126. National Adoption Week, Shelter Success Stories & Finding Your Perfect Pet

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Pets Ad Life, your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and me, Chris Bonafati, powered by the American Pet Products Association and dog TV. Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Ad Life. I am one of your co-hosts, Chris Bonafati, and joining me is the hula hoop champion of Oahu Hawaii, Kristen Levine.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
How'd you know? How did you know

Speaker 1 (00:32):
That? It's from your background. Oh,

Speaker 2 (00:37):
My

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Bio? Yeah. One of my

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Highlights.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yeah, it was in your introduction. I didn't know this about you. I just thought it was a very interesting, fun fact.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Have you tried to hula hoop as an adult? It's

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Terrible. It

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Is impossible.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
I can't remember the last time I did, but it was definitely while I was an adult and it was like experiencing a lack of rhythm. It's like the opposite. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Exactly. That's so

Speaker 1 (01:04):
True. Yeah. Whatever the opposite of dancing was is me hula hooping.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
It comes so natural to kids, but definitely not to adults. No. And speaking of hula hoops, we have a special show today.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Okay. This is a great... Tell

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Me how to do this see.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah. Tell me what this has to do with hula

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Hoops, Kristen. Well, today we have a special episode. It has nothing to do with hula hoops. It's just that we have a special episode that I'm excited about. It's around one of my favorite weeks of the year. It's the PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week. And that runs from July 20th through the 26th. This show's dropping on the 21st. So if you've been thinking about adding a pet to your family, this is probably going to be the show for you.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, we've got ourselves a nice little adoption special lined up and adoption is near and dear to my heart. Every pet other than the fish, I don't think you could adopt fish, but every pet I have ever had throughout my life has been adopted from a shelter and they have all changed my life in dramatic ways. So we're going to hear some awesome adoption stories. We're going to talk about some products that I'm sure pet parents at home who are considering adopting an animal will be must buys. We're going to talk to two excellent guests and talk to them about animal adoption. And then we're going to answer two adoption related questions at the tail end of this show. I'm even throwing animal puns in there at

Speaker 2 (02:32):
The tail show. I love it. I love it. Hey, and this is a good chance to remind everybody that you can watch the adoption show on dog TV. You can watch it on Unleashed, YouTube, wherever you get your dog TV.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
One of my favorite four human programs on dog TV. It's a very heartwarming show and you get to see a lot of really passionate people talk about the work that they do and it's really inspiring stuff. So I highly recommend you check it out after this episode of PAL. So without further ado, let's hop into story time. Kristen and Chris present Story Time. All right, Kristen, Story Time. Do you want to kick us off this week?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
I do because I have a good one. This is really awesome. Some feel good news about adoption week. America shelters are saving more lives than ever and the numbers are moving in the right direction. So

(03:29):
I looked up the, it's called the 2025 National Shelter Data Report that is put out by Best Friends Animal Society. And this was just released this spring, so this is pretty recent data. The national save rate for animals reached 82.5% in 2025. Now that's up from 71% in 2016. So these numbers don't jump quickly. It took like nine years to jump about 12 percentage points. But hey, we are moving in the right direction. And basically what they're talking about is the animals that come into the shelter, 82.5% on average are saved, which probably means adopted. Two out of three US shelters are now officially no kill, considered no kill, which is an all time high. And if you're wondering what the definition of no kill is, I thought I'd pull this up for you. A shelter is classified as a no kill shelter when it saves at least 90% of the animals that come through its doors.

(04:33):
And then that remaining 10% accounts for only for animals that are sick, not adoptable for one reason or another. So that's another record breaking statistic. So we're headed in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Absolutely. As I'm choking over here.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
I forgot. I forgot. Okay. You forgot one. I forgot one. This is the one you're going to love, Chris. Cats. Cat had a record breaking save rate of 82.9%, which is the lowest number of cats euthanized in shelter history.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
That is amazing. That's really great news.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
But there's a lot more work to still be done. So these are good numbers, but we ultimately want to get to 100% no kill all animals getting adopted.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
You sound like my boss. These are good numbers, but you can do better. This is good, but you can do better.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Right, right. What's your story?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
I've got a little heartwarming story about this ongoing, I'm going to call it situation. In Wisconsin, there's a research facility called Riddling Farms, something like that. It's in Wisconsin and it's a medical research facility that does use dogs for their medical research. And now there's been an ongoing, I'm going to call it negotiation between an animal rights organization and the health facility. Now, everything that this research facility does is above board. This isn't some sketchy thing over there. There are certain regulations and rules that you have to follow if you're testing on animals. And the unfortunate reality is that testing on animals is essential to a lot of our medical research. That said, there are some amazing people out there who, I want to say, solicit these medical research facilities and negotiate with them to release their animals into their care rather than whatever channel they would go through ordinarily.

(06:47):
So as a result, and I'm trying to find the name of the organization, but it's a large organization that has taken a bunch of the dogs and basically spread them out over the country to different rescues. And they have successfully re-homed 135 beagles.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Wow. That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah. They reached an agreement with the facility and there was no crazy protests or anything like that. The group was able to come in and take the dogs and they were able to split them up. Some went to Florida, some went to Southern California. And the animal rights lawyer who handled this, and now my sound is going. I hope you guys can't hear that because suddenly the sound on the website has decided to start and it's distracting me. No, we can't hear it. Okay, good, good, good. So Shannon Keith, who's the animal rights lawyer and here's the name of the organization, the Beagle Freedom Project has said that we don't have enough beagles. They're in such high demand that they are actively looking for any company out there who may be using beagles for research and they're finished with the dogs and the dogs are...

(08:06):
Not every dog who does medical research is like this crazy cartoonish test subject. A lot of them are finished and they're perfectly healthy, completely tame, domesticated, normal dogs who need a home. They want a forever home. So they have now adopted out every single one of the 135 beagles because they're apparently in incredibly high demand in shelters. So really great job by the Beagle Freedom Project. I think it's a really cool story about how you were just saying that there's what, 82% save rate for dogs. I mean, there's some dogs breeds that are in such high demand, they don't stay in shelters. That's true. Very true. And one of those is beagles. So we're meeting the demand with some supply. We're helping the dogs. And I think this is an amazing way to retain healthy relationships with medical groups that are doing everything right and following the letter of the law, but still managing to quickly find new homes for these dogs who have done a great service for both these companies and people.

(09:18):
These are medications that end up hitting whether it's over the counter prescription drugs. They end up helping people at the end of the day. So I'm very happy that these dogs who are helpful with that research get their happy ending.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
That's right. Because they've served humanity. Donna, they deserve a forever home.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
They deserve a nice rest. Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Join me in welcoming Cassie Davidson. She's the vice president of marketing, communications and PR for the Humane Society of North Texas. And she serves as the organization's national spokesperson. With years of experience in animal welfare communications, advocacy and public engagement, Cassie has helped elevate awareness of pet adoption, animal rescue, responsible pet ownership, and lifesaving programs that support pets and the people who love them. Now, in addition to her work with the Humane Society of North Texas, Cassie serves as vice president of marketing for Wings of Rescue. We've talked about that on the show. It's a nonprofit organization that transports at risk shelter pets to communities where they have a better chance of finding homes. So through her leadership media appearances and advocacy efforts, Cassie helps connect people with the stories, challenges and successes shaping animal welfare across the country. Welcome, Cassie.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yeah. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
You're a busy lady doing some amazing things. I have to ask, whenever we talk to people working in animal welfare, I love to hear the story about what first inspired you to dedicate your career to animal welfare.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
Oh Lord. It started in a way it shouldn't have, but it's actually a great story. So I actually started as a volunteer about 18 years ago in Keller, Texas at the Humane Society of North Texas facility. And the manager at the time was, "Hey, can you foster a cat? It's springtime. We're full into kitten season." And I was like, "I'm up here all the time. I think I can foster a mom and her babies." And so she rolls up to my house. She's going to deliver them too. I'm like, "Hey, this is perfect." So she rolls up, opens up the van, and she has four moms and babies. Whoa. And I was just like dumbstruggling with doing here. This is not all for me. She's like, "Yep, it is. " And so she brings all the crates one after another into my house. And I'm just like, "I cannot believe this just happened." And to this day, she's one of my closest friends.

(11:53):
So she really did sucker punch me, but I saw in that moment that taking on the moms and babies, I had twins that were young at the time and it was really full family effort to make sure that we could sustain and keep them alive, keep them healthy and make sure that they were flourishing. So I think that seeing the impact on my family is really what moved me.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
That's inspirational. Yeah. Nice

Speaker 3 (12:20):
Story. I was expecting one and ended up with 16.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
But a last. So working with these shelters over there in North Texas, what are some of the biggest challenges that shelters are facing today? At the top of the show, we were talking that things are going well. Numbers are getting better, pets are getting adopted, but there's still, I'm sure, a ton of challenges.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Oh, there are. And I don't want to speak for any of the municipalities. I can just share a little bit more about HSNT. We are the oldest and the largest nonprofit shelter here in North Texas. Last year alone, we touched 16,000 lives through adoptions, through programs, through our clinic. And so I can tell you that puppy and kitten season does not end in North Texas. Unfortunately, we don't have inclement weather here in Texas. Our weather is about six days of winter and then it's right back to Texas.

(13:21):
So we see prolonged. We see kittens and puppies being born in January, which most Northern states are not going to see. So that puts us at a disadvantage. When you are constantly in this cycle of puppy and kitten season, you always have an influx of newborns needing support. And because they're more intended to be born in the spring months, it just makes them even more delicate. So for municipalities, because we're a private nonprofit, we schedule intake, but for a lot of the municipalities, because they're city or state funded, they don't have a stop button where we have to pause intake, find homes for what we currently have and then we resume when we have fosters in the system. Municipalities don't have that luxury. And so you see a lot of overcrowding in your city and county shelters. So one thing that HSNT has done, we pivoted a few years ago where we actually are now a community partner.

(14:21):
So we actually work with... So we're North Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth area, but we work all the way from Houston up into Oklahoma out to Abilene, which is West Texas. We will go to the municipalities, we'll work with them and pull a lot of their medical cases. We'll pull dogs and cats that are what they regard as red tags. We don't do red tags. We don't euthanize for space ever. So I think that lending ourselves as a community partner while also making sure that we can help the community, the general pop surrender their pets when they're in need. It's just really fine tuning. We've got a fantastic operations team that makes sure that this happens.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Wow. That's incredible. And I'm really glad that you pointed out the distinction between a privately funded and run shelter and a municipality. And it's just amazing that you guys are able to help such a broad spectrum of the community. Really, really good work. I want to shift gears a little bit, Cassie. You also work with Wings of Rescue, which transports shelter pets across the country. How does animal air transport, how does that save lives and why is it so important?

Speaker 3 (15:30):
Oh my gosh. So Wings of Rescue not only flies at risk shelter pets from overcrowded shelters to partners with open kennel space, but we also step in for humanitarian relief during times of need. So the LA wildfires, the Texas flooding, central Texas flooding, all of the hurricanes. Anytime there's an immediate need like that, we will fly in humanitarian and veterinary aid and we fly pets off out so that let's just say Los Angeles, we flew over a thousand pets that were already in the shelter system out of the shelters so that pets could be reunited with their owners. We had to clear space and we had to do it quick. So I think there's two parts to this and how does it save lives? Well, we're taking pets who are at risk just due to longevity or overpopulation. And we fly them to partners all over the United States who have created open kennel space or who have fosters on deck.

(16:32):
And we have been very, very fortunate to have an incredible amount of receiving shelter partners and that's how we save lives.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah. That's amazing stuff. I think there's quite a few organizations who do something similar and I think it never gets the press. It never gets the appreciation that it deserves. Truly the unsung heroes of shelter animals. And speaking of these shelter animals, I've been asking the guests here during our adoption special, if you had a magic wand or could snap your fingers and erase a myth about shelter animals, just completely dispel a notion from the general population, what would that be? And what do you have to say sort of about the animals that you're helping to rescue?

Speaker 3 (17:18):
That is such an easy one because I still hear, I mean, it's been almost 20 years for me in animal welfare. And I still hear people say, "You got that dog at a shelter?"

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Right now we actually have a catahula. We have a labradoodle. We have a golden doodle. We have maltice, we have pugs, we have designer breeds all day long. And a lot of times people are like, "How did you get them?" I mean, because we do work with the general population, there's all kinds of reasons why people are surrendering their pets. And we end up with full blooded, like what you would go and pay a lot of money for. We end up with those dogs all the time. I am a poodle fan, I will say. And I have four poodles, pure blood. I mean, we don't give them paperwork. So I don't use their AKC registered or whatever. I have four poodles from four different adoptions, not at the same time. But you absolutely can find great dogs in the shelter. And let me tell you something else.

(18:23):
I may be a poodle fan, but there are no broken dogs. And that's what people think is, oh, they're all broken or they misbehave or they must eat sofas or they're just troubled dogs. That's not true. And for us at the Humane Society of North Texas, we have an entire behavior team dedicated to evaluating pets before they go up for adoption. Because if they do need to learn how to not jump or, "Hey, I'm going to teach you how to sit," but maybe we have a whole behavior training area that we are constantly working with dogs and we continue to provide behavior support if you need it.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
That's awesome. I wanted to ask you, Cassie, at the top of the show, I shared some data from the, I think it's the Best Friends Animal Society shelter data report. And Texas is just doing quite a good job from what the report said. It said something like, "If one out of 150 families in Texas were to adopt, it would turn the entire state to no kill." I don't know. Did I read that correctly? And what do you think about that? I would

Speaker 3 (19:30):
Have to go back and read that myself, but I will say that we are. But

Speaker 2 (19:33):
Texas is doing a great job. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
And we actually are a best friends partner. So that is one of the reasons why we go hundreds of miles, hours, five hours away from our shelter and can pull from shelters that have limited resources. But not only do we pull from shelters that have limited resources, your bigger shelters here in Dallas-Fort Worth, they have resources. But your smaller municipalities or your county facilities, your county shelters, they don't really have a bole baby feeding program or they don't have what they need to sustain in the community. And so we actually go out there and teach them. So we show them how to train up your fosters. We show them how to ask your volunteers for support with social media or other needs that can help move adoption forward in their shelters. So we do a lot of training hands-on with other city shelters and their municipalities that are further away.

(20:27):
Well,

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Cassie, thank you so much for being part of our special adoption show. Thanks for all the work you're doing for animals. And tell our viewers and our listeners where we can follow your work at the Humane Society of North Texas and with Wings of Rescue. Well,

Speaker 3 (20:41):
I would say for Humane Society of North Texas, follow us on social media. We've got Facebook, Instagram threads, TikTok. We have a lot of fun. We show a lot of behind the scenes, which again is very different for a shelter because we want you guys to see what's going on and why we do what we do. So follow us on social media. Check out our website, hsnt.org. And then for Wings of Rescue, again, same thing. Check out the social media and by all means visit the website. The two work very well together. It's really nice that myself and one other person live here in Texas. We both work for the Humane Society of North Texas, but we also both work for Wings of Rescue. But what that does is it gives us kind of the pulse of what's going on in animal sheltering. We see it firsthand.

(21:30):
It's not just, oh, we suspect or we think this may be going on. We're living it on a day-to-day basis. So there is definitely empathy for the shelters that are struggling.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
Well, you do some amazing work and I'm going to be sure to follow your story the rest of the way here. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy day to join us.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah. Thanks, Cassie. Chris, what would you do if an animal shelter dropped off four nursing mother cats with their kittens to

Speaker 1 (22:03):
Foster? I'd be fine. Here's the thing. I'm not sleeping anyway. You know what I mean? I might be the perfect candidate. I'm not sleeping anyway. I've already got all these, just pile it on. Add it to the pile. No, but Cassie had a really unique story. And I think Texas has its fair share of problems that they're facing. And it's people like Cassie who hold it all together and really do some really great work, especially with the... I said it during the interview, but these organizations that transport the animals around, they're doing so much because it's not just rescuing the animals from bad situations and natural disasters and things like that. It's taking animals from areas with overcrowded shelters and moving it to places with nearly empty shelters with a high demand for pets and not enough to go around. And that kind of stuff is leading to those amazing numbers that you've been talking about all

Speaker 2 (23:02):
Episode Kristen.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah. It's a big effort. And obviously she loves doing it and we love that she's a part of the animal buffer world.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah. And joining us now is April Huntsman, the senior director of adoption experience at Adopt-Pet, a leading pet adoption platform that helps connect adoptable pets with loving families across North America. A certified animal welfare administrator with more than 25 years of experience in animal welfare. April has dedicated her career to improving outcomes for shelter pets and the organizations that care for them. Known as an agent of change within the animal welfare field, April has helped launch numerous shelter programs, implement best practices and achieve exceptional lifesaving results, including helping a municipal shelter reach a 92% live release rate and earn nationally recognized no-kill status. Today, she works closely with shelters, rescue organizations and adopters to help more pets find homes and to advance innovative approaches to animal welfare. April, thank you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well, you are the perfect guest for our adoption special today. More than 25 years in animal welfare. I want to ask first off, what inspired you to dedicate your career to helping homeless pets?

Speaker 4 (24:26):
I know. 25 years, I'm like, I'm really old, but I think the grain. I oftentimes joke that I was born in animal welfare, but I actually didn't start until I was in my early 20s. And what inspired me is I actually fostered a litter of puppies. And after that experience, I had actually used Adopt a Pet way, way, way back then to list these puppies online and get them adopted. And the organization that I worked for said, you can go pick any pet from the shelter that you'd like to take and foster. So I went to the shelter and they had about 14 dogs and puppies and 20 cats and kittens. And those pets were all out of time. They were actually making decisions that day. And so I left with 14 dogs and 20 cats and kittens.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (25:18):
So that is actually how I got into the industry. And actually I really understood early on that adoptions isn't just about the pet, it's actually about the people because you can't get a pet adopted without a human. And so it's really important that we meet people where they're at, that we understand what they're looking for. And really adoption is just making that joyful connection between pets and their people.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah. That's what it boils down to. So April, you've helped organizations achieve remarkable lifesaving outcomes. I've shared a story at the top of this show about how those adoption numbers keep continuing to increase. And I'm curious to know, you've been doing this 25 years and don't feel bad because I've been in the pet space for 30 years, so I feel really old. But what are some of the biggest changes that you've seen in animal welfare over the 25 years of your career?

Speaker 4 (26:14):
Yeah. I think there's been a lot more attention on understanding the populations of pets that are coming into an organization. It used to be that you kind of treated all dogs, cats, it was kind of all the same. But I think what we've realized is that people that are looking to acquire a dog versus people who are looking to acquire a cat, it's very different experiences. And so you really have to look at the individual populations that are within your organization. And then I think there's been a lot of attention on at-risk populations. So how do we help those kittens that are unweaned and get them to the age where they can be adopted? How do we help large dogs? That's a big topic right now because large dogs are staying longer in shelters. It's not necessarily that we have them coming in. It's just that their length of stay is quite a bit longer than a small dog twice as long.

(27:02):
And so I think that's really changed. I think overall too, what is pretty incredible it's easy to think that there's so many pets in danger and there are pets that are coming into shelters still today. But when you look back at the numbers today versus 20 years ago or 10 years ago, overall, the United States has become much more responsible in their pet ownership. Adoption is still considered cool. People still like to acquire pets through adoption. And I think with the younger generations, they're quite interested in community impact and how they can get involved. So I think the other thing that's changing is just the generations that are now interested in getting involved and adopting.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, absolutely. And I think as things improve, there are still a lot of misconceptions about shelter pets. So April, if you're able to snap your fingers and make a big myth about shelter pets disappear, what would you want to just dispel the notion of entirely? Because it's false and misleading.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
Yeah. Actually, it goes back to what you're saying, shelter pets. They're actually not shelter pets. They're just pets in shelters. So it's just a dog in a shelter. It's just a cat. It's a temporary space where they've landed for someone to care for them. They are dogs that were in your community, they were in homes, they are cats that were in your community, they were in your home. They're no different than any other pet that you would interact with. And so you can't think of them as being different. This is just a temporary space where they're at. So if you're considering bringing a pet into your home, no matter what kind of pet you want, considering taking a pet that is currently housed in a shelter or with the rescue organization, they're not broken, they're not damaged. Most of them actually don't have sad backstories.

(28:49):
Most of them, there was a change in a human's life circumstances. And so that's how they ended up into that facility or that organization. And so I would wave the wand to remove that perception that there's anything different about a dog that is currently in a shelter or a cat that is currently in shelter than a cat you would acquire from a neighbor or a dog you would acquire from a neighbor or a friend.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
I love that. It would be like calling me like a condo guy. You're just a

Speaker 2 (29:23):
Guy in a condo,

Speaker 1 (29:23):
Chris. I'm just a guy in a condo.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
I love it. Yeah. Well, some of these pets that are just in a shelter are there because perhaps their previous pet parents made the wrong decision about a pet for their lifestyle or something like that. So April, can you give our listeners some advice on what the best way to go about adopting the right pet for their family?

Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah. I actually would consider foster first. If you're not sure of what exactly you're looking for, even if you currently own a pet, even foster I think it's really, really beneficial because the great thing about fostering is you're getting to test it out and so many organizations now offer foster to adopt or doggy day outs or slumber parties or things like that. And so I definitely would recommend that you consider fostering because you're not necessarily committing, you kind of get to try before you buy. And it can be a really great opportunity for the pet as well. So even if you decide, oh, this maybe isn't the right match for our household or our situation, the things that you're going to be able to find out about that pet are going to help that pet get adopted. In fact, research was just released that a dog that goes into for a dog day out, just one day out, 14 times more likely to get adopted.

(30:43):
So I definitely think kind of testing the waters. The other thing too is if you're looking for something very specific, so I happen to be a chihuahua and dachshund girl. And so I know that's what I really, really like. We also like pit bulls in our household. If you're looking for something very specific and you can't seem to find it at an organization, so maybe you're not able to see that the dachshunds are coming through your local shelter or you can't find one through a local rescue organization. I always recommend becoming a volunteer and that's even like volunteering like once per month or twice per month because volunteers are VIPs and guess what? Ply first. So you get to see the dachshund that came in and maybe needs to go to foster for a few weeks. And so volunteering is actually a really good opportunity to kind of see what's going to be coming in and coming up for adoption before anyone else and you get to do good.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
Great advice. Great advice, April. Hey, as we wrap things up, can you just tell us a little bit about adoptapet.com, what an incredible resource it is? What does it offer? How can we use it to help us find the right pet? Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
So Adopt a Pet was created, we just turned 25, so also aging. It was basically created because we wanted when people were looking to adopt, this was kind of an early on in the internet days. So we started out at 1-800-SAVE-A-PET. We wanted people to be able to call one place and figure out what organizations were in their area. And so we've evolved with the internet and basically we use the power of the search. And so when somebody searches on Google, adopt a dog, buy a dog, adopt a kitten, get a cat, we want them to find organizations that have pets available for adoption. So we basically are bridging the gap between hundreds, actually thousands, 17,000 organizations in the United States and Canada list their pets on Adopt-A-Pet. And so you're able to just come to Adopt a Pet and see all of those pets that are available for adoption in your community.

(32:40):
We're trying to speed up that adoption process and take away some of the friction of having to look at all of the different websites. And we also let pet owners list on our website as well. So we launched that program nine years ago and this really allows people who need to re-home their pet and don't want to take it to a shelter to actually place it directly into a new home. So at any given time, there are 300,000 pets available for adoption on Adopt-A-Pet. And it's really just to make it as simple as possible. People can sign up and then create a saved search. We call that a new pet alert. So if you're looking and you don't want to have to constantly look online to see what's been added, you can save your search and we'll email you when something's added that matches what you're looking for.

(33:22):
So it's all about using technology to get pets out of shelters and rescues and into their home as quickly as possible.

Speaker 2 (33:32):
Awesome. All right. Well, adoptapet.com. And April, thank you so much for all that you do for animal welfare and getting pets adopted. And maybe we'll have you come back in another 25 years and see how we've evolved. If I'm

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Still doing this show in 25 years. Something went wrong with the plan.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
Thanks April.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Thank you, April.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
What a great spokesperson for adoptable animals. I mean, she's great.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
I know. I was so almost laughed out loud when she said they used to be 1-800 - Save a

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Pet. Save a

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Pet. I was like, yeah, that's the long time this thing has been around. It reminded me of movie phone. Remember when you used to have to call to see what time the movies were playing, you called the number?

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Oh my gosh, that's right. I forgot about that. Can you imagine trying to call a number today to ask about pets for adoption? The movie times.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Or

Speaker 1 (34:29):
The movie times either way. Yeah. Gen Z out there with phone anxiety. We used to have to call to find out what time the movie's played. No, but I think it's an awesome resource adoptapet.com. It's been around for a long time. What did she say? Something like 300,000?

Speaker 2 (34:44):
300,000 pets available for adoption on the platform. It's incredible.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
That's awesome. So if you are a potential pet parent or a pet parent looking for a potential new partner, lots of peas there, check out adoptapet.com and maybe you'll find your perfect partner. The product of the week. It is time for our product of the week adoption episode special. And there is a great product that I use for both the cat and my now toddler son. The Bissell Little Green Egg. Oh my, this thing is amazing. And I don't know if it'll still be on sale on Chewy by the time this episode airs. It's currently 20% off on Chewy

Speaker 2 (35:35):
While

Speaker 1 (35:35):
We're recording this. So it's only 80 bucks. And even then at $100, it's normal retail price. It is so worth it. It's like this little green vacuum and it's a wet vac. So you fill it with this and it comes, this package comes with a starter thing of the cleaner and you fill the cleaner in there and you turn it on. And I swear no stain. I've used it to pick up red wine. I've used it for number one and number two in the carpets. And it works every time. And even on, we have a very long, I don't want to call it a shag rug because that makes it sound like I'm a pizza. A

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Very old rug from the 70s.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah. It's not that, but it's a longer rug. And with other cleaners, we've actually had to turn the rug to get it under the sofa the other way because we used other cleaners and it completely ruined it. This one doesn't ruin the carpet. Whatever chemical they're using has retained the quality of our carpet. So I think this is like one of those things where if you are bringing a new pet into your home and you have carpeting and that pet will be on the carpeting and you do not have a carpet cleaner, check this one out. Hopefully it's still on sale by the time you guys are hearing this because $80 for this product is an absolute steal.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
I think that's a must have for every pet home and every baby home. I'm glad you brought that up because the predecessor to that green egg was called the Spot Bough Pet from Bissell. And I've had one for as long as I can remember. And you're right, they are amazing. Clean up anything.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
It just works.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
It's like magic. I don't know what it is. You know how there's all these wives tales of how to clean the carpet with like the vinegar and the baking set, all this stuff. And lemon juice. None of that works. None of that works. You need proprietary chemicals. That's

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Right. You need

Speaker 1 (37:32):
Proprietary chemicals.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
And they use enzyme cleaners too, which is what breaks up the urn. Okay. I love it. That's a hard one to top, but I'm going a little different direction this week. My product of the week is for all the small pet lovers out there. And the reason I... We haven't featured small pet products in a while. And I thought since it's adoption week, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind people that small animals like rabbits and guinea pigs and gerbils, hamsters, often you can find those at animal shelters too. Now not all animal shelters carry them or have them, but several of them do. So if you are looking to adopt, maybe you're not ready for a dog or a cat, but you're considering a bunny, check the local shelters and rescues in your area. So that said, I've chosen the Oxbow Enriched Life Play Table.

(38:23):
This is so cute. It's basically just an enrichment tool for your small critter and it could be for any of those small critters that I just mentioned. It gives them a little place to forage, to climb and just to kind of act like a little animal in their natural surroundings. It's about 30 bucks. You can get it on Amazon and Chewy. And it's from Oxbow, which is one of the most trusted names in small animal care. So if you have a small pet, check that out. If you're thinking of getting a small pet, this would be a great one of those new pet products that you need for your little critter.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
I had to look it up because I love the little small animal hamster products. This thing is so cute. It's so horrible.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Yeah, it is. A little table. It's got little toys on it and super cool. And they can probably nibble on it too, which helps to

Speaker 1 (39:12):
Wear

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Their teeth down.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
Yeah. Amazing. That's a great... And I did know that small animals are adoptable, but it kind of does always get thrown by the wayside. You think about dogs and cats a lot. So Kristen Levine's sticking up for the small guy.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
Q and As.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
All right folks, it's time for our favorite part of the episode. That's right. We're going to answer two questions from our lovely audience. And lovely audience, I know what you're thinking. How do I have my question answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, it couldn't be easier. Head on over to petsadlife.org/podcast. Scroll on down to the bottom of that page and you'll see a form to submit your question. Or if you're feeling as brave as a beagle who is leaving a medical facility and entering a new home, then you can record a voice memo. And I'm sure beagles would love to record a voice memo because talking's their favorite. Record a voice memo and you may hear your question played live on the air. So we've got questions that are related to adopting. So thank you everyone for submitting these adoption related questions for this awesome episode.

(40:29):
And the first one, Kristen, is for you.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
This one comes from Amanda in Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks for the question, Amanda. And she asks, "I'm thinking about adopting my first dog, but I'm worried about choosing the wrong fit for my lifestyle. What are the most important things families should consider before bringing a dog home?" It's a great question.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
It is a great question. And I'm so glad you're asking this question because every family that adopts a pet should be asking these questions before they go to the animal shelter because sometimes you go in there and you fall in love and you adopt and the next thing you know, you're like, "Whoa, what have I gotten myself into?" So I think the first thing is you want to be honest with yourself about your actual lifestyle, not the lifestyle you wish you had or not the lifestyle that you see people at the dog park living or people at the cafe with their cute little pooch sitting in the chair next to them. Consider your lifestyle and the amount of time you have to dedicate to a dog. The number one, let's see, I already mentioned lifestyle. If you're working long hours, you probably don't want a border collie.

(41:37):
Unless maybe you work from home. If you work from home long hours, you're going to need to take several breaks to get your border collie some exercise. Also, your own level of physical activity, whether you rent or own, because there could be some restrictions if you rent and also whether or not you have kids at home. That's a very important factor to consider if you have a child and what their age is. So lots of things to think about. And also this one gets overlooked all the time, but you also need to think about your budget. Do you have the budget to care for a dog? Veterinary costs, surprise veterinary visits that you didn't anticipate, feeding costs, toys, supplies, the list goes on. So these are all things you need to think about. And you could do some research. I think the American Pet Products Association website has some data on what the typical annual costs are for a pet.

(42:33):
So that would be a good thing to research. And then shelters and rescues are usually really good about matching people up with the right kind of pet. So I would make sure that you take some time to go visit your local shelter or shelters or rescues and talk to them about your lifestyle, what type of dog you're looking for. And they know these dogs because they care for them every day. So they're going to have, hopefully they'll have some background history on that animal's previous home or previous situation. But between that and what they've learned about the dog in their care, they should be able to be a really good resource to help you find the right fit. Absolutely. And you can always foster. If you're not 100% sure you're up for the commitment, you can also become a foster parent for a local shelter.

(43:20):
And that's a great low pressure way to see if caring for a dog is the right fit for you.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yep. I would add on volunteering at the shelter too.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
Yes, that's

Speaker 1 (43:29):
A great one. Or just visiting often. Don't feel like you have to get one of the pets that's there that day. You can wait. And if you go regularly or volunteer, the shelter will get to know you. And when that dog comes in that they think is a perfect fit, you'll get a phone call.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
That's

Speaker 1 (43:46):
True. It's a great addition. Real great advice. Really great advice.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
All right, Chris, I've got one for you from Brian in Boston. Brian says - Boston. Baston.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Betty's

Speaker 2 (43:57):
A

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Wicked smart fella.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
So you have to answer this question with a Boston accent. Oh

Speaker 1 (44:02):
No.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
Okay. So Brian says, "We'd love to adopt a cat from a shelter, but we've heard adult cats can have a harder time adjusting than kittens. Is that true? And what can we do to help a newly adopted cat feel safe and

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Comfortable?" Absolutely true. I'm going to say just, I don't know scientifically if it's true, but I've adopted three adult cats in my lifetime and they all have what we call like the warmup period. And there's a few things I want people to be aware of when they're adopting an adult cat. The first is their actual personality is not what you see at the shelter and it's also not like what you're going to get in maybe the first month or two at home. Cats are creatures of routine and they also really don't like to be caged and isolated and tied down. So they're going to kind of clam up, become more nervous, or they'll act out. There was one, our cat we adopted when I was in about third or fourth grade, Gizmo was a giant main koon who was an adult cat, was not getting adopted because he was agressive.

(45:20):
We bring him home within a week he was in my parents' lap and within a month he was playing with us like he was a dog. Main koons are kind of like that.

(45:32):
Completely different personality because he had gotten comfortable. So there's always that warmup period when you bring them home. And it could be as long as three months with adult cats to get used to your home, to feel safe in your home, to get used to the routine. And you're probably going to be changing their diet from what they were eating in the shelter to what you're going to be feeding them long term. There's just so much change going on. It's a big transition period for their life. And they're not like human beings. We're an adaptable species. You put us in a new environment and within a few hours we're thriving. Cats are not like that, especially as they get older. They're supposed to sort of have their area and dominate that area. And most shelter cats, especially the adult ones are probably going to have a little bit of trauma thrown into the mix there.

(46:18):
That said, I've found that cats are more resilient to that stuff than dogs where dogs, you may see they have some anxiety or they're uncomfortable around either males or females depending on the gender of any potential abusers. Cats, that stuff doesn't stick once they realize they're safe. And I'm sure there are extreme instances, but you really have to get through those first months and you get like a surprise person. I think it's so fun adopting an adult cat because it's almost like surprise personality. It's like having a kitten where you get the kitten and you get to see it grow into something. You get that same experience with the adult cat where you bring them home and you sort of get to see what they're really like when they're comfortable and well cared for. And it could be a very, very fulfilling experience. So that is the end of our wonderful adoption special here at Pets Ad Life.

(47:15):
I had a great time, Kristen.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Yeah. I had a great time. Our guests were fantastic. They've dedicated their careers to helping pets get adopted and that's how I started my career back in the day. So I'm so glad to still be promoting pet adoption.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
We'll be back next week as always with another episode a little less adoption themed, but we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. Be sure to follow us on the social medias and all that jazz. Great review and share this episode with a friend who needs to adopt a new pet today. Pets Ad Life, your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and me, Chris Bonafati, powered by the American Pet Products Association and dog TV.