Today we talk about a rather tough topic, Euthanasia. This is something that happens in No-Kill and high kill shelters and is a procedure that can feel and be very polarizing. Take the time to listen with an open mind, and of course, make sure you are in a good head space before jumping into the show.

I speak about some statistics from Shelter Animals Count in today's episode. You can find the mid-year review below!

https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mid-Year-2024-Report-6.pdf

Both topics feed into one another and can certainly make or break the shelter culture as a whole.

Discretion is advised as I swear a little more than normal, and these two topics bring about sensitive topics and emotional responses. (From me... and maybe you too).

ADDITIONAL DISCRETION: brief mentions of suicidal statistics.

For resources about managing compassion fatigue go here:

https://www.compassioninbalance.com/resources

OR:

https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/compassion-fatigue-resilience-resources-animal-shelter-staff-volunteer-wellness

For Capacity for Care information and calculation formulas go here:

https://www.aspcapro.org/topics-shelter-medicine-population-management/capacity-care-animal-shelters-rescues

OR:

https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/shelter-capacity-not-just-about-number-of-kennels/

Breed Labeling has become a bit of a hot topic when it comes to shelter policy and procedure. I am happy to introduce you, dear listeners to an overview of what that means, and the impact breed labeling can have on your K9 population.

I am keeping it a bit lighter when we dive into the Behavior discussion. Consider it a soft overview of what Behavior looks like in a shelter setting, under a few different aspects.

Below please find some excellent resources on breed labeling!

https://humanepro.org/sites/default/files/documents/HPO_FactSheet_Breedlabeling.pdf

https://www.maddiesfund.org/assets/documents/Institute/Breed_Labels_Ebook.pdf

Enjoy the show!

Advocacy is spectrum in the shelter world, and is certainly not black and white. Some of my opinions regarding advocacy may feel upsetting to some listeners. If you are finding yourself feeling upset, let's open a conversation about it. Here at The Drop Kennel we are all about opening our minds and hearts and looking at subjects with a "think again" approach.

Addiction runs pretty rampant in many shelters, but not in the way you may think. Tune in now to hear why.

Drop Kennels, what are they? Are they practical in today's modern sheltering world and do they meet standard guidelines?

Deteriorating Animals. This is a tough subject to tackle, so today we just keep it surface level. We will dig deeper into this topic in next weeks episode.

I keep things less emotional this week, so rejoice!

Resources from this episode:

https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/42/19