Connecting animal shelters to save the lives of cats and dogs

To expand our reach, increase our lifesaving impact and achieve no-kill nationwide, Best Friends is connecting shelters around the country so they can share their expertise with each other. 

The Best Friends shelter collaborative program (officially named the Prince and Paws Shelter Collaborative after the beloved pets of the program’s principal investor) pairs mentors from no-kill shelters with their colleagues from shelters that aren’t yet no-kill.

The peer mentors offer their hard-earned expertise, along with lifesaving techniques, training and other forms of support, to shelter fellows to help them achieve no-kill. And Best Friends is there to provide support to both.

How the program works

Using the latest data, Best Friends identifies and strategically pairs shelters that have achieved a 90% save rate (the benchmark for no-kill) with shelters that need help in reaching the no-kill threshold.

After being paired with a shelter using the pet lifesaving dashboard data, the shelter fellows work with their peer mentors to look at current shelter data and come up with a plan and a budget for programming to increase the fellow’s save rate. Best Friends doesn’t dictate what the relationships should look like because the goal is to encourage peer mentors to do what they do well without restrictions.

There are also financial incentives for participating in this perpetuating loop of lifesaving. Best Friends provides seed grants to partnerships and offers ongoing training and coaching to shelter collaborative partners. 

These grants can be used for a variety of purposes, including hiring additional staffing, covering medical and surgical expenses, paying for supplies, and financing travel for shelter visits and conferences.

To learn more about the program, email sheltercollaborative@bestfriends.org and a member of the team will reach out to you.

Person holding a small adoptable dog during a lifesaving pet transprot

In the first year of the program, participating shelters saw a 40% increase in save rate and a 71% reduction in the number of dogs and cats killed, on average. 

Cats and dogs aren’t the only ones who benefit from the program

For shelter staff yearning to see fewer pets losing their lives and more pets finding loving homes, these collaborations come as morale boosters in a time of great need.

Many of these dedicated shelter professionals suffer from compassion fatigue, so the camaraderie brought by the program is a lifesaving light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are just a few examples of ways that shelters have benefited from the program:

Brandywine Valley SPCA in Delaware mentored Tangipahoa Parish Animal Services in Louisiana. Together, they opened a spay/neuter clinic and move hundreds of animals a year from Louisiana to the Northeast to be adopted from Brandywine Valley SPCA and other partners. 

Berkeley Animal Center in South Carolina wasn’t able to start a community cat program because of issues involving a local ordinance and veterinary care access. The mentor shelter, Massachusetts SPCA, partnered with Berkeley Animal Center to get the ordinance updated and is sending a veterinary team to South Carolina to conduct trap-neuter-return (TNR) clinics every three weeks to prevent impounding and killing community cats.

Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society outfitted a mobile spay/neuter vehicle to support the lifesaving needs of four shelter fellows in Georgia.

Here’s what past participants are saying about the program

“This partnership has been incredibly helpful, and I look forward to being able to continue to apply what we’ve learned through the collaboration so that we can achieve our lifesaving goals.”

Jessica Morrison

Director of Operations

South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter

“I really think that partnering with a southern shelter has given us a deeper understanding of the challenges and needs, and that has been truly motivating for our team to engage in a deeper way.”

Mike Keiley

Director of adoptions centers and programs

Massachusetts SPCA

"Being part of a network that truly understands the challenges we face—and actively works with us to overcome them—has renewed our passion and strengthened our mission. This collaboration isn’t just about saving lives; it’s about building a community where no shelter feels alone."

Kasey Schwartzer

Shelter Supervisor

Lampasas Animal Shelter

Become a peer mentor

To be a successful peer mentor, your shelter should have a history of strong, sustainable lifesaving programs and be committed to bringing those programs to other organizations.

 You must also have the resources to spend time on-site at the shelter fellow and provide ongoing support between visits. 

Email the team at sheltercollaborative@bestfriends.org to learn more about becoming a peer mentor.

Become a Peer Mentor

Become a shelter fellow

Potential fellows currently have a save rate below 90% for dogs or cats, or both. They must also be open to making necessary program changes to achieve sustainable lifesaving success. 

Best Friends and the peer mentor should be allowed to visit the shelter and get a behind-the-scenes look so they have the information needed to make lifesaving recommendations. We also ask that shelter collaborative partners share their shelter data monthly with Best Friends.

Email the team at sheltercollaborative@bestfriends.org to learn more about becoming a shelter fellow.

Become a Shelter Fellow

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends is working to end the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters in part by getting more pets out of shelters and into loving homes.

We’ve come a long way since the first known city reached no-kill in 1994, and now we’re closer than ever to making the entire country no-kill. Of the roughly 3,900 shelters operating in America today, 1,300 of them are not yet no-kill, but nearly half are close with 100 or fewer additional pets to be saved, and we know what to do to get them there.

Best Friends is committed to working with passionate people like you to save homeless pets through adoption, volunteering, fostering, and advocacy. In addition to our lifesaving centers around the U.S, we also founded and run the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals.

Working together, we can save homeless pets in our communities and secure a better future for our best friends. Together, we will bring the whole country to no-kill.