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Foundation for Furry Friends
Aimee Gilbreath, MBA '02, first learned about shelter euthanasia and pet overpopulation while volunteering for an animal rescue group. Her work led her to adopt a pit bull, Rufus, and also to become executive director of the Los Angeles-based Found Animals Foundation. The foundation works on several fronts to reduce the number of animals euthanized in shelters.
The first area is sterilization, Gilbreath said. The charity's flagship program is the Michelson Prize, a $25 million award for creating a nonsurgical way to sterilize cats and dogs. The prize is named for foundation founder Dr. Gary K. Michelson, a spinal surgeon and inventor. A nonsurgical sterilant could be administered in the field, reducing the cost and eliminating obstacles like transportation. Gilbreath said it is expected to be at least several years before a product is developed that could win the prize.
The foundation also offers up to $50 million in grants for promising projects related to nonsurgical sterilization. The first batch of grant applications is being reviewed by scientific advisors.
On a local level, the foundation makes grants to low-cost spay-and-neuter programs around Los Angeles and helps with strategy and outreach. It increases animal adoptions by producing webcasts featuring animals available for adoption. One recent promotion: why two cats are better than one.
Finally, Gilbreath said, the organization is looking at support for animal owners by working with shelters to determine why some people give up their pets. "Many animals used to be wanted and aren't anymore," she said.
Warmer Community for Pets, Caretakers
by Margaret Steen
Christine Benninger, MBA '78, plays with current residents of the Humane Society Silicon Valley's new community center in Milpitas, Calif.
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In March, Humane Society Silicon Valley proudly swung open the doors of its new "animal community center," complete with space for kids' summer camps, art shows, corporate events, a weight management class for animals, and yoga classes for pets and their owners.
The facility reflects new thinking about what it means to be "humane" to animals. "We don't call it a shelter," said Christine Benninger, MBA '78, president of the organization.
The seeds for the center, located on Ames Avenue in Milpitas, Calif., were planted 16 years ago when Benninger left a career managing manufacturing sites for Hewlett-Packard to become the society's president -- only to discover that the organization had just four months of money left. Her solution was to sign deals with local cities to provide animal control and shelter.
This solved the immediate problem but created another one. "The mission of animal control and the mission of the Humane Society conflict," she said. For example, animal control involves enforcing each city's limits on the number of pets a homeowner can have; the Humane Society is supported by people who like to take in animals. "You're citing your donors. It's very difficult," she said.
The group phased out its animal control duties. But there was a deeper problem: The Humane Society was euthanizing 7 of every 10 animals it took in.
Benninger and her team looked for the root cause. Spaying and neutering campaigns had been fairly successful, so the problem was more one of pet owners' commitment to keep animals for their lifetime than of overpopulation. Benninger looked for ways "to solidify the bond" between pets and their owners.
It was a new way to look at the problem. "Chris wasn't saying, "What is the best practice? I want to replicate that,'" said Elena PernasGiz-Battles, MBA '04, the Humane Society's chief operating officer. "She was saying, "What's the best thing to do, and how can we make it happen?'"
Part of the solution was to replace the old facility, built in 1951 in Santa Clara, Calif. The building "created lots of stress for the animals," Benninger said. "And we had no ability to really engage with the public."
After years of brainstorming and fundraising, the charity broke ground for its new facility in 2007. The center adheres to the Chinese aesthetic system of feng shui and expects to earn a gold-level LEED certification for environmental soundness from the U.S. Green Building Council. In March 2009 the Humane Society moved in.
The difference from the old center is dramatic: Dogs at the center go outside several times a day, reducing the need for staff to clean the kennels. Cats live together in large rooms. A "rabbitat" displays rabbits living in a home-like setting, offering an alternative to visitors who want a pet that's less work than a dog and is less likely to cause allergic reactions than a cat.
Besides caring for homeless animals, which come from owners surrendering their animals, strays from the nearby city of Sunnyvale, and a regional rescue program that takes animals that may be euthanized by other shelters, the center offers a range of services to pet owners, including spay and neuter surgeries and the use of its dog park. Five staff veterinarians also perform other surgeries on the animals that live at the shelter -- all behind a window that allows the public to watch.
The Humane Society even plans to start a weight management group for dogs and cats. "It sounds funny, but a lot of people don't know what to do with an overweight pet," Benninger said.
Humane Society Silicon Valley's ideas are "ahead of the curve," said David Williams, chief operating officer of the Michigan Humane Society, who invited Battles to help facilitate a retreat for his staff. "We know that solving homelessness for animals is not going to be done by building animal shelters -- that is treating the symptom."
The society still faces challenges. It has raised $20.5 million for the building but still has $4.5 million to go, and it hopes to increase animal adoptions from 4,000 to 10,000 a year.
Benninger draws on her GSB training and management experience to help the group develop a vision, set goals, and hold people accountable. "Emotion, which plays a big role in nonprofit work," she said, "can easily derail an organization if not managed in a positive way."