This is something I originally wrote in the fall of 2007 for my old blog and I’m including it in a group of posts on discounted adoption fees: Anyone who has followed my blog, or knows me personally, is well aware of my frustration or disappointment with many of the Humane Society of the United...

This was something I originally wrote for the No More Homeless Pets Forum and reposted on my personal blog in 2007.  On the forum I was asked if I had some tips or tricks for improving the number of cat adoptions for a shelter that had more than 400 cats in their system.  My answer tackled the controversial...

In my recent post-conference post I mentioned two opposing positions on discounted adoption fees.  The two viewpoints were expressed by Bonney Brown of the Nevada Humane Society and Mike Arms of the Helen Woodward Animal Center during a panel discussion at the No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las...

Down The Rabbit Hole “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” “How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must...

I feel as though I have barely been home this past month, getting so much accomplished but also feeling like I’m falling behind.  I had the tremendous pleasure of attending the Spay USA’s national conference on Spay & Neuter in Chicago with our shelter veterinarian.  Both of us came...

The Blue Solution: No Solution at All By: Nicole Sica  The tagline blares at me:  IRVING ANIMAL SHELTER ADOPTIONS/RESCUES SUSPENDED INDEFINATELY. Oh please, God, say it isn’t so. But it is. Since late September, the Irving, Texas animal shelter has suspended all adoptions and most rescues for an...

In anticipation of the Disney film Beverly Hills Chihuahua, a group of California shelters issued a joint press release containing dire predictions that a “flood” of Chihuahuas would hit shelters after impulsive and unthinking people adopted the little dogs and then dumped them at pounds. Nathan...

This news item came up on one of my feeds: The Animal Rescue League in Des Moines, Iowa, opened a new shelter facility. The building includes “two large training rooms where people can watch as staff and volunteers train animals.”

Dear PetRescue, I adopted a gorgeous labrador cross to a family two months ago only to receive a phone call today from the local pound informing us that the new owners had surrendered her. The family presented themselves as nice professional people. They already had a dog who got along with this new...

One of the stickier problems for our movement is how to move forward from our successes. While it is horrifying to see so many shelters and animal control departments still mired in conditions that would shame a slaughterhouse, it is also disappointing to watch organizations fall from grace, whether...