No More Homeless Pets Conference Inspires, Teaches Hundreds
Personal observations from the No More Homeless Pets Conference in Cincinnati
By Faith Maloney
More than 500 people from all over the United States, and a few from Canada, filled the halls and rooms of the Holiday Inn-Eastgate in Cincinnati last weekend, eager to learn and share the good news about the No More Homeless Pets movement that is sweeping the country.
There were lots of new faces on the discussion panels and conducting the workshops. Celeste Crimi, founder of the Oregon Neutermobile, and Rebecca Guinn, program director of No More Homeless Pets Atlanta, recalled being in the audience just two years ago, soaking up information at the Seattle conference -- and now here they were, up on the dais sharing their successes and insights.
Outside of the formal sessions, I saw people clustered together deep in conversation, or furiously taking notes as speakers shared their ideas on how to save animals. At lunch, people ate at tables organized by state, many meeting for the first time and discovering that not only do they live within miles of each other, but they also share a passion for helping the animals.
Mike Arms, president of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in California, showed a group of animal lovers how to maximize their adoptions. Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, kept us up to date on current statistics and how we can chart both our victories and the areas that need more work. (Merritt has a unique talent for making even numbers sound exciting!)
A team of speakers from the animal control world included Don Jordan, director of Seattle Animal Control, Julie Bank from Phoenix, Arizona, Matt Granito of Geauga County, Ohio, and Charlie McGinley from Brookhaven, New York. Their dynamic, often revolutionary approach to city and county animal care and control showed just why their agencies lead many parts of the country in life-saving efforts.
I sat in on newcomer Ann-Marie Hamblin's workshop on how to put together adoption and fundraising events on a shoestring budget. Ann-Marie, who is the director of the Roanoke Valley Super Adoption in Virginia, gave us all a chuckle when she announced that if she, a molecular geneticist, could put on a super adoption in her area, then the rest of us could do it, too.
Spay/neuter was a central topic again, with Dr. Leslie Appel, director of Shelter Outreach Services in Ithaca, New York, giving us hope that many more veterinarians are using their skills to help stem the flow of pet overpopulation. Rick DuCharme, once a heavy equipment trailer salesman, told us how he uses those same skills as the director of First Coast No More Homeless Pets to sell spaying and neutering in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Aimee St. Arnaud, a Best Friends community program manager from Ohio (and justly proud of the terrific conference turnout of more than 150 from her home state), whisked us through news of multiple spay/neuter programs going on around the country.
The inspiration generated by the conference was palpable. People were excited to go back to their homes, be they rural, urban, or inner city, to try out all the new ideas they had gathered from the conference speakers and fellow attendees.
Vital connections were also made -- for example, a group in New York City agreed to lend a hand to a rural shelter in the panhandle of Texas. One lady confided in me that this was the first time she hadn't felt all alone in her love for the animals; a young couple said they were inspired to dedicate themselves to making a difference in their hometown.
In all, more than 500 remarkable people came together to stand up for the animals. With people like that on our team, we can look forward to a time not far in the future when we will see No More Homeless Pets.
See a photo gallery from the conference.
