Cal4All Call Recordings

Since the Homeless Outreach and Assistance Program (HOAP) launched in May 2022, Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter has managed to not only sustain but also grow partnerships with pet owners and community organizations. Watch Program Coordinator Jenna Topper for behind-the-scenes insights into the program as it heads into year four.

Diana Cruz-Rivas (Director and Board Secretary) and Deisy Melero (Caseworker, Disaster Relief Program) discuss how their lived experience influences HEART L.A.’s culturally-responsive approach to customer care and interaction.

Melissa Gómez (SF SPCA Community Workforce Manager) and Elsa Ramos (Friends of Oakland Animal Services Bilingual Adoption Coordinator) share their journey of creating meaningful connections with Latine pet guardians.

The first in a series of calls building a multicultural engagement community of practice, this call includes contributions from Debra Olmedo of Patitas y Palabras, an English-Spanish translation service focused on animal welfare.

Jorge Delgado and Cel Jimenez (Humane Society of Sonoma County) present their talk “Beyond the Pet Food Pantry: Strategies to Build a Sustainable Pet Food Pantry and Advocated for Your Community”

Rachel Rae Williams leads us in exploring how we can integrate successful public health models that center health equity into our work in order to design programming that prioritizes the well-being of people, pets, and the planet.

Federal law protects tenants with disabilities from discrimination in housing. That protection includes tenants with Emotional Support Animals (ESAs): ESAs are not subject to no-pet policies. Zaira Bernal and Diana Cruz of Housing Equity & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART LA) discuss the challenges tenants with disabilities face when seeking required documentation for their ESAs.

California Outreach Specialist, Ivy Ruiz, RVT talks vet tech recruitment and retention with Debra Olmedo, RVT (Adjunct Veterinary Technology Instructor at Platt College), Albert Escobedo, RVT (Director of Veterinary Operations at Humane Society of Sonoma County) and Jessica Lopez, RVT (Executive Director at the Paw Mission).

California Outreach Specialist Ivy Ruiz facilitates a discussion focused on shelter budgets from a municipal perspective with panelists Kris Watson (San Bernardino City Animal Shelter), Alma Torres (Fresno Animal Center), and Christine McClintock (Tehama County Animal Services).

UC Davis KSMP Outreach Veterinarian, Dr. Chumkee Aziz hosts a panel on public-facing veterinary clinics serving animals in the community. Guests John Lipp (CEO at Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter), Dr. Katie Marrie (Chief Veterinary Officer at Santa Barbara Humane), Dr. Jena Valdez (Chief Medical Officer at San Francisco SPCA) offer insights and practical…

In the high-pressure environment of a busy animal shelter, open communication, trust, mutual respect and kindness among colleagues and teams power positive outcomes. Dr. Maria Pyrdek and Chris Ramon tell us how that works at Pasadena Humane.

Donell Randolph (Human Animal Support Services Coordinator) talks about setting up and running Oakland Animal Services’ community clinics. He’s joined by Dr. Jyothi Robertson (DVM, DABVP, Shelter Medicine), who volunteers at the clinics.

Sarah Aguilar, Director of Santa Barbara County Animal Services, describes how she and her small team started their Dog Day Trip Program. Treating the program as very-short-term-foster, they built on their existing systems and saw immediate benefits in dog well-being, adoptions, and volunteer engagement. Hear how they did it, what they learned along the way,…

Dr. Ellen Jefferson and Maggie Lynch from Austin Pets Alive! walk us through the new HASS budget calculator, created to address the persistent underfunding of animal services. Learn how to use the calculator tool and its results to advocate for budgets appropriate to meet the public’s expectations around humane care and shelter lifesaving.

KSMP Outreach Veterinarian Chumkee Aziz leads a panel discussion on setting up and running High Quality, High Volume Spay Neuter programs. Panelists: Albert Escobedo (RVTg and Director of Veterinary Operations, Humane Society of Sonoma County), Dr. Jennifer Allen (Veterinarian, CAMP LA), Megan Gram (Director of the Pacific Region, Animal Balance), and Kylie Ramos (Community Engagement…

Ontario Veterinary College Shelter Medicine Resident Wesley Cheung offers examples of accent discrimination from the veterinary and shelter sector and suggests steps we can take to reduce accent biases, build trust, and accomplish more together.

Panelists Jessica Lopez, Miguel Ruelas, and Suliana Lutin discuss how we can partner with current and potential Latine pet owners, community cat caregivers, fosters, and volunteers, to bring and keep more pets and people together and out of shelters.

Monica Dangler (Director of Animal Services) and Kaitlyn Pappas (Pet Support Coordinator) of Pima Animal Care Center share how they nearly doubled RTO after transitioning their lost and found listings to the free Petco Love Lost website.

Kayla Wade, CCDT, and Shonyae Johnson, CPDT-KA, provide practical solutions for working with large dogs in shelters and share strategies for supporting fosters and adopters who have large dogs.

In the first Cal4All Call of 2024, California Director Allison Cardona takes a look back at the challenges and accomplishments of California shelters in 2023. KSMP Marketing & Communications Director Mandy Newkirk shares the results of the Cal4All Call poll and Allison discusses some changes coming in the new year.

Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE) presenters Drs. Boyd, Taylor, and Luna give us a sneak peek of their new REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) course. It’s one key piece of the multipronged effort needed to address the veterinarian shortage and cultural competency gap to make more inclusive and equitable care possible—and…

In this All Call recording, Outreach Specialist, RVT, and former shelter manager Ivy Ruiz shares how she led her team at a high-volume shelter to create positive disruption, redefining animal, staff and community member experiences.

Minnis presents the results of his study of how shelter visitors make dog adoption decisions. He reveals that behavior is the most common factor and advocates that shelters should move to a Realtor model to increase adoptions.

Ashley K. Rodriguez, Animal Services Supervisor for the City of Bryan, Texas is working with her team to build trust with their community using an “Education before Citation” approach to animal services.

Debra Olmedo, ASPCA Community Outreach and Medical Care Senior Manager (Los Angeles) shares how working alongside community caretakers has increased the amount of felines being altered and kept out of Animal Care Centers.

Pethelpfinder.org helps pet owners find affordable veterinary care in their area. You can list your shelter as a provider or search the database to find clinics in your area to partner with.