Top five editorials of 2022

December 20th, 2022

In crafting content for the Best Friends Network Partner website, we like to focus on the work of the 4,000+ network partner organizations. That’s because we believe the best teachers of how to be successful are our peers who are doing this work 24/7, every day.

But there are some topics Best Friends holds strong positions on, and it’s equally critical to share those opinions with you. We strive to be a leader in the national animal welfare movement; to that end we want to speak up about some of the more controversial issues in the industry.

So here are the top five editorials that attracted the highest number of readers in 2022. We think they’re worth another look!

The reality of today's shelter struggles
Data reveals adoption disparities between municipal and private shelters
While daily struggles continue for shelters across the country the data doesn’t match what many of our partners are experiencing. So, we felt the need to dig deeper and as it turns out, not everyone is experiencing challenges in the same way . . . We broke down the data by the different types of brick-and-mortar shelters: municipals, private organizations with municipal contracts and purely private organizations without a contract. And the differences are surprising.
The paradox of adopting out unaltered animals
An interview with Sue Cosby, senior director of lifesaving centers
I’d like to stress it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing situation and I think that’s what makes people nervous. Sterilization surgeries are still a key tool for saving pets’ lives, however an organization with limited surgery capacity might consider strategies such as kittens and puppies can leave without being altered because they have some time before they can get pregnant. Or if your organization easily saves the lives of small dogs through transfers or adoptions and your surgery slots are limited, allow small dogs to return for surgery later. Even if the worst-case scenario happens and a litter is born, those are not the dogs you have difficulty placing when they come into the shelter.
Stepping up pay ranges for animal welfare staff
It could be due to today’s strained economy, where everyone is competing to fill jobs from an applicant pool with the luxury of being picky and demanding higher wages. Or it could be related to an industry trend toward demanding staff get paid what they’re worth. Either way, the impact hopefully will be the same: staff in our field will begin to see bigger paychecks, especially when it comes to entry-level caregiver positions.
Overwhelmed? Under-resourced?
8 steps to managing your shelter when everything seems unmanageable
It could be due to today’s strained economy, where everyone is competing to fill jobs from an applicant pool with the luxury of being picky and demanding higher wages. Or it could be related to an industry trend toward demanding staff get paid what they’re worth. Either way, the impact hopefully will be the same: staff in our field will begin to see bigger paychecks, especially when it comes to entry-level caregiver positions.
We do what?
Policies, procedures, and the importance of writing them down
We work with network partners all the time who don’t have any policies or procedures in writing, or whose procedures were written three directors ago and most of the staff doesn’t even remember where to find them. Is it worth it to put some effort into fixing them up? It absolutely is. These documents are crucial to making sure your staff is consistent with the public and the animals in your care, but also to ensuring what your organization is doing aligns with its goals and philosophies.