BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY HIRES JOSE OCANO AS PACIFIC REGION DIRECTOR
LOS ANGELES (April 10) - To continue staffing up to achieve a no kill nation by 2025, Best Friends Animal Society, the only national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of animals in U.S. shelters has hired Jose Ocono as director of the Pacific Region, a newly created position.
Jose will be responsible for leading the Best Friends - Los Angeles team and the NKLA initiative as well as expanding its impact through coalition building and strategic engagement across the Pacific Region - a key aspect of the organization's 2025 strategy.
"Jose is a shining example of the change we're helping to implement around the county. He is also someone who models our core values in how they fulfill their commitment to helping animals," said Judah Battista, Chief Local Programs Officer, Best Friends Animal Society. "Jose has had some amazing accomplishments as the Director of Operations for Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson. Not only did he launch PACC's Pet Support Center, overhaul the shelter's medical operations, and push the open-admission shelter's live release rate to nearly 90 percent - he did this all with 18,000 animals entering the shelter each year!"
Marc Peralta, the current executive director for Best Friends in Los Angeles will move into the role of Mid Atlantic Regional Director to launch Best Friends coalition building effort in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"Marc and the team in LA have done an amazing job getting the city to the brink of the no kill threshold. There are still challenges and hard work to do to cross that threshold and there will be different and exciting work involved in growing the lifesaving beyond the city of Los Angeles," continued Battista.
Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is the only national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends runs lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 1,800 rescue groups and shelters across the country; regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City; and the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about two million. Best Friends is determined to get that number to zero by the year 2025. Best Friends and its nationwide network of members and partners are working to Save Them All.
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