March 2019 by Teresa Johnson, CEO/Executive Officer and Chief Lifesaving Officer, Kansas City Pet Project and Michele Figueroa, Operations Manager, Pima Animal Care Center

Audience: Executive Leadership, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers, Veterinary Team

Video Length: 48:23

Analyzing Length of Stay: Make Your Animals Ready and Move Them Fast

What is the average length of time animals stay in your shelter? Watch this session and learn how to analyze this information and know what to do with it. You will learn how to fast-track animals and make them available for adoption, foster and transfer, immediately. Time wasted means animal lives lost, leave this session with a plan to move animals through your shelter more quickly. This presentation was recorded by Maddie's Fund® at the 2019 American Pets Alive! Conference.

About Teresa Johnson

Teresa Johnson is the oft-honored CEO and Chief Lifesaving Officer for Kansas City Pet Project in Kansas City, Missouri. After taking over operations of Kansas City's old municipal shelter in 2012, Teresa and her team used their "solutions - not excuses" approach to transform the shelter into a national leader in no-kill animal shelters in the United States by setting a lifesaving record of 95.7 percent. Prior to Kansas City Pet Project, the city's animal shelter had been euthanizing up to 70 percent of the animals in their facility. In 2018, Teresa received the Maddie's® Hero Award from Maddie's Fund for her work in advancing the welfare of companion animals in the United States and leading the way with innovative ideas, progressive thinking, and lifesaving actions. Prior to her work in animal welfare, Teresa was the vice president of risk management and control for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. She holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Missouri - Columbia.


About Michele Figueroa

Michele Figueroa is the operations manager at Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) in Tucson, Arizona. At PACC, she manages the intake and placement of around 17,000 animals - achieving an annual save rate of around 90 percent. Michele has been with PACC for 13 years and one of her particular achievements is the PACC medical clinic that now serves every pet, regardless of the severity of their medical needs. Michele has served in a leadership capacity in almost every area of the shelter, including animal control (which is now animal protection), the medical clinic, adoptions, and admissions. Beyond her work to lead the internal operations team at PACC, though, Michele has also implemented community vaccine and microchipping efforts in underserved areas with the greatest needs.