Best Friends Animal Society

Last month, we celebrated 30 new shelters being recognized as no-kill! That's some serious lifesaving momentum in June! No-kill doesn't just ✨ happen ✨... it's built, brick by brick, by a team of dedicated staff, volunteers, rescues, support organizations, and empowered community members all working together for pets and people. Want to join efforts to make your community no-kill? Check out the Pet Lifesaving Dashboard to see what shelters need your support: https://lnkd.in/eD_Xq39T

If you lost or found a pet in the areas impacted by the Central Texas Floods, we understand it can be overwhelming to figure out where to go or what to do. The good news is that dozens of dedicated local groups are working tirelessly to care for and reunite animals separated from their families. Bookmark this list we've compiled of local groups participating in reunion efforts, as well as tips and tools to make the system easier to navigate and hopefully, help you get pets back with the people that love and miss them. bfas.org/reunitepets

It can be easy to forget just how much collaboration and coordination it takes to save lives in emergency response. We want to thank network partners Aggieland Humane Society, Snip and Tip, Inc., and Human-Animal Support Coalition for providing essential transport vehicles and drivers to drive Central Texas pets nearly 4 hours to catch their flight out of Texas on Saturday morning! Did we mention that we had less than 12 hours notice to make this happen, and load up was at 3am? This overnight transfer of over 100 pets out of Texas took coordination from not only these three partner organizations, but also Austin Pets Alive!, Wings of Rescue, and more. We're happy to report that the Aggieland Humane Society vehicle got back to their shelter in time for a big adoption event where 14 pets went into loving homes! Thanks again to these dedicated organizations for being part of this amazing community of lifesavers.

As floods devastated parts of central Texas, frontline organizations stepped up to care for pets in incredibly difficult conditions — even as they were directly impacted themselves. One of Best Friends' key disaster response roles, in addition to providing emergency funding, is assessing needs and connecting impacted shelters and rescues with nearby organizations ready to lend a hand. Best Friends has been working tirelessly with Hill Country Humane Society and other frontline groups to support the response as conditions change minute by minute. Knowing that Houston Humane Society, just a few hours away, wanted to help however they could, Best Friends reached out to them to request a transport. Houston Humane Society jumped into action and made the trip to Buchanan Dam, Texas. Twenty-four hours later, 25 dogs were safely tucked in for the night at Houston Humane Society, enabling Hill Country Humane Society to continue their search and rescue efforts in the flood zones. In moments like these, it's the strength of a connected community that makes lifesaving possible — and we’re honored to be one part of that effort.

When it comes to your data, it's more than just "noses in, noses out." Looking closely at your trends and comparing them with previous months and years can help reveal lifesaving insights, like when you typically see an increase in kitten intakes or a dip in adoptions. Upload your monthly data into Shelter Pet Data Alliance and see what our pre-populated dashboards can tell you. https://bit.ly/4eyxrmq

SAFE LANDING ✈️ 🐶🐱 On Wednesday, July 9, the 45 cats and 23 dogs flying on a Wings of Rescue flight from Central Texas arrived safe and sound at our Sanctuary in Kanab! These pets were in shelters prior to the flooding. By transporting them to our Sanctuary, it frees up space locally for strays or pets in need that were impacted by the flooding. The flight helped clear space at the following organizations on the ground in the impacted counties: • Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter • City of Georgetown Animal Shelter • San Angelo Animal Services • Hill Country Humane Society • Kerr County Animal Services This was a huge team effort between Wings of Rescue, Austin Pets Alive!, and our team in Texas. Thanks to everyone who made this flight possible!

⏰ TODAY ⏰ Bust the Bottleneck: Unlocking Flow in the Animal Care Ecosystem Register and join live at 3pm ET: https://bit.ly/4jIEETG  "Shelters are most likely to get the outcome they plan for," says Brent Toellner, Senior Director Lifesaving Programs at Best Friends Animal Society. "If you look at a shelter pet and say, 'I don't want to promote this pet or neuter him because what if we have to euthanize him?' then your pathway plan for that pet is euthanasia." Learn about pathway planning from Brent and our other experienced panelists at our webinar TODAY: Bust the Bottleneck: Unlocking Flow in the Animal Care Ecosystem. Brent will be joined by Dr. Colleen Guilfoyle, National Shelter Medicine Veterinarian, Best Friends Animal Society, and Faith Wright, Director of Operations at Brandywine Valley SPCA, to help you kickstart or streamline pathway planning at your organization. Pathway planning is a practical, proactive approach to managing your population, and it can work no matter your organization’s size, staffing, or resource level. Register now so you can join us live today, Thursday, July 10, at 3pm ET: https://bit.ly/4jIEETG

Our partner Austin Pets Alive! has been on the front lines of animal rescue efforts since catastrophic flooding began in Central Texas on July 4 and which has now claimed over 115 lives with 170+ people still missing. They've taken in 350 pets since the disaster started, with 364 pets already having gone out to foster or adoption, thanks to their proactive efforts to send pets out to foster homes ahead of bringing in animals. Austin Pets Alive! has been part of the collaborative effort of putting together a Wings of Rescue flight out of Central Texas to the Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah. This flight relocates pets that were already in shelters in Central Texas and surrounding areas before flooding began, so that shelters in areas impacted by the disaster have space to take pets that need to be reunited with their families. APA! has also deployed around 500 staff and volunteers to shelters and rescues impacted by the floods. Their team members have been present at Kerrville Pets Alive! providing critical support in Kerr County every day since the afternoon of July 4. Here you can see a happy reunion that APA! team facilitated at the Kerrville Pets Alive! facility.

On Monday, Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter (WCRAS) learned that their partner shelter Lampasas Animal Shelter had been ordered to evacuate due to the Central Texas Floods. Several counties in Central Texas have sustained devastating floods which have claimed 100+ lives. Thanks to their constant transparent communication and requests for support from their community, WCRAS was able to jump in and evacuate all 60 of the pets in their shelter. Check out WCRAS's Facebook page to see how they've been asking their community to be a part of their disaster response, and how they've been able to increase their impact because of it: https://lnkd.in/eb7gyx5p

🗓️ UPDATE 7/8 12PM 🗓️: As new information becomes available, we will be updating this post directly. The email address to offer relief assistance has been changed to TXFloods@bestfriends.org. As new offers of support come in, we'll be helping to connect those with boots-on-the-ground organizations in the Central Texas area. *** Central Texas sustained catastrophic flash flooding over the weekend, with rivers rising over 25 feet in two hours. The known loss of human life is devastating and tragically, it continues to climb. One thing that remains consistent in every disaster and every tragedy is that humans rise to the occasion to help their fellow man (and animal). If your organization would like to assist with relief efforts, email TXFloods@bestfriends.org. Best Friends is currently working to support local animal welfare partners in Central Texas through the following: 🧡 Funding to support Austin Pets Alive! as a lead to pull directly from several local impacted shelters, making space for impacted animals coming in 🧡 Coordination with Wings of Rescue to transport 60–70 animals to our Sanctuary, with flight dates pending and nearly 100 animals to Humane Society of North Texas, SPCA of Texas, and partners in the DFW area 🧡 Funding for Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter who has supported two evacuated shelters We continue to stay in touch with shelters and partners as conditions evolve and will continue to adapt our response based on emerging needs.