Outreach and Embed Programs Stories

Best Friends marketing intern Jazmin Aguilar holding a dog wearing a pink Adopt Me bandanna

Intern makes lasting impact for Brownsville pets

Through her shelter marketing internship with Best Friends, Jazmin is helping homeless pets, raising awareness, and setting herself up for future success.
Residents encouraged to get involved
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Person bending down to kiss Pluto the puppy

Tennessee animal shelter’s rapid turnaround

Rhea County Animal Shelter’s save rate hit the no-kill threshold four months in a row, enabling a Best Friends embed assignment to end three months early.
Embed program offers a solid foundation
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Cheesecaek the dog smiling with tongue out

Grant helps save senior dog’s eyesight

A Lab mix named Cheesecake had a disease that threatened her eyesight, but a Rachael Ray Save Them All Grant helped her to see again.
Extra funds help save lives
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Person holding a large black dog with upright ears

A community unites for the good of its pets and people

With support from Best Friends, the city of Roswell, New Mexico, is reviewing how it manages animal services by making changes to send more animals home.
Embed program making a difference
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A group of people outside the Sevier County Animal Shelter in Utah

No-kill in Sevier County: A big win for dogs and cats

Shelby Jackman made it her mission to bring her rural county shelter in Utah to no-kill when she became manager.
Establishing a network for lifesaving
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Two people outside wearing protective gear doing a medical procedure with a tube and swqb

Helping animal shelter staff handle disease outbreaks

Best Friends’ national shelter medicine team guides animal welfare organizations through infectious disease outbreaks to save more lives.
Animals' lives saved
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Pudding the dog with her chin over some items, looking up

Quick response, teamwork save dogs in parvo outbreak

When a New York veterinarian reached out for help during an infectious disease outbreak, Best Friends’ national shelter medicine team was ready to assist.
Partnership controls the outbreak
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Smiling person wearing winter clothing happily hugging a tabby cat

Key to sending pets home is in the numbers

How South Suburban Humane Society used information from Best Friends’ Shelter Pet Data Alliance platform and a $100,000 grant to help more pets get adopted
They're turning data into action
Best Friends Magazine
The six people of the surgical team for the Brownsville spay-neuter-a-thon around a surgical table with a sedated black cat

Pet spay-neuter-a-thon erases backlog in Brownsville

A dedicated group of veterinarians and vet techs, organized by Best Friends, banded together over 10 days to spay or neuter more than 350 dogs and cats.
Read how they did it
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One person holding a Boston terrier while another person administers a vaccination

Helping people care for their pets in difficult times

With support from Best Friends, a neighborhood program in Georgia is making it possible for more pets to stay with people who love them.
Neighborhood Pet Support program to the rescue
Best Friends Magazine
Medical person touching a tabby kitten

Best Friends shelter medicine team to the rescue

New team assists in expanding lifesaving veterinary care at shelters across the country.
Read how they help
Best Friends Magazine
Baby Girl the white dog, smiling with tongue out, lying in green grass

Faces of No-Kill: Baby Girl in Brownsville, Texas

Best Friends’ embed program supports a Texas shelter in treating dogs for heartworms.
Embed program saves lives
Best Friends Magazine
Staff from the Inyo County Animal Shelter outside with a couple dogs

Helping a small rural animal shelter sustain no-kill

In Inyo County, California, ninth largest county in the nation, a small animal shelter is reorganizing for continued success.
Learn what they're doing
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Two dogs outside in the grass in a playgroup, one whose tong is hanging out

Magic of playgroups unveils dogs’ hidden sociability

A five-day seminar for 13 greater Houston shelters showed that even dogs who haven’t yet shown their best side can be adopted.
Learn about this lifesaving program
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Monster the senior pug, smiling with tongue out

Embracing change saves more pets at Arizona shelter

Best Friends is helping city officials in Bullhead City transform the culture of its animal shelter to better serve the community and increase lifesaving.
Making the shelter more customer friendly
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