I had the pleasure today of speaking with Jayne Vitale, Director of Education and Your Programs, Tommy Frisina, Social Media Outreach Coordinator and Debbie Hibbard, Director of Gift Planning with North Shore Animal League also called Animal League America.  Each of these individuals is responsible for a portion of the day to day operations of North Shore Animal League America, located in Port Washington, NY.   Read more

All My Children Wear Fur Coats welcomed special guest, Paula Moreschi, Development Director for Old Dog Haven, a senior dog rescue in Washington State to the show today.  Paul was first introduced to Old Dog Haven after she became interested in adopting older dogs.  She soon became a permanent foster home for a Final Refuge dog, and then began volunteering her time to fundraise for the organization.  She and her dogs have never looked back!  Read more

Our special guest on All My Children Wear Fur Coats is Joan Thielen, Public Relations Manager of Dumb Friends League.  John has been with Dumb Friends League for more than fifteen years.  She started out in animal care, then joined the foster program, became a member of the volunteer services team and now works in marketing and communications.    Read more

Today’s guest was a return visitor, Carol Borden, founder and CEO of Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs.  They are now in their 11th year of providing service dogs to the disabled community.  They serve both veterans and other persons with disabilities.  Guardian Angels focuses exclusively on German Shepherd Dogs.  

Carol shared that German Shepherds were the original service dog, serving blind war veterans after World War I.  Their versatility makes them ideal for other service dog jobs.  Today, Guardian Angels has more than 350 teams across the country and they hope to add another 50 teams this year.   If you need a service dog, you can make an application here.  Guardian Angels also helps people that have their own dogs that may be suited for training as a service dog.  This program is called P.E.T.S. (Pets, Evaluated and Trained for Service Program).  You can find more information here.   Read more

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to today’s guest, Katherine Hilton, Program Manager for Donor Relations and Stewardship at Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary.  This amazing organization was founded in 2005 by Alana Miller and her daughter after they adopted a blind kitten from a local shelter that had been surrendered and was going to be euthanized.  Today, they are still going strong.  They are located in St. Pauls, North Carolina.   

Blind Cat Rescue caters to numerous resident cats who live out their lives in the comfort and safety of their forever home.  Blind Cat Rescue is a true sanctuary, the residents are not available for adoption.  They have already suffered too many uncertainties and some of them, irreparable trauma.  However, all of the residents can be sponsored with your monthly donation.  You can pick one or more of your favorites online at “Meet the Cats.”   Read more

Today’s featured guest is Kay Hyman, Director of Community Engagement at Charleston Animal Society (CAS) in North Charleston, South Carolina.  In 1874, CAS was formed as the first animal protection organization in South Carolina.  Its purpose was then, and always has been, to prevent cruelty to animals.  Originally, the organization was focused on the neglect of working animals, specifically horses,  as well as the inhumane shipping of cattle and to resolve the epidemic of stray dogs.     Read more

Monkey’s House is not what you might think.  It’s not a place for primates, it’s a dog hospice & sanctuary founded in 2015 by Jeff and Michele Allen.  I’m so glad these two people met each other because together they are doing some pretty fantastic things.  How they met is pretty interesting because they were fixed up on a blind date where they went horse back riding.  They didn’t want to disappoint the person who introduced them, so they kept dating until they fell in love.  

Michele is a RN, BSN, member of the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care, and a 2017 CNN Hero Recipient.  She spends her days, double full time (that’s 24/7/365) caring for the dogs as Monkey’s House.   Jeff leads a dual life helping both people and dog.  He serves as a manager in Human Resources for a pharmaceutical company and runs Monkey’s House with Michele.  Their sanctuary has been recognized for its outstanding work saving and caring for hospice dogs and was awarded Rescue of the Year in 2017 by World Dog Expo.  They live on a small farm in southern New Jersey in the vicinity of vineyards and corn fields where their dogs have plenty of room to play and thrive.   

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Blind Dog Rescue Alliance was founded in 2009 by Karen Belfi and her husband.  They became acquainted with the world of blind dogs when in 1999 they were seeking a companion for their Siberian Husky.  They found Ray Charles, a Shepherd/Collie mix that was born without eyes (a condition known as microphthalmia). Ray Charles changed their lives forever.    Read more

Karen Bartoszek is a pet friendly advocate and consultant and is also the founder of Pets Living the Dream.  This organization provides business consulting for the creation of pet friendly programs that help cities and businesses stand out from their competition and win the praise of pet parents – especially the much-coveted Millennials and Gen Zs.    Read more

Today’s guest was Francia Vogini, President of Husky Haven of Florida.  Francia began rescuing dogs seven years ago when she saw a dog on social media that needed a foster home.  Although she already had three huskies of her own, her heart said she needed to get involved.  She helped find a forever home for her foster and saw how much this dog helped the adopter overcome her depression.  That was all it took and Francia was hooked.    Read more