Nathan the Cat Lady, Tabby Dates
January 26, 2021
James Evans, President, CARE
February 2, 2021
Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast.
This week I chatted with Dr. Sara Pizano, founder of Team Shelter USA, LLC, about her work with the Bluegrass Cat Project and the recent grant they received from the Joanie Bernard Foundation. Note: this interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Tell us a little about Team Shelter USA, LLC.
Team Shelter USA, LLC is a national consulting firm. I do shelter (public and/or private) and community assessments that help shelters use their resources productively, help more animals and people, and end euthanasia for space. In general, I help them from soup to nuts—that includes local public policy revisions, field services, managed admission, population management, and live outcome programs.
How did you form a partnership with the Joanie Bernard Foundation?
The Joanie Bernard Foundation is a foundation dedicated to cats in the Greater Cincinnati area. In 2014, I (Team Shelter USA) met the Joanie Bernard Foundation and worked with them on a project in Indianapolis. The following year I did a cat spay/neuter analysis in eight counties in the Northern Kentucky Area Development District for them and created a project for them to fund community cat surgeries. Groups of counties in Kentucky are organized into districts and work together on aging, workforce and other initiatives. I knew they had the ability to take grants so I asked them if they could receive a grant from the foundation and reimburse spay/neuter providers. They agreed and have received more than $1 million since the program began (we are on year five). The first priority was to sterilize community cats going into shelters then return them to their home location, and the second priority was targeted TNR. In 2018, we ended euthanasia of cats for space in Northern KY and won an innovation award from the National Association of County Organizations!
Can you tell me a bit about the Bluegrass Cat Project? When was it founded and what is its mission? Are you run by volunteers?
The Bluegrass Cat Project was designed the same [way] as the Northern Kentucky project. In 2018, I did assessments in all eighteen counties for the Joanie Bernard Foundation and recommended that we fund surgeries for twelve counties [whose] shelter leadership was engaged in improving [outcomes for cats]. In 2019, $200,000 was allocated for community cat spay/neuter and to continue the Team Shelter mentorship. With both the Northern KY and Bluegrass projects, service providers include non-profit spay/neuter clinics, shelters, and private veterinarians.
The Bluegrass Area Development District receives the grant money ($250,000 for year two) and reimburses service providers. I oversee both programs. Everyone who administers the program is paid. Team Shelter is paid out of the grant funding.
What has been the impact of your project in the community and how have you measured that impact?
The Bluegrass Cat Project has seen drastic decreases in cat intake and transitioned the need from saving shelter cats to TNR instead. We have ended euthanasia of shelter cats in Northern KY and allowed shelters to use their resources in other productive ways. We are doing the 2020 report for the first year of spay/neuter funding right now.
How has COVID-19 affected your work?
For Team Shelter USA and these projects, it has not affected my work because the programs were already designed and up and running. Our challenge of course, [as] with all service providers, was getting the spay/neuter surgeries done during COVID.
What is your biggest need or challenge right now?
Both projects are set up for success and doing great! We are excited for year two in Bluegrass (2021).
As a result of my work doing shelter and community assessments since 2013, I have found that we all share the same challenges. Fortunately the solutions are the same too, so I published The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Sheltersthat is available on Amazon and I would highly recommend it! My biggest challenge is getting these messages out to the masses, to all shelters so they know they aren’t alone.
What can readers of our blog do to help you in your work? Do you have a website or social media channels?
For more information you can visit my website at Team Shelter USA.com, or follow Team Shelter USA on Facebook.
Anything else you would like to add?
Program design is number one and money is number two! No healthy community cats—friendly or feral—should be entering shelters. They should be sterilized/ear tipped/rabies vaccinated and returned to their original home location.
Dr. Pizano will also be speaking at our United Spay Alliance Conference in February on the topic of Regional Grant Funding. Make sure to register so you don’t miss her presentation!
Originally from Colorado, Krista Beucler received a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Virginia. She was the editor-in-chief for Issue 7.2 of the Rappahannock Review, the literary journal published by UMW. Krista’s creative work has been published in From Whispers to Roars literary magazine. She is spending COVID-19 at home with her cats.
