Fixing the Future

Better Together

UCAN was established to reduce the number of companion animals euthanized in our region.  We understood early in the planning phase that our success would be dependent on partnering with existing groups who have been working for the same and similar causes in our region. 

Since we began the process of informing these specific groups and the community at large about UCAN’s clinic plans, we’ve had dozens of animal shelters and rescue groups rally together in support of our united mission.   Together our resources provide a unique opportunity to inspire and implement great change in the quality of life for the animals in our communities.

Just a few weeks ago, Sarah Skoglund, Executive Director, began our Partner Training Sessions.  The sessions made clear that we have a great interest and commitment from groups of all sizes throughout the Tri-state area. Our sessions were held at the Hamilton County SPCA, The League for Animal Welfare in Clermont County, and the Kenton County Animal Shelter in northern Kentucky.  The questions and abundance of ideas discussed proved that we are better working together than individually to significantly reduce the rate of euthanasia.

What will UCAN do for our partners?  UCAN will provide our partners with transportation free of charge to and from agreed locations.  Our low-cost spay/neuter services will be available to shelter animals and publicly-owned pets in the communities where our partners operate.  UCAN will provide all marketing and education materials, admission forms, patient health questionnaires, patient pre- and post-op instruction forms, and transport scheduling forms.  Additionally, we will accept vouchers from shelters and rescue groups and offer a partner incentive program that allows each group to receive every 10th dog or cat surgery free, in effect reducing the already low cost per spay/neuter candidate. 

And what will our partner groups do for UCAN?  A lot!  They will assist us in making our services accessible to communities throughout the region by coordinating  locations for the public, serving as a referral source, and bringing their own shelter animals to us.  Partner groups will pre-qualify the spay/neuter candidates by completing admission forms for each animal and a patient health questionnaire for all publicly-owned pets.   They will use their knowledge of neighborhoods and problem areas to target spay/neuter efforts.  And, possibly the most important role that our partner groups will serve is in helping to educate people about the pet-overpopulation problem and the importance of spay/neuter.

Many thanks to the following groups for their support and contributions during our partner training sessions: 

Adams County Dog Pound
Animal Adoption Foundation (ARF)
Animal Allies
Brown Animal Rescue
Boone County Animal Care & Control
Brown County Animal Shelter
Brown County Humane Society
Cat-Tails Rescue
Clermont County Humane Society
Community Animal Response Team (CART)
Friends of the Shelter
Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART)
Hope Pet Rescue
Humane Society of Adams County
League for Animal Welfare
Living Creatures Animal Sanctuary
Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
Purrfect Friends
Save Our Strays
Save the Animals Foundation (STAF)
SCOOP
Sheltered Paws
Silver Bells Rescue
Small Potatoes Animal Rescue
SPCA Cincinnati
Wags 'n Whiskers Rescue

A National Movement

The Southern Regional Spay/Neuter Leadership Conference was held September 14-17 in Memphis TN (http://www.spayneuterconference.org/).

It was sponsored by the leaders of the movement, i.e. PetsMart Charities, Petco Foundation, The Two Mauds Foundation, SpayUSA, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

The 300+ attendees came from over 200 organizations in 26 states - from as far away as Utah and the state of Washington. There were over 30 attendees from the veterinary and legal professions.

We listened to success stories from around the country, e.g. mobile clinics, traveling vets, in-clinic clinics, state and county funded voucher systems, and the “regional super clinic”. The success stories came from long-established humane societies, groups of private individuals, and in one case (i.e. Oklahoma), a single incredible woman who has set out to spay and neuter an entire state.

Conference topics covered the gamut, e.g. community assessment, education/outreach, coalition building, fundraising, legislation, recruiting/staffing, management, operations and logistics, and quality control.

Since the United Coalition for Animals has chosen to be a “regional super clinic”, we spent a lot of time with our sponsor - Humane Alliance. Their numbers speak for themselves, i.e. 15 operating clinics in 12 states projected to do 146,000 spay/neuters over the next 12 months, 6 organizations in negotiation, 16 clinics in various stages of coming online - including United Coalition for Animals.

This is a national movement with a serious purpose being pursued by serious people. This movement is maturing and is therefore attracting the kind of professional talent and financial resources that will take it to the next level.

Making Friends and Influencing People

Nobody likes a know-it-all. So whenever we’ve gone out to talk to others in the community, be they
vets, shelter representatives or those engaged in the hard front-line business of rescue, we’ve been careful to focus more on asking questions than volunteering answers.

Sometimes, though, we’ve found that it’s important to speak up.

We’ve had some interesting encounters as we’ve gone out seeking partners and supporters in the community. We’ve found that most rescue groups are thrilled to hear what we’re doing and anxious for us to open our doors. As proof, more than three dozen already have committed to working with us.

When we have run into resistance, it mostly has been because of concerns that partnering with us would upset existing vet relationships that have been built up over the years.

We certainly can understand that concern, but our response is twofold:
1)    We aren’t out to replace existing providers – there’s nothing to be gained by doing that. Our goal is to be able to provide spay/neuter to large numbers of additional animals, those who otherwise would never be touched.
2)    Most vets in private practice probably would be relieved to know they didn’t have to provide this routine service to rescue groups, that there was a viable alternative that allowed them to devote their time to other (more profitable) facets of animal care.

Of course, we know there will be exceptions. Some vets at least initially may perceive the UCAN clinic as a threat to their livelihoods. Based on the Humane Alliance experience and that of other similar clinics around the country, however, we expect any such resistance to melt quickly once we’re up and running and they see that we are serving a totally different demographic.

Most importantly, we remind the rescue folks that it’s all about supporting the mission of ending pet over-population. That’s what they are buying into, an investment in the future. Vets in private practice who do spay/neuters as favors for rescue groups certainly are helping these groups in tangible, important ways. Yet spaying or neutering a few animals here and there isn’t making a dent in solving the bigger problem. To do so, we need to join together in support of this larger effort.

Animal shelters are a different story entirely. Here, political concerns tend to prevail, which is understandable when dealing with organizations that receive public funding. Alienating local vets obviously is not good politics for shelter managers, so we’ve found that the key here is to emphasize the advantages outlined in #2 above.

Shelters have limited resources, too, so doesn’t it make more sense for them to use their own vets (or local community vets) for more serious health issues, or to treat shelter animals for conditions that may now cause them to be euthanized? It’s all about running a business, and when you can get more bang for your buck by outsourcing a portion of your spay/neuter business, the benefits become apparent.

As we’ve gone out and about in the community, we’ve found that we’ve been able to influence a lot of folks and even change some minds. We’ve cemented a number of relationships and we’ve opened some surprising new doors, which is encouraging for the future of the animals we are all working to save.

Bottom line: When it comes to forming effective community partnerships, we’ve found there’s definitely much to be gained by talking.

What’s Up, Doc?

A local veterinary community that doesn’t know what you are doing, or that hears about your plans only through the grapevine, is a dangerous thing. It’s important to keep them informed so that they understand your mission and don’t feel threatened by your presence.

This was the advice given us by Humane Alliance, and we took it.

In early July, we held a vet meeting to which more than 300 vets were invited from throughout the region. We partnered with another Humane Alliance clinic in hosting the event, at which
Dr. Karla Brestle presented the Humane Alliance model and responded to questions. We even held the meeting at a centrally located restaurant and offered free food, wine and beer for the dinner-hour event.

Six area vets showed up.

Rather than being disappointed, we were pleased. It was triple the attendance at similar meetings held in other cities!

Most importantly, the meeting was informative, the vets who attended offered some good suggestions and valuable perspective, and we have some good material for follow-up communications with those vets who didn’t make it.

Plus, it was a good venue to introduce our executive director, Sarah Skoglund, to the vet community. Sarah always makes a great impression – totally informed and professional, she radiates credibility. And that’s not a bad message for the veterinary grapevine either!

Howdy, Partners!

One of the most important components of a success in this kind of venture is the ability to sign up the right partners.

Partners are your lifeblood…

In the Humane Alliance clinic model, partners serve as the all-important conduits – working through their own rescue and shelter networks to ensure that there is a steady flow of dogs and cats coming to your clinic for spay/neuter. You will rely on your partners for the volume needed to run a viable business. You will rely on them for logistics and paperwork and the collection of fees. You will rely on them for a great many things, and without them you won’t be in business very long.

UCAN’s March meeting to introduce the clinic concept provided a good opportunity to meet and establish relationships with a number of potential partner organizations. Almost 50 different groups were represented there. But that was just the beginning.

In the months since then, Sarah Skoglund, the clinic executive director, and several board members with strong connections in the animal welfare community, have been engaged in individual discussions with potential partners, keeping them apprised of our progress and plans.

Once we established our pricing, we formalized our overall partner program, detailing responsibilities and requirements on both sides, and most importantly, outlining the benefits of partnership for those who sign on to further the UCAN mission.

One of the most significant incentives to partnership is volume discounts. For every 10 cats/dogs our partners bring us, they will get that 10th surgery free. It amounts to a 10% discount, but it’s a discount that is solely dependent on volume – as is the clinic.   

We also will be offering our partners other benefits such as free transportation, preferential surgical scheduling, use of our training and meeting facilities, free food distributions and discounts on supplies when available, preferred rates at UCAN-hosted events and seminars, free use of traps and cages, and a range of other offerings that add up to real value.

Partners can choose to work with us in a variety of ways, from something as simple as referring the public to our clinic to signing up to bring us their own animals. Regardless of the level of partnership, these signed agreements demonstrate real community support for the UCAN clinic – and that’s important for securing funding, which is another topic entirely! More on THAT later…

A Very Special Day and a Wonderful Beginning

I’m back in the saddle, and ready to see where this blog adventure takes us.

Coalition: Meeting of March 30, 2006
Our March 30 meeting was “A Very Special Day” indeed. Attendance was over 100 and standing room only. The guest speakers were persuasive; their accomplishments inspiring. The audience was intent and interested. Chris Evans was able to capture all the sights and sounds and post them to our web site http://www.UCANcincinnati.org.

In Cincinnati, there may never have been such an inclusive gathering of shelter and rescue representatives, veterinarians, vet techs and those simply dedicated to improving the lives of companion animals in our region. UCAN would like to thank the following participants, partners, and supporters:

Adopt-A-Dog
Advocates for Animals
AERAS
All Creatures Animal Hospital
Anderson Township Family Pet Center
Animal Adoption Foundation
Animal Rescue Fund
Australian Shepherd Rescue
Barks-N-Bubbles
Brown Animal Rescue
Cincinnati Area Aussie Rescue
Circle Tail
Clermont County Humane Society
Community Catalyst
Dearborn County Animal Shelter
Eastgate Animal Hospital
Eldora Cat Rescue
Harrison Animal Rescue
Humane Alliance
Humane Animal Rescue Team
Humane Ohio
League For Animal Welfare
No More Homeless Pets
Noah's Ark Animal Shelter
O'Bryonville Animal Rescue
Paws Adoption Center
PAWS of Dearborn County
Pedigree Interiors
PetVet Connection
Precious Secrets Sheltie Rescue
Purrfect Friends
Rescue Our Shelter Animals Strays
RVT Student Raymond Walters
Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary
Save Our Strays
Save the Animals Foundation
Sheltered Paws
Silver Bells Animal Rescue
The Scratching Post
Three Sisters Pet Rescue
Tri-State Collie Rescue
Underdogs
United Coalition for Animals
Wags & Whiskers
Westie Rescue
Wildwood Pet Network

With the successful programs in Utah, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina serving as examples of what can be done, your participation and interest gives us the optimism and confidence that we can do it here, right here in river city --- yes, you, me, US.

We thank you for your interest; we look forward to earning your confidence. Our mission is to be of service to you, to the region, and to animal welfare.

If you missed the March 30 meeting, video and audio links are available on our web site http://www.UCANcincinnati.org.

External Affairs: Legislative
On Tuesday April 11, we will have an audience with a Representative from the Ohio State Legislature, an individual who is favorably predisposed to our cause. The subject will be a dog-license surcharge to fund spay/neuter initiatives state-wide.

In preparation for this meeting, we have retrieved the statutes from the two states that already have such legislation, i.e. New Hampshire and Illinois. But most importantly, participating on the conference call will be the two architects of the legislation in New Hampshire and Illinois as well as one of the architects of the PetsOhio license plate legislation:

• New Hampshire: Peter Marsh, Director, Solutions To Overpopulation of Pets
• Illinois: Ledy VanKavage Esq, Senior Director of Legal Training & Legislation, ASPCA
• Ohio: Aimee St. Arnaud, Manager, Spay/Neuter Initiatives, ASPCA

Our plan has always been to complement our regional spay/neuter initiatives with a dialogue at the state and even national levels. We are both surprised and pleased that the state-level dialogue has begun so soon.

PostScript

These first two posts have been longer than I would have liked. Future posts will be shorter and tighter as we chronicle the present, plan for and anticipate the future, and draw lessons from the past.

-steve-
Spaying pets. Educating people. Saving lives.

A Very Special Day

For the United Coalition for Animals (UCAN), today March 30, 2006 is a very special day, and if you’re here, you’re in the right place.

UCAN’s plan is to open a high-volume spay/neuter clinic based on the Humane Alliance model by November 1, 2006. As you may know, the Humane Alliance model has six primary characteristics:

1.      Regional coalition within up to a 90-mile radius

2.      Stationary clinic

3.      One or more transport vehicles

4.      8,400 surgeries per vet per year (35 spay/neuter surgeries per day times 240 work days per year)

5.      Maximum two vets per clinic

6.      Training, mentoring, coaching, and support provided by the Humane Alliance National Spay/Neuter Response Team (NSNRT)

Our plan is to have one vet the first year and two vets the second.

As for this blog, one of our purposes is to tell stories --- like the lady who asked “It says you're a spay/neuter clinic. I just had my cat spayed, do I also need to get her neutered?”

Or the following. The UCAN Board has adopted “24” as its official TV show. In fact, at every Board Meeting the first order of business is to do the “24” DVD swap --- the UCAN library contains the first four “24” seasons on DVD and two copies of season 1. When we were out looking at properties, one of our criteria was whether we would need Jack Bauer to get the employees in and out every day. Some properties failed the test.

Another purpose of this blog is to listen.

But, perhaps our primary purpose is more practical:

·        A chronicle of our experience between now and November 1, so that others who travel this path after us may benefit from that experience --- our successes, our mistakes, our decisions and the thinking behind those decisions, what we learned, and what we would like to forget.

·        A resource for information, articles, videos, and links to other sites.

·        An interactive resource for you to ask questions and challenge the opinions expressed.

·        A history of our efforts at “organization building”. To date, we have spent more time building the organization than on opening a spay/neuter clinic. While we believe these efforts will be rewarded, future events will render the final verdict.

So what’s so special about today March 30, 2006?

Tonight at 6:00 PM we are hosting an event that we have named “Fixing the Future”. In attendance will be:

·        Quita Mazzina, Karla Brestle, and Amber Beane of Humane Alliance

·        Aimee St. Arnaud of ASPCA and Humane Ohio

·        Over 100 people including 25+ different animal welfare organizations --- shelters, rescue groups, veterinarians, etc.

In addition to introducing UCAN, its Board, and its plans, our focus this evening will be on two primary objectives:

1.      Regional Coalition. Beginning to form and nurture the relationships that will form the basis of a successful regional coalition. We have greatly expanded the definition of “coalition”:

·        Broader. We have defined our “region” to be 12 counties covering 3 states.

·        More inclusive. In addition to animal welfare groups, shelters, rescues, veterinarians, etc., we are reaching out to the business community, local and state politicians, community leaders, etc.

·        More valuable. To the partners in our coalition, we will offer real services that have real value:

·        Discounts on already low-cost spays and neuters, based on volume

·        Priority clinic scheduling

·        At-cost discounts on available equipment, medicines, pet food or other supplies

·        Access to UCAN meeting facilities

·        Free or discounted admittance to educational seminars, training sessions (e.g. grant writing) and other UCAN-sponsored events

·        The opportunity to share in the distribution of grant monies and other designated gifts that may be channeled through UCAN from time to time, e.g. DJNT, Ohio Pet Fund, etc.

·        Other benefits that may be determined by the UCAN Board of Trustees as time goes by.

2.      UCAN’s Service Role. UCAN’s role in this regional coalition is simple, i.e. to be a provider of goods, services, subsidies, and expertise. We have been preparing for this role since we received our official 501(c)(3) designation on December 26, 2001:

·        In January 2002 we received $50,000 in grant monies and for 3 years managed a spay/neuter voucher program.

·        In 2004, UCAN started Pedigree Interiors, a furniture consignment store, to provide ongoing financial support to the organization and to subsidize its spay/neuter pricing. Our Pedigree Interiors experience has proven to us that we can start and operate a business, recruit and manage a corps of volunteers (50+), and make money ($63,000+).

·        In late 2005, we began reconstituting the Board with people who love animals and bring needed and valuable expertise. Some do feral cat TNR, others run their own rescues, but all are committed to the cause.

·        Retired VP of Communications, Federated Department Stores

·        Retired VP of Information Technology and Finance, Kroger Company

·        Assistant General Counsel, Federated Department Stores

·        Marketing Director, Cincinnati Zoo

·        Professional fundraiser whose last engagement raised $8 million for a local hospital

·        Former CFO of Cintech, professor at Xavier University, and management consultant with Ernst & Young and Senn-Delaney

·        Former management consultant with Deloitte Consulting, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers

·        Former President of the League for Animal Welfare, the oldest no-kill animal shelter in the Cincinnati area

·        Small-business information technology consultant

And we are not finished. We are currently looking for a Board member for Human Resources and another for Volunteer and Event Coordinator. In addition, we have formed a Veterinarian Advisory Board and are actively looking for members.

·        Also in 2006, we have been successful in gaining the support of several key business resources:

·        A commercial developer who will do the clinic leasehold improvements and hopefully be our landlord.

·        A commercial architect who will design the clinic leasehold improvements.

·        An advertising agency that has done our logo, visuals, tag line, letterhead, web site, and was the catalyst for this blog.

To a person, UCAN exists to be of service --- to the animals ultimately and to our partners, who represent the best way of serving the most number of animals. It is with some reservation that we list the assets and skills above. Our only intent is to show to our potential partners that we are both serious and committed to being the absolute best partner we can be.

We hope you consider us worthy of your time, your commitment, and your partnership. Come to the meeting tonight. Come back to the blog. Be part of something big and important.

The next time we meet, I may have a video or two to share with you. Stay tuned.

-steve-

“Spaying pets. Educating people. Saving lives.”