Video Length: 50:;10
You want to end needless killing of shelter animals, but it isn't as easy as you hoped. In this fundamental session, join Dr. Ellen Jefferson and David Meyer as they explain how to use what you have learned during the 2019 American Pets Alive! conference to prioritize goals and benchmark against them all along the way so that you can achieve success. This session will cover how to use your goals to assign responsibility, how to measure success towards the result you want, and how to plan for the resources you need. This presentation was recorded by Maddie's Fund® at the 2019 American Pets Alive! Conference.
Dr. Jefferson graduated veterinary school in 1997 and started her career in private practice. In 1999, in response to an 85% death rate at the city shelter, she started Emancipet, a low cost and free spay/neuter clinic in an effort to decrease the number of homeless animals. In 2008, still not satisfied with how fast the city of Austin was moving towards no-kill status, she stepped in as Executive Director of Austin Pets Alive! Since 2008, Austin Pets Alive! has been the driving force to bring the entire city of Austin to a greater than 90% save rate and the largest no-kill city in the US, and to redefine what no-kill means, as Austin's save rate now approaches 98%. Dr. Jefferson was unanimously chosen as the first recipient of the Avanzino Leadership award, named for the father of no-kill and given for her outstanding contribution to the no-kill movement.
As a multiple world champion martial arts competitor, teacher and published author (having written books, created programs in use in hundreds of martial arts schools, and trained the likes of Chuck Norris and many top UFC fighters), David Meyer has spent a lifetime enabling weaker individuals to become stronger. But as the Co-Founder and CEO of Adopt-a-Pet.com, he has become a passionate advocate for the truly powerless. In 2005, David volunteered to co-lead the pet rescue efforts in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He managed over 1,000 volunteers and was responsible for saving the lives of over 17,000 stranded dogs, cats, and other animals. David has co-authored "The Total Dog Manual" and "The Total Cat Manual" and is an inspirational and sought-after speaker.