Who Will Let the Dogs Out

Frustrated with your local animal shelter's conditions, but unsure how to actually bring about meaningful change? In this episode of Who Will Let The Dogs Out?, co-founder Cara Achterberg dives into common pitfalls advocates face when they get stuck in "problem mode" and shares actionable strategies for creating real solutions.Tune in as Cara breaks down three crucial steps for animal advocates:Know where the buck stops: Building relationships with the ultimate decision-makers instead of making them the enemy.Make it a people problem: Framing shelter issues around community needs and metrics that leadership can't ignore.Get inside the building: Volunteering, understanding the staff's perspective, and dropping dangerous assumptions.To learn more about our mission and support our work, visit Who Will Let The Dogs Out.

Is the "save them all" narrative unintentionally causing more harm than good in animal welfare? In this special replay of our recent webinar, host Cara takes a deep dive into why focusing strictly on no-kill percentages is leading to unintended consequences like crowded shelters, closed intakes, and long-term warehousing.We break down a realistic, compassionate framework designed to support both animals and the communities that love them: The 5 Tenets of Responsible Sheltering.In this episode, we discuss:Helping Everyone Who Reaches Out: Providing essential resources, rehoming tools, medical support, and open intakes.Promoting & Offering Spay/Neuter Services: Expanding local access, mobile clinics, transport support, and community assistance funds.Engaging the Community: Building strong foster networks, volunteer programs, advisory boards, and public-friendly shelter policies.Proactively Educating: Teaching humane care, owner responsibility, and hosting community clinics and open houses.Managing Shelter Populations to Prevent Suffering: Making tough, ethical decisions to ensure animals are not kept in long-term distress or adopted out unsafely.Whether you work in municipal sheltering, run a local rescue, or care deeply about animal welfare in your town, this episode offers a practical blueprint for moving beyond survival mode and toward creating truly humane communities.Links & Resources Mentioned:Facebook Group: Join WWLDO Shelter Solutions and Support for non-judgmental discussions and shelter resources.Get in Touch: Have feedback or questions? Email Cara directly at [email protected] Events: Register for our free Stronger Together workshop on November 7th in the Florida Panhandle via our link in bio or Facebook page.For more information, visit WhoWillLettheDogsOut.org

Host Cara Achterberg sits down with Emily Holland, Executive Director of Animal Harbor in Winchester, Tennessee, to discuss innovative, compassionate approaches to animal welfare in rural communities. Emily shares the inspiration and impact behind their brand-new Crisis Care Program—an initiative designed to help pet owners during sudden emergencies, keep pets in loving homes, and prevent animals from entering shelters in the first place.They also dive into:How small nonprofit rescues can partner with municipal, open-intake shelters to fill critical community gaps.Building strong, trust-based relationships with local veterinarians and donors.The success of Animal Harbor’s Community Pack Walks and how they meet people where they are.Overcoming judgment in animal rescue to preserve the human-animal bond through compassion and proactive support.Tune in to discover how meeting pet owners in their moment of need creates a truly humane community!Learn More & Connect:Visit Animal Harbor to explore their programs or support their work.Enjoying the show? Please share this episode, leave us a rating or review, and help us spread the word!To learn more about Who Will Let the Dogs Out, visit our website: www.WWLDO.orgQuestions? email [email protected]

Description:In this episode, host Cara Achterberg tackles the ongoing crisis in animal welfare and proposes a necessary shift in how we measure success in animal shelters. Moving away from the arbitrary "no-kill status" metric, Cara explores what it truly means to practice responsible sheltering and build a humane community.Key topics covered in this episode include:Why animal welfare issues are fundamental community and people problems.Tenet 1: Assisting every individual who reaches out with an animal concern.Tenet 2: Assist, promote and/or offer spay & neuter services.Tenet 3: Engaging your community in the work of the shelter.Tenet 4: Proactively educate the community.Tenet 5: Managing the shelter population to prevent sufferingCara also highlights real-world examples from advocates Meredith Perry and Lisa Mylot, and shares actionable programs like pet retention help, mobile spay/neuter clinics, citizen advisory boards, and shelter open houses.Join the Conversation & Register for Our Free Webinar:Help us shape the future of animal welfare! Join our upcoming free webinar on Sunday, October 11th at 7:00 PM ET, featuring experienced shelter professionals discussing these five tenets in detail.Register for the webinar.Who Will Let The Dogs Out (Look for the banner link at the top of the page)Feedback & Questions: Email Cara directly at [email protected] you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating, and share it with someone who cares about animal welfare!

In this episode, Cara introduces a groundbreaking new vision—"Responsible Sheltering" and "Humane Communities"—alongside two leaders on the frontlines of animal welfare reform:Lisa Milot (Attorney, shelter advocate, Vermont’s inaugural Director of Animal Welfare and founder of AthensPets)Roxanne Hicks (Director of Edgewater Animal Shelter & Founder of The Shelter Shift)Inside the Episode:What "Responsible Sheltering" Really Means: Shifting from open-door intake to nonjudgmental support, keeping pets in loving homes, and building strong partnerships with local government and animal control.Building a "Humane Community": How wraparound support services—such as accessible vet care, pet food/litter banks, temporary fostering, housing protections, and targeted spay/neuter—can transform an entire region.Rethinking Shelter Metrics: Moving beyond simple "live release" numbers to evaluate true shelter success and safety.Tough Conversations: Navigating the honest, transparent realities around high-risk adoptions and euthanasia.Taking Action: Practical steps everyday citizens and advocates can take to drive local ordinance changes and policy reform.Tune in to discover how we can build a compassionate, sustainable future for animals and the communities that love them!

Our animal welfare system is reaching a breaking point.Across the nation, stray populations are exploding, intake waitlists are stretching for months, and shelters are operating far beyond capacity. But how did we get here—and why has the rigid push for "no-kill" status made it harder for municipal shelters to serve their communities?In this episode, Cara Achtorberg breaks down the hiddencosts of judging a shelter's success strictly by its Live Release Rate (LRR). When open-intake safety nets close their doors or delay intake to protect a metric, animals, pet owners, and public health suffer. It's time to shift the narrative from arbitrary numbers to what truly matters: responsible sheltering, preventing animal suffering, and building a humane community.Key TopicsCovered in This Episode:·       The Safety Net Cracking: Why municipal shelters were built for open admissions and how managed intake shifts the burden back onto the public.·       The "No-Kill" Misconception: How the 90% LRR threshold creates unintended incentives to deter high-needs, sick, orbehaviorally complex animals.·       Signs of a Broken System: The ripple effects of overloaded shelters, including rising stray populations, increased rabiesrisks, and a spike in dog bites.·       Systemic Root Causes: How outdated facilities,deprioritized spay/neuter programs, and restrictive pet housing contribute to the crisis.·       Redefining Success: Shifting the goal from simply "not killing" to active community care, owner support, and preventinganimal suffering.UpcomingWebinar Event Join us on Zoom for a live conversation about what it means to shelter responsibly to build a human community with special guests Lisa Milot(Director of Vermont’s Division of Animal Welfare) and Roxanne Hicks (Founder of The Shelter Shift).·       When: Sunday, September 20 at 7:00 PM Eastern·       Registration: Register for the ZoomWebinar·       Submit Questions: Email your questions in advance [email protected] more about our work and support us at WhoWillLettheDogsOut.org 

In this episode, host Cara Achterberg sits down with Suzy Hollenbach, Director of Memphis Animal Services (MAS), for a candid discussion on the animal welfare crisis in Memphis and across the nation. Suzy shares her journey from founding All Fours Rescue League—a grass-roots outreach program delivering free spay/neuter services, vaccines, and support directly to underserved neighborhoods—to taking the helm at MAS during one of its most challenging periods.Together, they dive into:The Reality of Community Outreach: How building trust and meeting pet owners where they are transforms neighborhoods and saves lives.The Stray Overpopulation Boom: The catastrophic impact of long-term limited intake policies, nationwide shelter capacity issues, and the critical need for open-intake accountability.Inside Memphis Animal Services: The heavy emotional toll on frontline staff and animal control officers dealing with dangerous pack sizes, parvo outbreaks, and an overwhelming daily call queue.Real Solutions: Why expanding spay/neuter access, building regional veterinary networks, and establishing true shelter stability are the only ways to break the cycle.Learn more about Who Will Let the Dogs out.

What actually happens when animal shelters turn away immediate surrenders? In this episode, we take an honest, unvarnished look at the reality of open intake versus managed intake shelters, and explore why the national shift toward restricted admissions may be doing more harm than good.In this episode, we cover:Defining Intake Models: Clear breakdowns of open intake, managed intake, and limited intake—and why the terms are often misused.The Post-2020 Pivot: How pandemic-era appointment systems became permanent policy and changed the landscape of municipal animal welfare.The Hidden Costs of Managed Intake: How waitlists and appointments lead to surges in roaming strays, abandoned litters, public safety risks, and human housing heartbreak.The Safe Harbor Approach: Why offering immediate, judgment-free surrender options protects vulnerable animals and families better than forced "pet owner accountability."Euthanasia vs. Warehousing: Facing the hard choices between overcrowding, abandonment, and humane open-door policies with complete public transparency.Actionable Steps for Advocates: How volunteers and citizens can gather community data—from reclaim rates to stray pickups—to advocate for real shelter reform.Whether you are a shelter worker, volunteer, or passionate animal lover, this conversation offers a candid roadmap for building a realistic, safe, and truly humane community for pets and people alike.Resources mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/@UGALawPAWS/videosWhoWillLettheDogsOut.org

In this episode, Cara sits down with Tammy Fox, Executive Director of the Florida Keys SPCA, to unpack how animal welfare has dramatically shifted over the last three decades. With a career spanning back to 1994—including leadership roles in Austin, Texas, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania—Tammy brings a wealth of frontline experience to a tough but necessary conversation.Together, Cara and Tammy tackle:The Reality of Open Intake: What it truly means to be an open-admission shelter in today's climate.The Evolution of "No-Kill": How the language surrounding animal rescue has changed, and where it may have gone off track.Euthanasia vs. Warehousing: The heavy ethical questions rescue workers face when shelters stay overcrowded.Whether you are a seasoned rescue volunteer or simply love dogs, Tammy’s deep insights offer a powerful, honest look at the state of animal sheltering today.Connect with us:Contact Cara: [email protected] more about our mission at ⁠WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org⁠

After our last episode on the critical differences between public shelters and private rescues, we received a lot of... let’s call it reactive feedback. In this episode, we are backing up, slowing down, and clearing up the confusion because this misunderstanding is at the very heart of the animal welfare crisis we are facing today.Too many people are placing the expectations of a private rescue onto publicly funded municipal shelters. When we demand that open-intake public shelters act like "no-kill" rescues, they are forced to close their doors, turn away citizens, and warehouse animals.We dive deep into why every single community absolutely needs a publicly funded, open-intake safety net, including 5 undeniable reasons you might not have considered:Unplanned Owner Passing: What happens to pets when someone dies unexpectedly without a backup plan?Accidents: Who steps in for a dog when their owner is hospitalized in a car crash?Arrests: The tragic reality for animals when an owner is suddenly detained.Hoarding Situations: Why public services are vital when large groups of sick or unsocialized animals are discovered.Rescue Vulnerability: Why relying solely on private rescues—which can go bankrupt, fill up, or close down—is dangerous.We also tackle the reality of "hybrid" nonprofit shelters that take taxpayer dollars but still turn animals away by using waiting lists. Are they actually serving the community, or just the lucky few who make it through the door?It’s time to look closely at your own community. Is your local shelter truly acting as a public safety net, or is it operating as a rescue?Join the Conversation:Visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org to read our blog stories from over 220 shelter visits, download our free Animal Crisis FAQ, and learn how you can help create practical solutions. Connect with us and add your voice on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!