The Best Friends Podcast Episode 148
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.
Click here to check out all the episodes from the podcast.
Resources from this episode- Eviction Lab
- KC Pet Project: July 2023 President's Report
- National Public Radio: Pandemic and no-kill policy worsen overcrowding at animal shelters
This week's guest
Marc Peralta
Chief Program Officer
As the Chief Program Officer, Marc Peralta brings together Best Friends' programs and aligns all things related to Best Friends direct care work outside of the Sanctuary along with developing the knowledge and capabilities of individuals and partner organizations involved in lifesaving in order to empower them to achieve no-kill in their own backyard. These initiatives include lifesaving programs, national programs, shelter outreach, mentorship, staff-embedding programs, community cat programs, no-kill leadership training, and emergency response training and operations.
Prior to this position, Marc served as the Senior Director of National No-Kill Advancement and before that Senior Director of Regional Programs for a year, overseeing Best Friends newest initiatives and the foundation of building out and expanding Best Friends' strategy, partnerships and programming in the key Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Before that, Marc served as the Executive Director for Best Friends in Los Angeles for five years. In 2011, Los Angeles was struggling to save just over half of the cats and dogs entering city shelters. Because of Marc's and Best Friends' leadership, L.A. is on track to reach a 90 percent save rate, the threshold for designation as a no-kill city. Marc's duties as executive director included operations for the Best Friends Lifesaving Center in Mission Hills, California, and the NKLA Pet Adoption Center in West Los Angeles, as well as leadership of the NKLA Coalition, which comprises more than 140 animal welfare organizations.
Marc has also served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, as well as Interim CEO, at the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At PSPCA, he was directly responsible for seven statewide facilities, animal control for the city of Philadelphia and humane law enforcement for the state of Pennsylvania. In addition to his duties at the Pennsylvania SPCA, Marc was a member of the board of directors for the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia.
Prior to the PSPCA, Marc worked in animal care manager roles at the Nevada Humane Society in Reno, Nevada, working with the team there to bring Washoe County to no-kill status in 2008 (it remains no-kill today), and the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Episode Transcript