Interview! Mike Keiley (MSPCA) & Carmine DiCenso (Dakin Humane Society), “The Mike & Carmine Show,” Part 2

“I think it’s time for us to pull together and really work towards how we might be able to help the largest number of people and animals.” – MK

Tune in to the second part of “The Mike and Carmine Show,” with Mike Keiley of the MSPCA and Carmine DiCenso of Dakin Humane, as they continue their conversation with Stacy. In this episode, Mike & Carmine offer their tips for people who feel like they are hitting a brick wall around their efforts at advocating for change. Carmine suggests that people begin by looking at themselves and their approach, focusing on what they can change —and that they guard against focusing solely on the desired outcome, and instead try to break the issue up into a step-by-step process. Mike notes that we sometimes tend to lose our cool in animal welfare, and that we just need to think about adjusting our approach and trying to hit the smaller, more achievable goals, rather than trying to do everything at once.

Mike, Carmine & Stacy go on to discuss transport programs, including the fact that Dakin imports animals, while MSPCA generally does not. Carmine feels it’s important to continue to fulfill the traditional shelter role of in helping people find animals, Meanwhile, Mike feels that the infrastructure changes the MSPCA would have to make in order to be able to have an impactful transport program are simply not as valuable as focusing on other programs at this time. In the future, both Mike & Carmine — and Stacy! — would like to see more strategy behind importation programs. They would love to see a coordinated effort between New England groups to work together to partner with a specific area from which to bring animals, in order to make a truly big impact on that area.

In the final part of the show, Mike, Carmine & Stacy talk about what animal welfare is going to look like in the coming three to five years. Both Mike & Carmine feel that shelters and animal welfare organizations have some serious soul-searching ahead of them in terms of thinking about whether to continue doing what they’ve always been doing. One thing they both feel is going to have to change is making sure that we increase our focus on people and animals’ connection to people. They believe that if we all work together — instead of separating ourselves with divisive labels and points of view — the animal welfare world can continue to grow and change, and to help even more animals and people in the coming years.

To learn more about Carmine DiCenso’s organization and their work, visit dakinhumane.org. You can also email Carmine at cdincenso@dakinhumane.org. To learn more about Mike Keiley’s organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at mkeiley@mspca.org.

Listen to Episode #257 Now