The Best Friends Podcast Episode 112
Many animal shelters across the country are struggling right now. In most areas, intake is up, and positive outcomes are down. With other factors impacting our industry, such as staffing issues and the economy, what is happening is nothing short of a crisis.
If you are experiencing this, you know that it can be hard to maintain lifesaving when the number of animals coming in doesn’t slow down. Creating compelling content for the public and the media is a vital piece of the puzzle to getting the animals in your care out into foster and adoptive homes.
One community that has found ways to maintain its impressive live release rate is Kansas City, Missouri. This week we spoke with Tori Fugate, the chief communications officer for KC Pet Project, about how they’ve managed to keep up the lifesaving pace.
Click here to check out all the episodes from the podcast.
Resources from this episode- KC Pet Project's Tiktok
- KC Pet Project's March 2022 Impact Report
- KC Pet Project's crisis capacity graphic
- Best Friends Network: Marketing tools and resources
- Best Friends Network: People, Pets, and Policies: Towards Community Supported Animal Sheltering
- Leveling the Field: How to Remove Barriers for Underrepresented Communities and their Pets
- Roadblock-free is the way to be
- Best Friends Network program spotlight: Getting the Message Out - How to Overcome Adoption and Foster Challenges in your Community
- Best Friends Network: Adoption Barrier study and summary
- Join us for the 2022 Best Friends National Conference: click here to register.
Guests this week
Tori Fugate
chief communications officer, KC Pet Project
Tori Fugate joined the KC Pet Project team in March 2012 – shortly after the organization took over the Kansas City, MO, animal shelter in January 2012. Tori’s role with KC Pet Project has enabled her to build the organization’s brand and promote its mission from inception to what it is today. She oversees all marketing, events, web management, social media, retail sales, education initiatives, and media relations, and she recently served on the design and construction committee of the KC Campus for Animal Care, Kansas City’s new animal shelter.
She enjoys the opportunity to promote KC Pet Project and its pets through social media and in print, radio and television appearances on a local and national level – including People Magazine, The Dodo, The Huffington Post, CBS News, USA Today, Queer Eye, and The Rachael Ray Show.
Episode Transcript