The Best Friends Podcast Episode 142
We always love hearing from listeners, especially when we hear that the podcast has helped you be more effective in your lifesaving work. This is why we loved receiving the email about the significant changes happening at Secondhand Hounds.
Rachel Mairose, the founder of the Minneapolis-based rescue organization, listened to episode 67 of The Best Friends Podcast, "If "nobody's perfect," then why do we expect all pet adopters to be?" She says that the episode (with guest Lawrence Nicolas) helped her realize that their adoption process wasn't as inclusive as it could be and that set a new way of handling their adoption process in motion.
This week we chat with Rachel to learn more about the changes underway at her organization and how she's managing those changes in policy with their staff, volunteers, and donors.
Click here to check out all the episodes from the podcast.
Resources from this episode- Best Friends network playbook: Open Adoptions
- Best Friends lifesaving training module: Client Service and Open Adoptions
- Best Friends network: Adoption barrier study - Qualitative study to understand the pet acquisition process, existing barriers (real or perceived) to adoption, and potential solutions to overcome those barriers
- Best Friends Tool: How to Use Data to Prove the Community-Supported Sheltering Model - A guide to the importance of knowing your data (especially now), what you need to be measuring, and how to use it to increase lifesaving with your community
- Best Friends Pet Adoption Survey Results - How do Americans feel about pet adoption, and what do they really know about shelter animals? Those were two key questions Best Friends hoped to answer through its inaugural “Pet Adoption” survey
- Saving America's Pets: Getting out of our own way to save more lives
- Best Friends network:Pet Adoption: Barriers and Solutions
- Best Friends Blog: Pet adoption policies: More red carpets, fewer roadblocks, empty animal shelters
- Best Friends network editorial:Animal welfare should tear down walls to pet ownership
- Association for Animal Welfare Advancement: If your adoption policies put up barriers, you’re part of the problem
- Maddie's Fund: Removing Barriers to Adoption: How Evidence, Innovation and Compassion Grow Pet Adoptions
- CARE: Stories Matter
This week's guest
Rachel Mairose
executive director, Secondhand Hounds
Rachel Mairose is the Executive Director and Founder of Secondhand Hounds, an animal (& human) wellbeing organization based in Minnesota.
Rachel has been animal crazy from a young age and fell in love with animal rescue during her time at Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her degree in Environmental Conservation. Having been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and panic disorder, Rachel is passionate about mental health and the benefits of being around animals. Because of this, Secondhand Hounds has a holistic approach to animal welfare and believes that animals should be kept in their loving homes whenever possible.
Secondhand Hounds is a unique organization that combines an animal rescue, social services programs, and a veterinary center together which results in one common goal: fostering the human animal bond through adoption, reunification, and outreach.
Episode Transcript