The Alliance Podcast

In this special episode of the Alliance podcast, HRA's president and CEO Lisa LaFontaine sits down with author Barbara J. King to discuss animals experiencing grief, respecting invertebrates, stopping animal testing in medical labs, and so much more. Check out King's new book Animal's Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and in the Wild.

It's May, which means it's Meow DC for HRA! Reasa Currier sits down with HRA's feline behavior manager Lisa Stemcosky. She explains why cats may have litterbox issues, how to introduce cats to one another, and more! Register for Lisa's clicker training class at meowdc.org.

On this episode of the Alliance podcast, Reasa speaks with Adrienne Carson, the director of St. Hubert's Training and Behavior Center, who provides great advice to first-time pet owners on how best to crate train puppies, keep them from chewing on walls, and how to work on resource guarding behavior.

The Alliance Podcast is back! Make sure to subscribe and leave us a 5-star review on iTunes. In this latest episode, host Reasa Currier talks to Colleen Harrington who leads St. Hubert's WayStation program, which is all about transporting dogs in need to places of opportunity and supporting shelters in need, as well. Learn more about the program at sthuberts.org/waystation.

Alexandra Dilley has been HRA's Director Of Animal Behavior And Training since 2013. In this episode, she sits down with Reasa to talk about animal behavior in the pandemic, how to pick the best animal for your lifestyle, and working on separation anxiety. See all of HRA's behavior resources here: https://www.humanerescuealliance.org/training

This week, Reasa is joined by Daisha Pierce, Director of Strategic Initiatives for ACCT Philly. Pierce shares her personal experiences in the industry as a woman of color. She also discusses how to better integrate animal welfare organizations into communities, ensuring that they work with human services organizations more seamlessly and more often.

It's a doubleheader this week as Reasa speaks with Jennifer Fearing, President of Fearless Advocacy, and Brandy Kuentzel, General Counsel and Director of Advocacy San Francisco SPCA. They discuss the need for shelters to work in advocacy and how it can strengthen communities. Jennifer and Brandy also discuss their career trajectories (Jennifer starting as a lobbyist and Brandy as an attorney) and how they each ended up in animal welfare.

This week Reasa speaks with Richmond Animal Care and Control's Animal Control Supervisor Rob Leinberger, who has been working in the field for 30 years. He's served on the board of directors of NACA and is currently on the board of directors for VACA. He talks about his decades of experience, how the perception of animal control has changed, and the crucial role technology now plays for officers.

This week, Reasa talks with Aurora Velazquez, the executive director of ACCT Philly. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer at New York Animal Care and Control, so she delves into what it's been like transitioning between organizations. She also offers the advice of just going for it when it comes to trying new things in the face of COVID-19.

This week, Reasa sits down with HRA's President and CEO, Lisa LaFontaine. Lisa explains how HRA's workplace culture has played an integral role in our disaster response.

This week, Reasa speaks to President of PAWS (Professional Animal Workers of Maryland) and Executive Director of Talbot Humane Patty Crankshaw-Quimby about how Maryland is dealing with disaster response, as well as how PAWS is supporting animal welfare professionals. Her parrot, Jojo, also makes a guest appearance.

Rease speaks with President and CEO Of Marin County Humane Society Nancy McKenney about how they've handled the pandemic. Nancy discusses how they've handled disasters such as wildfires in the past and how that helped inform their plans for COVID-19.

Laura Maloney, founder/principal of Adisa, is all about building strong teams. She also has had to confront crisis when she was head of the Louisiana SPCA during Hurricane Katrina. Laura speaks with Reasa about how she managed a team through the disaster, as well as how shelters can help encourage wellness with their teams during COVID-19.

The Associate of Animal Welfare Advancement, also known as The Association, is a society of animal welfare leaders. CEO and President of The Association Jim Tedford speaks with Reasa about how they've been assisting shelters, the resources they have available, and how to avoid compassion fatigue. Learn more about The Association here: https://theaawa.org/

During these unprecedented times, HRA and countless other shelters have been looking to fosters and volunteers to help out in our times of need. HRA's director of foster and volunteer resources Jennah Billeter talks with Reasa about how HRA's foster program has adjusted during the COVID-19 pandemic and how much the community has stepped up to assist the organization and our animals. She also talks about how to start a foster program and offers some tips to anyone unsure about starting the process. Get in touch with Jennah: foster@humanerescuealliance.org Access HRA's foster toolkit: http://www.humanerescuealliance.org/fostermatchmaker Learn more about becoming a foster parent: www.humanerescuealliance.org/foster

Welcome to the Alliance Podcast, a podcast produced by the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), an animal welfare organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Hosted by vice president of external affairs Reasa Currier, the podcast will feature interviews with both local and national leaders in animal welfare, veterinary medicine, and field services. They will share how they've been handling the COVID-19 virus and how it has informed their best practices. You can learn more about HRA at humanerescuealliance.org