GUEST: Joyce Briggs is president of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs, which advances non-surgical sterilants to increase access to humane fertility control. As executive director of PetSmart Charities, she championed funding early models of Humane Alliance high-volume, high-quality spay/neuter clinics and introduced the transport program Rescue Waggin’. She is co-founder of the Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland (Oregon), which has maintained a greater than 90% save rate since 2014. She serves as advisor to 911Fosterpets and is on the board of a new nonprofit called The Functional Dog Collaborative, driven by her interests in the dog population. Joyce has a masters degree from Northwestern University.

MAIN QUESTION: Why do animal welfare organizations need to begin thinking about how the demand for pets will be met in the future?

TAKEAWAYS:

• It’s important to work to develop new methods of sterilization for cats and dogs that are faster, easier, more accessible, and less expensive than surgery, especially so we can help animals around the world where resources can be limited.
• There are dramatic regional differences in pet populations with some parts of the country having shortages of animals available for adoption. These shortages will grow because of the success of spay/neuter programs.
• When shelters and rescue groups are unable to meet public demand for pets, it creates an opportunity for puppy mills and other unethical breeders to fill the void and meet demand.
• Shelters and rescue groups in areas where there are few animals available for adoption might consider rethinking some of their spay/neuter messaging and working with people who have physically and behaviorally healthy family dogs to humanely, ethically and responsibly breed mixed breed dogs and raise well-socialized puppies, and help find the puppies good homes.
• If animal welfare organizations do not begin thinking about how the demand for pets will be met in the future, we may find ourselves cleaning up messes made by others who may seek to take advantage of the opportunity to provide pets for profit and potentially in ways that are inhumane.

LINKS:

• Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs https://www.acc-d.org
• The Functional Breeding Collaborative https://functionalbreeding.org
• Vin News article "Have spay/neuter policies in the US been too effective?" https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&Id=10087056
• Leadership recommendation: Bolsta article "Caution! Campaign Images Can Make or Break Your Fundraiser" https://bolsta.co/caution-campaign-images-can-make-or-break-your-fundraiser/