COLLABORATION! That’s what MAC is all about! This Hot Topics presented a “petpourri” of cool, interesting, thought-provoking presentations and ideas to grease your wheels and drive you towards helping more animals.
- Dr. Lorna Grande, founder and coordinator of HAVEN (Human/Animal Violence Education Network) in Western MA, spoke about this model program that has made a huge difference for animals and their humans. HAVEN is a collaboration of professionals who work to raise awareness about the connection between animal cruelty and violence – police, animal control, domestic violence programs, child advocates, prosecutors and mental health professionals. HAVEN has trained professionals ranging from domestic violence workers and veterinarians to juvenile court judges. This is a very important program and maybe it will generate some discussion about forming a HAVEN in your community. Learn more about HAVEN from this video.
- Presentation from the MAC Shelter Statistics Task Force. Boring? Snooze -fest? Wait until you read what we have learned from our latest survey and what exciting possibilities exist for all of us as we look into the future. It is so important to think about this issue on so many levels – telling our donors how we are doing, asking for grant money, going to the State House for legislation to help animals. This was an important, invigorating presentation and call to action! Download the presentation and the report presented by Dr. Joann Lindenmayer (MAC board member) and Theresa Vinic, M.S. TVinic MAC SSTF Executive Summary 1-3-16 TVinic MAC SSTF Hot Topics PDF 10-23-16
- We announced our new campaign to promote the Animal Friendly License Plate and shared some wonderful collaborations that are helping animals at a very high level! Mark Bappe from Conover Tuttle Pace in Boston gave us a show of the new License Plate promotion campaign, called Drive Like An Animal (lover). You can view the videos and download the 8.5 by 11 inch poster and the rack cards on our License Plate promotion page. We are happy to mail hard copy to you via snail mail – email us with your mailing address at [email protected]
- John Perreault of Berkshire Humane Society (and board member of MAC) told us about his wonderful program partnering with Subaru.
- Lauren Gilfeather and Sheri Gustafson from the Mass Animal Fund gave us an update on the Fund. (See Fund description below.)
- MAC launches “AniMatch for Cats”! Our AniMatch for Dogs program has helped almost 2,300 dogs to date and now we are able to help you help cats in your facility. This session provided insight into how animals can benefit from this innovative and successful program. Julia Pesek, Community Outreach Coordinator for MSPCA Nevins and Vice President of MAC presented.
- Kara Holmquist, Director of Advocacy for the MSPCA, discussed the Citizens for Farm Animal Protection grassroots campaign in Massachusetts that has collaborated to work to end the cruel confinement of veal calves, egg-laying hens, and pigs. Kara explained why this bill for farm animals is important for all animals in Massachusetts.
About our speakers:
Conover Tuttle Pace is a Boston-based advertising, PR and digital agency that produces award-winning work and measurable results for their clients from data-driven insights. CTP has generously offered their time and expertise to help with the huge project of marketing the “I’m Animal Friendly” License Plate. Mark Bappe, the creative director, is a past MAC board member and a current advisory council member. Mark is also the designer of the license plate! Alexis DeVilling and Tara Roman are key parts of the team, as well! A huge thanks to all three and the rest of their fantastic team!!!
Dr. Lorna Grande is a graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. She started her career with animals in an animal shelter over 40 years ago and continues to work with shelters. She practiced medicine and surgery for over 15 years. Over time, working with families and their pets she began to understand that the way in which pets were treated often gave insight into family dynamics. Dr. Grande was a faculty member in the Veterinary and Animals Science Department at UMASS Amherst for 10 years and is currently a consultant with the Humane Society of the United States’ veterinary affiliate Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association. She is the Founder and Coordinator of HAVEN: Human/Animal Violence Education Network in the Berkshires.
Dr. Joann Lindenmayer, a MAC board member, recently stepped down as Senior Manager of Disaster Operations and Director of the Haiti Program at Humane Society International and is Chair of the international One Health Commission. She holds adjunct faculty appointments at Tufts Medical School and Tufts’ Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. She began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Borneo and has worked extensively in the international arena in Asia and Africa. A graduate of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, she received a Public Health Fellowship to study Lyme Disease from the Medical Foundation and earned an MPH degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. From 1992-1994 she served as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Vermont Department of Health and subsequently held joint appointments as an epidemiologist in the RI Department of Health and Brown Medical School, where she founded the MPH program. Dr. Lindenmayer has received funding for her work in One Health from the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID’s RESPOND Program. She is also on the Leadership Council of the HSVMA. Joann is owned happily by three dogs and two cats.
Mass Animal Fund – On October 31, 2012, a law took effect that, in part, created the Homeless Animal Prevention and Care Fund (Massachusetts Animal Fund). The Fund is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources with assistance from an advisory committee and seeks to end the problem of animal homelessness in Massachusetts. This program is solely funded by the voluntary tax check-off (Line 32f) on the Massachusetts resident income tax form and by monetary donations.
John Perreault, a MAC board member, has spent most of his working life in animal welfare and in one place! He has been the Executive Director at Berkshire Humane Society in Pittsfield, MA for 18 years was shelter manager for 5 years prior to that. BHS began operations in 1993 at the site of a former MSPCA shelter in Pittsfield. Prior to the formation of BHS John worked for the MSPCA from 1984 to 1993, when MSPCA ceased its Berkshire County operation and turned the building over to BHS. Work began on a new facility in 2001, and the following year BHS moved from its original location to a 25,000 square foot facility. In the early 2000s the Berkshire Humane Society reported a 62% adoption rate, above the national average of 20% adoption. One decade later, the humane society reported success in re-homing 100% of its adoptable dogs and cats. John and his wife Laurie currently reside in Pittsfield and have opened their home to many foster children and animals. John and Laurie currently live with their 4 daughters and many furry BHS alum.
Julia Pesek, M.S. moved to Massachusetts from Chicago in 2012 to complete her MS in Animals and Public Policy (MAPP) from Tufts University and is now the Community Outreach Coordinator for the MSPCA at Nevins Farm and the VP of MAC. In Chicago, her professional careers were in social services and then mortgage banking, though her heart was always in animal welfare. She has more than 25 years of experience in a variety of volunteer and professional roles within various sheltering and welfare organizations, primarily in the midwest. She is the Chair of AniMatch for Cats and shares her home with three cats.
Theresa Vinic, M.S. is a recent graduate of the Master of Science in Animals and Public Policy (MAPP) program at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Her final project was a collaborative effort with the MAC Shelter Statistics Task Force to utilize a survey to learn more about the record-keeping practices of the Massachusetts animal sheltering community. She is passionate about community cat issues, promoting companion animal spay/neuter, and advocating for the welfare of non-human animals. Prior to moving to Massachusetts, she spent three years at Leuk’s Landings, a Michigan-based rescue for cats with feline leukemia. Currently, she serves as the recovery station anchor at the Tufts’ Sunday Community Cat Clinics and is the Book Sale Coordinator for the Friends of the Westborough Public Library. Theresa lives in Grafton with her two cats and an ever-changing number of foster kittens.
MAC Thanks Our Hot Topics Meeting Sponsors: