process of boarding facility prices being aligned however I think the number one important goal is to keep this affordable and accessible to the public especially shelters and rescues that are on tight budgets. To do so I have a couple of proposals; I have read up on a ...

RE: Shelter lobby ideas

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-01-2023 12:08 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Susan, do you have any picture that show what you have to work with? For our lobby, we did not designate or build in a "store" space when we built our building so we have literally just gotten a couple of modular shelves and attached a metal hanging rod to the brick wall to put on hangers and clothes ...

RE: Thoughts on Cat Cafes?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-01-2023 07:41 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Sounds like some good planning in there. I would say don't even consider the issue around overcrowding. If that happens, that's a great problem to have, but especially starting up, doing everything you can to bring people in is probably going to be the bigger concern. Fort Collins sounds like a ...

RE: Fundraising for small rescues

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-01-2023 07:32 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Gini, Growing your network of donors and supporters on social media, email, donor lists, etc. as others have suggested is going to be your most effective route. These are people in your community who you can regularly connect with and who will feel connected to the animals that you're serving. ...

RE: Big Ideas (outside the box)

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 02-01-2023 07:27 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

It sounds like this would be an incredible service, would definitely help with foster availability, and even if dogs weren't fostered, it would be an incredible resource for shelters to be able to get the dogs out for training and enrichment. The big hurdle, and the one that just seems really, really ...

RE: Do you have resources re: adoption counseling training?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-31-2023 09:56 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Sheila, Not sure if it's helpful but attached are a few of the materials that we give to new adopters during our adoption counseling session. ------------------------------ Jeff Okazaki Humane Society of Jefferson County ------------------------------

Adoption Handouts for Cat Adopters - Humane Society of Jefferson County

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-31-2023 09:55 AM
Found In Library: Animal Welfare Professionals

Attached are a few of the materials that the Humane Society of Jefferson County gives to new adopters during our adoption counseling session. Cat Owners Manual The Truth About Declawing Cat Body Language #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms #Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment #CommunityCatManagement ...

RE: ChatGPT

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-31-2023 09:51 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

This thread here goes over some thoughts folks have had on using chatGPT. AI is going to be a really powerful tool for so many things. ------------------------------ Jeff Okazaki Humane Society of Jefferson County ------------------------------

RE: Thoughts on Cat Cafes?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-31-2023 09:46 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Andrew's last point is really, really important. Of the 4-5 cat cafes that that I knew of in our area in the last 10 years, all of them have since gone out of business. I'm sure there are others that have been successful, but coffee shop restauranting is a tough business to begin with. The model that ...

RE: attracting volunteers

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-30-2023 08:15 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Jim, a couple of thoughts on what you posted: Shelters around the country are having issues finding volunteers right now. Post-COVID everyone is in a tough spot, I think I saw an article saying it was anywhere from 20-40% lower rates of volunteers since 2019. So you're not alone, and you might ...

RE: Is There Someone Tracking Antimicrobial Resistant Ringworm In animals?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-27-2023 02:34 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Jasmine, That article is looking specifically at trichophyton indotineae and trichophyton rubrum which are two primarily human infections. These are types of ringworm infections that are typically more prevalent in India and other parts of Asia and Africa. While there have been some cases reported ...

RE: Local Government Engagement

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-27-2023 02:15 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We were just discussing this yesterday in the HASS Government Communications Working Group. I'm hoping to have some more resources from there to get back and post here as well. From a regional / national animal shelter overview perspective, the Shelter Animals Count data reports provide good trend ...

RE: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-27-2023 11:40 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Samantha, We serve as the animal control of record for 14 of our local municipalities. Nearly all of our municipalities require dog licenses, a handful require licenses for cats. We provide pickup and dropoff services for stray animals, stray holding, and license enforcement for animals returned ...

RE: Getting exposure beyond our small county

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-24-2023 10:43 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Deb, We're a rural shelter located about 30 minutes outside of our major metro areas so our issue isn't quite as severe as a 90 minute drive, but some of the things that have been helpful for us: We have a satellite adoption location at a PetSmart in one of our metro areas. It would probably ...

Opportunity to Strengthen Regulations For Animal Enrichment and Handling

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-24-2023 07:22 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

On January 6, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) posted a notice regarding their upcoming plan to revamp regulations within the Animal Welfare Act. Essentially it looks like the public awareness and outcry after the Tiger King phenomenon has led to pressure to reevaluate how regulations ...

RE: Adoption applications

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-24-2023 06:57 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Tracy, We're also a rural shelter that just went through a similar process. We had a very restrictive 4 page application that we just pared down to 1 page. Looking at your questions specifically: Application asks about any current pets in home and if they're UTD on vaccines even if they ...

RE: CRM Database

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-20-2023 01:06 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We currently use Trail Blazer, it is way more than we need. It has just about every functionality you could want, their tech support is top notch, and if you plan on digging deep into your donor data, segmenting your donors, A/B testing, and having extensive tracking, LY/SYBUNT outreach, etc. it is a ...

RE: Veterinarian Shortage

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-20-2023 07:53 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

I think there's a couple answers to this. First, it's protective of the profession. If you look at what veterinarians make compared to other doctors, the pay scale has traditionally been much lower. These vets historically have also been responsible for running their own practice and so the amount ...

Sample Media Advisory: "World's Cutest Rescue Dog Headlines Humane Society Race" - Humane Society of Jefferson County

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-20-2023 07:31 AM
Found In Library: Animal Welfare Professionals

Sample media advisory from Humane Society of Jefferson County -- a short, very specific highlight sheet you can just send (preferably in the body of an email, not as an attachment) and you can see a successful sample press release here . #MarketingandSocialMedia

RE: Media relationships

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-20-2023 07:31 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Whitney, What type of stories are you trying to pitch? It's tougher in larger markets like Chicago or New York, but given your location, I would say you really shouldn't have a problem pitching stories to Durham or Greensboro. Our shelter is pretty rural Wisconsin and we are pretty regularly able ...

RE: Volunteer Program

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-19-2023 10:51 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Holly, Stepping back for a minute, I know you were pretty exuberant about saying 76 animals for your shelter was nuts, but that's a really important point. That's not just crazy, wow, what do we do, go to management, nothing oh well, then keep on with business as usual. That needs to be put in ...

RE: Ideas for events

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-18-2023 07:11 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

If you know anyone who is a realtor, we've played around with the idea of doing a pop up adoption location in a downtown area. There are always closed businesses or for sale buildings or storefronts that have open space. As long as you promise to keep everything clean it can be a win-win to get people ...

RE: Veterinarian Shortage

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-16-2023 08:08 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Couple of ideas here: Human Animal Support Services (HASS) has an advocacy toolkit that's a good 101 on how to get prepared to help talk about these issues. If you have an active statewide humane or animal association, those are probably the best way to get involved. They'll usually be more focused ...

RE: Veterinarian Shortage

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-16-2023 07:34 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well. Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic. Both of which are wrong. Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be ...

RE: Veterinary opthamology

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-16-2023 07:08 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi April, Try reaching out to UW Shelter Medicine. They have an outreach veterinary team that I would think would be able to answer this question and provide a reference fairly quickly. https://www.uwsheltermedicine.com/about/team/ Dr. Schumacher and Dr. Hicks have both worked with our program ...

RE: Tips/tools to get adopters to listen.

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-13-2023 01:11 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Erin, It's a very hectic time when adopters are getting a new animal. They're excited about bringing home a companion, everything is new, they have to deal with the paperwork, payments, expectations around the animal, plus everything else they already have going on. Plus in some cases, they may ...

RE: What are your adoption policies?

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-12-2023 09:58 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

We recently moved from a very restrictive adoption application and policy system towards a more open adoption model. Previously we had a 4 page adoption application that required a full vet history, landlord approval verification, background check, and in person meeting with all members of the household. ...

RE: Cat Litter Usage Benchmarking

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-10-2023 12:36 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Thanks Alexis, that's helpful! So it sounds like you do about 31,000lbs a year and do you serve about 1,500-2,000 cats? ------------------------------ Jeff Okazaki Humane Society of Jefferson County ------------------------------

RE: FeLV positive kittens and cats

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-10-2023 11:56 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Barb, You're absolutely right that FeLV is not an airborne transmissible disease, but it can be spread through bodily fluid, and in a wet environment can survive for about 48 hours outside of the host. With proper cage cleaning, the risk is low, but not quite as low as something like FIV. This ...

Cat Litter Usage Benchmarking

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 01-10-2023 11:46 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

In the last year and a half we've had real challenges with finding usable litter. Our previous litter was discontinued by the manufacturer and after that, our litter cost increased by 70%. We've been scrambling to try and find other options, but either the litter we have found is too dusty, even more ...

RE: Managing our mental health

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 12-30-2022 08:49 AM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Thanks Irene. ------------------------------ Jeff Okazaki Humane Society of Jefferson County ------------------------------

RE: Thinking about opening a physical location to do adoptions

Posted By Jeff Okazaki 12-28-2022 01:14 PM
Found In Egroup: Animal Welfare Professionals \ view thread

Hi Amanda, We've always had a physical location, so this might be a little outside the experience you're looking for but: 2. Physical locations will always change your operating budget. If you've never had a building before be prepared to think about ongoing expenses for: Rent / Mortgage ...

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