March 2018 by Kristen Auerbach, Mike Kaviani, Clare Callison

Audience: Foster Caregivers, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers

Video Length: 41 Minutes

Essentials of Saving Big Dogs

Experts present the essential programs, best practices, and core philosophies needed to start saving the big dogs in your communities. Think of this presentation as the key ingredients needed to move towards and achieve 90% for your community's dogs. There are a variety of speakers to represent different shelter types that have to deal with the same challenges.

This presentation was recorded at the 2018 American Pets Alive! Conference.

About Kristen Auerbach

Kristen, the Director of the Pima County Animal Center, was formerly the deputy chief animal services officer at the Austin Animal Center in Austin, Texas. The Austin Animal Center is a national leader in no-kill animal sheltering, saving more than 94 percent of the 18,000 animals that came through its doors last year. Since 2011, Austin has been the largest no-kill city in America.

Kristen previously served as the assistant director at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Fairfax, Virginia, where she helped to overturn pit bull adoption restrictions, double adoptions and cut euthanasia in half, bringing Fairfax County to no-kill. During her tenure, she implemented dog play groups, a comprehensive in-shelter enrichment program for cats and dogs, and lifesaving foster programs.

Kristen presents and writes regularly on a variety of subjects, including breed labeling, reduction of shelter intake, innovative foster care and social media for animal welfare leadership. Her efforts have been featured in numerous national publications and websites, such as Animal Sheltering magazine, the Huffington Post, BarkPost, the Dodo and Buzzfeed, and on TV networks, including CNN, Fox and ABC.


About Mike Kaviani

Mike Kaviani, began working with shelter animals at the Irvine Animal Care Center in California when he was 18. His "3rd Chance for Pets Program" received national recognition when IACC was given the 2007 Shelter of the Year award primarily due to this program. Mike has been a Dogs Playing for Life Team Member and part of the program's development throughout his work with Aimee Sadler. Mike is a DPFL Lead Instructor and assists with seminars and provides mentorships.

As Director of Lifesaving Operations at APA!, Mike provides immediate and ongoing support, leadership, and problem solving for the shelter's staff and volunteers in all of APA's animal care programs. In addition to these on-site responsibilities, Mike is tasked with innovating new solutions in areas such as Length of Stay, Animal Care and Enrichment, Dog Behavior and Training solutions for the last 5%, Volunteer engagement and retention, and creating national No-Kill models and best practices.

Lastly, Mike is also a proud member of Austin's Animal Advisory Commission.


About Clare Callison

Clare, the Director of Operations at San Antonio Pets Alive!, started working in San Antonio rescue in 2008, and was hired on as the Foster Coordinator at the San Antonio Animal Care Services in 2007. The live release rate was only at 29%, and she quickly helped develop a Foster program in order to help improve the situation for San Antonio pets.

In her role, she became dedicated to marketing the dogs solely on the euthanasia list, so it was a natural fit to join San Antonio Pets Alive when it formed in 2012. In her current role, she oversees the lifesaving operations for all of the SA Pets Alive teams including: Intake, Adoptions, Transport, Medical and the mass marketing of animals on the urgents list.