The Animal Welfare Junction

Episode 25 explores the affordable and accessible veterinary care and social work service provided by Columbus Humane's Essential Care Center. Rachel Finney, CEO, and Dr. Laura Advent, Chief Medical Officer, discuss why the center was created, who their target pet owners are, the services the provide along with pricing structures, and how others can follow this example.

The ability to afford veterinary care for our pets is not only income dependent. And with pet overpopulation in shelters, keeping animals in their homes helps everyone. Put away your judging cap and open up your mind to how we can help people and animals stay together.

Mentioned in this episode:

Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.

For most families, their pets are part of the family and, when met with housing difficulties, they may face the decision of choosing a roof over their head or their pets. This is a decision no one should have to make.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, an amazing organization called Found House Interfaith Housing Network (FHIHN) provides pet support to individuals facing or experiencing homelessness. Garrett Parsons, Pet Support Director at FHIHN, shares their program, stories, goals, and how others can emulate this in their areas.

About Found House: Found House Interfaith Housing Network’s (FHIHN) mission is to provide shelter, housing, and support to families experiencing housing insecurity and to strengthen those services through interfaith and community partnerships. Found House IHN works toward the overarching goal of helping families find and retain stable housing, while keeping families together, including pets. Found House IHN recognizes that families often include four-legged members, and the Pet Support Program is designed to meet their needs. Established in 2014, the Pet Support Program is a pet shelter embedded into Found House IHN’s social service center providing a coordinated network of care for people and pets experiencing the crisis of homelessness, housing insecurity, or related crisis, with the central goal to keep people and their pets safe and together. This reduces the trauma of unnecessary pet surrenders and decreases animal shelter intake numbers. The Pet Support Program works to provide solutions for pet owners with the goal to re-unite pets with their human families upon obtaining stable, pet-friendly housing. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.

Do you know what to do if your pet gets lost? Or if you find a lost pet?

Leslie Poole, Executive Director of Pet FBI, shares the history of Pet FBI, how to utilize the services or the organization, and what we can do as pet owners to increase the chances of reuniting with our pets.

For more information, visit www.petfbi.org.

What is veterinary social work?

This episode’s guest, Alicia Kennedy, is a social-hearted veterinarian who provides care to animals but also the people who love them. Through the use of social workers, she has created a practice that centers around the human-animal bond. It is an amazing service, one that we hope others will learn from and perhaps bring into their own practices.

Mentioned in this episode:

Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.

What is Give Them Ten? Learn about this movement, aimed at giving cats an extra life by promoting spay neuter and other efforts that benefit shelter and community cats.

Deborah Cribbs and Monica Tarrant share with us how this program got started and the reach it has today. They also have information on how organizations throughout the country and beyond can become part of the Give Them Ten movement and gain the resources they provide.

For more information, visit www.givethemten.org.

Dogfighting is a cruel and barbaric act that is not only harmful to the animals, it is also a danger to the community. To understand this topic, we have invited dogfighting expert from the Humane Society of the United States, Janette Reever, to discuss what is dogfighting, what isn't, and what it means for Pit Bulls. We also touch on the breed, breed specific legislation, responsible sheltering, and responsible ownership of these dogs.

Dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states. If you suspect animal fighting, contact your local animal control officer, police department, office of the inspector general, or our friends at HSUS. You are not only saving the dogs, you could be saving people as well.

Mentioned in this episode:

Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.

Tessa Cannon, founder and director of For the Love of Primates, joins us to discuss the topic of primates as pets and in research, both conditions that lead to physical and mental health problems in this species.

Join us to learn about the needs of primates, why they need our help, and how you can be involved as a Primate Protector.

For more information on the organization, visit www.fortheloveofprimates.org

What is the best age to sterilize dogs and cats? There are many opinions on both the benefits of sterilization as well as the risks, and most of the concerns expressed currently are based on research published from a referral hospital. But is the information applicable to all animals? What are the risks and benefits? And what are the implications of not sterilizing our pets?

Dr. Phil Bushby, Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon and Marcia Lane Endowed Chair of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Mississippi State, breaks down the research and helps clarify what the data tells us. In reviewing the research for and against early age sterilization, we discuss bias as well as the power of statistics and how numbers can be manipulated to prove significance when there may not be any.

There are risks and benefits in every decision we make for the pets in our lives. We hope that this episode can help clear some of the confusion behind this topic so that pet owners and caretakers can make educated decisions about their care.

Mentioned in this episode:

Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.

Dr. Sam Valerius, from All Critters Veterinary Clinic in Grove City, Ohio, joins us to share information on the basic needs and common ailments of exotic pets. We discuss (in order) snakes, lizards, turtles, birds, spiders, fish, rats, mice, hamsters, and wildlife.

If you own an exotic pet, are contemplating getting one, or if you are in the veterinary field and interested in helping exotics patients in your practice, Dr. Sam is a wealth of information on exotic patient care.

You can find out more information about All Critters Veterinary Hospital at www.allcrittersvet.com

Do you know the do's and don'ts of large scale investigations? Are you looking to learn more about procedures or resources available to humane officers and officials investigating animal crimes?

Shalimar Oliver, Animal Crimes Manager from The Humane Society of the United States, joins us for a detailed discussion of what it takes to properly conduct an investigation as well as the things to avoid. Preparation is Key, and Shalimar does an excellent job painting a full picture.

This episode is recommended to anyone working in animal cruelty investigations, from veterinarians to animal control officers, humane societies, law enforcement and prosecutors.