Is not knowing what we don’t know hurting the animals in our care? Recently, APSCAPro published a blog post, “We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know.” It was about how shelter dogs pegged as having “behavior problems” often didn’t have those same behaviors in a foster home. They turned out to be shelter-specific behaviors, and… Learn More

How do you build a success-driven team for your animal welfare organization? Whether you work at a shelter or volunteer at a rescue, said Mark Peralta of Best Friends Animal Society – Los Angeles, “You need to find people who will work along side you and carry out your vision.” In his presentation at the… Learn More

Esther has come a long way since we first met her. She was admitted to the Oakland Animal Services shelter with facial lacerations, a cracked tooth and a broken leg. Since her leg had already set improperly and she wasn’t able to walk on it, it was amputated. Two days after surgery, she met Craig.… Learn More

Community cats: If you’ve got them, Best Friends wants to help. They’ve written a book covering everything from the ABCs to the rocket science of community cat management, and they’re giving it away as a free download! Topics covered include: The history of the TNR movement The importance of leadership Who in your community is… Learn More

Why would we tell you not to think about the animals? Because as counter intuitive as it may seem, you’ll probably find that spending less time thinking how to do a better job helping animals and more time doing and thinking about nothing in particular can create space for the very insight you need to… Learn More

Why is data crucial to saving pets’ lives? “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said Found Animals Foundation executive director Aimee Gilbreath, quoting the famous Peter Drucker during her session at the 2016 Best Friends National Conference. Understanding that data analysis can be overwhelming, Gilbreath broke her presentation into a step-by-step process:… Learn More

We asked and you answered! Thanks to everyone who entered our #ShowUsYourFoster contest. Hundreds of entries poured in, making it that much more difficult for our celebrity judges to choose a winner. So much so that we had to extend the deadline for them, and chose 9 runners-up of both dogs and cats! Drumroll… it’s… Learn More

People, even veterinarians and animal shelter workers, are notoriously poor at identifying dog breeds. What’s more, there’s a growing trend to stop identifying shelter dogs by their breed at all. A recent study at Berkeley Animal Care Services in California took a look at whether or not obtaining DNA tests on dogs in the shelter… Learn More

Do you have 15 minutes to help develop feline behavior assessments to help cats find homes, or stay in the home they already have? The Feline Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (Fe-BARQ) is a survey designed by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania to provide cat owners and specialists with a standardized method for evaluating… Learn More

We’re only about a month out from the American Pets Alive Conference (AmPA!) taking place in Austin, TX, November 5-7. Have you registered yet? If not, and you’re thinking about it, do it today! The ticket price increases tonight, October 3, at 11:30 PM Central Time. Maddie’s Fund® is a proud sponsor of the conference, which… Learn More