De-stigmatizing ‘Owner Surrender’
This is a picture of me and my dog Gilbert, taken in the late 1990s. I’ve been thinking a lot about Gilbert lately because his story reminds me how much animal welfare still needs to change when it comes to the ‘owner surrender’ process. I got Gilbert from a friend who found him tied up […]
Adoption is Choosing to Love … A Father’s Story
a·dopt/ verb: late 15th century: via French from Latin adoptare, from ad- ‘to’ + optare ‘choose’. Hi James, I watched the Best Friends webinar last night and you did a great job. The explanation of prejudice in the pet adoption world was clear and powerful. Interestingly Jane and I experienced it first hand when we adopted Jennifer [I’ve shared the story below]. The extensive investigation […]
Moving Beyond Bias with CARE
A discussion with animal welfare leader and president of Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE), James Evans. James talks about how the animal welfare movement got to where we are today and how we move forward. Special thanks to our host by José Ocaño, Senior Director of Culture and Talent and Best Friends CEO, […]
Still Dreaming
I don’t think Dr. King dreamt of President Obama, Reginald F. Lewis, Condoleezza Rice, or Oprah per se. Too often, these individuals, and other gifted people, are presented as post-racial symbols of a struggle long passed. This type of loose logic ignores the challenges facing People of Color. Equally misconceived would be to suggest Warren […]
Leaning in and Listening
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In Pursuit of the Real Juneteenth
I heard the thud from upstairs. When you’re living with an adolescent German Shepherd and two children of similar temperament, crashes, thump thump thumping, a thud is nothing special. But this was different; there were no preliminary warning sounds before the impact, and no sound directly after—just a loud thud. Seconds later, my son was […]