Customer Service Articles 

Cats by Appointment Only

March 2013
The SPCA Serving Erie County has dramatically reduced cat admissions and eliminated overcrowding and severe disease outbreaks with its cats by appointment policy – worries about an angry public, bad press and an increase in cat abandonment haven’t materialized.  Read More

Reducing Shelter Admissions with an Animal Help Desk

March 2013
Sixty percent of the callers who wanted to surrender one or more pets were convinced to try alternatives as a result of Nevada Humane Society’s free Animal Help Desk.  Read More

Are Live Operators a Thing of the Past or the Future? Editorial

September 2012
Sick and tired of voicemail jail when you call your local shelter? Maddie's Fund President Rich Avanzino takes a trip into the past as well as the future, and explains why it's time for shelters and rescue groups to get real people to answer their phones.  Read More

Customer Service Do's and Don'ts Part II

October 2010
Read the findings from our 2010 Customer Service Awards Program.  Read More

Customer Service Do's and Don'ts Part I

2009
Read our findings based on the ten-week customer service awards program conducted by Maddie's Fund and the Petfinder.com Foundation. See why some shelters and rescues are models of "best practices" - and others are not.  Read More

When the Adopters Show Up, Will Your Shelter Be Ready?

2009
The Shelter Pet Project advertising campaign may put shelter customer service to the test.  Read More

Meet Your Match: Does It Deliver?

2006
Color coded systems matching dog behaviors to pet owners preferences: how it works, and what the shelters who are using that system have to say about it.  Read More

Customer Service – Another Way to Save Lives

2004
A great model of customer service plus customer service training tips for staff and volunteers in the accompanying Adoption Counselor Guide.  Read More

It Happened at EXPO: A Summary of Maddie's Daylong Workshop

2009
Maddie's eight-hour workshop, Is An Adoption Guarantee Really Possible? Four Steps to Success held in Las Vegas at The HSUS Animal Care EXPO, drew more than 200 attendees interested in saving the lives of their communities' healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats.  Read More