It's episode number 100 of The Best Friends Podcast, and we are thrilled to welcome back Julie Castle, the CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. Our conversation for this episode focused on a new compensation program rolled out at Best Friends, which raises the pay ranges for hourly animal caregiving staff and veterinary technicians. Julie talks about something she calls the "poverty headspace" and why the entire field must break away from the belief that animal care roles are "front-line" entry-level positions. Instead, she hopes we will all see that providing for sentient creatures' physical, emotional, and medical needs is truly the heart of what we do. For resources, bios, transcripts, and more check out the website: bestfriends.org/podcast

Reducing pay inequality w/ Julie Castle

An animal welfare professional’s typical day includes unparalleled joy and heart-wrenching despair, often in equal measure. The burnout is real but it’s the hard-won progress that sustains us.

The Best Friends Podcast brings you stories from the front lines of lifesaving. You’ll hear from leading experts on topics that impact all of us. These are stories that matter to shelters, rescue groups, and the animal welfare organizations that enable their service to a community and its animals. These are stories for all of us.

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Animal shelters across the country have been in a capacity crisis for the past two years due to rising intakes and adoptions that are simply not keeping pace with the number of animals coming in. At the 2023 Best Friends National Conference, speakers Tori Fugate and Misty Valenta told the audience during their session that by reframing the perspective to “never let a good crisis go to waste,” they allowed themselves the opportunity to try new and creative marketing that they never thought possible - and they say you can do it too. This week, we’re sharing a session from this year’s conference titled “Capacity Crisis Marketing.” You’ll hear how Tori at KC Pet Project and Misty at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter publicized their shelter capacity to their communities while still promoting their pets, programs, and services. You’ll hear unique ways to use different mediums to effectively communicate the current capacity of your shelter and engage your community to get involved. Through effective messaging on social media, email, text programs, and more, you’ll continue to see support from your community, obtain media coverage, and ultimately save lives.To watch the video or to check out the slides for this presentation, visit the website for The Best Friends Podcast: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-149


Capacity Crisis Marketing

After a hiatus, we’re excited for the return of the Best Friends Podcast!  To catch up on what’s been happening around the country since our last episode, we contacted the Chief Program Officer for Best Friends, Marc Peralta. We discussed what’s happening regarding intake and outcomes in animal shelters and dug into the details around some less-than-helpful news articles that came out over the last few weeks.  
 Marc also shares how, when times are tough, he leans on his experiences from the past 17 years in animal welfare. To access resources from this episode, check out the website: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-148 

Getting caught up with Marc Peralta

The animal welfare industry’s approach to data has come a long way in the last few years. As a result, we understand more than ever the importance of tracking our lifesaving efforts and using that data to ensure we have the right resources in the right places to save the most lives. However, the processes and tools available to help collect and analyze data have been due for an upgrade.  This week we focus on a newly launched platform that aims to help you take the way you use data to the next level. The Best Friends data science team designed the features of Shelter Pet Data Alliance. It includes automatically populated dashboards that quickly show you what you need to know and help you understand what you need to do to improve and how to do it. The Chief Mission Officer for Best Friends, Holly Sizemore, joins us this week to discuss this exciting new platform. Links:Shelter Pet Data Alliance: shelterpetdata.orgBest Friends Pet Lifesaving Dashboard: bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025/animal-shelter-statisticsBF Podcast episode 147: network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-147


Shelter Pet Data Alliance

Animal welfare is an ever-evolving field, and as our understanding grows, it stands to reason that the way we talk about our work should also change. When you realize the impact words can have, this carries more importance. For example, if we describe adoption returns as failures and publicly call adopters out for doing so, how likely is it that other adopters will return to us if they have issues? This week we sat down with two Best Friends staff members to get their take on words and terms we use in our work; the senior director of lifesaving programs for the east coast region, Makena Yarbrough, and the manager for the east coast region, John Graves. For resources related to this episode, check out our website: https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/best-friends-podcast/best-friends-podcast-ep-146

Time for a language checkup!

We know that planning for the unknown can be a challenge. That’s why we’re excited to share one of our newest resources, our Emergency Preparedness Toolkit. Geared towards individuals and organizations that focus on helping people and pets, such as animal shelters, rescues, boarding facilities, and veterinary clinics, the toolkit has everything you need to create a comprehensive emergency plan. The effects of a changing climate are impacting larger parts of the country more often. The toolkit’s information, plan templates, assessments, task descriptions, and checklists will help you stay safe no matter what heads your way. 
 Resources:Best Friends Emergency Preparedness Toolkit: https://network.bestfriends.org/education/operations/additional-education/emergency-preparedness-toolkitRegister now for the Best Friends national conference: https://bestfriends.org/conference. Use the discount code "PODCAST" to save $10 (Best Friends network partners receive a greater discount using the code delivered via email. Discount codes can not be stacked)



Reducing pay inequality w/ Julie Castle

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