Unleashing a New Data-Driven Tool To Understand Pet Homelessness – Interview

Pet homelessness is a complex & heartbreaking issue in the U.S.

But, there is a way to better understand the scale of pet homelessness and help identify the key issues that need to be solved to address this difficult challenge and hopefully bring an end to homelessness for precious pets.

It’s a measuring tool to find out how many pets are homeless in a given area and that tool can be used by animal welfare organizations and others to help identify the underlying issues and try to bring an end to this problem.

In the United States alone,

there are currently 48 million homeless companion animals. Although around three million of these animals are adopted from shelters annually, that leaves millions of companion animals without the warmth, care, and security of a forever home.

Pet homelessness is a complex issue. With the right data, it will be possible to better understand the scale of pet homelessness and help identify the key issues that need to be solved to address this complex challenge.

That’s why Mars Petcare partnered with leading animal welfare experts and organizations around the world to develop the first-ever State of Pet Homelessness Index.

This tool pulls together credible,

consistent data to measure the scale of the pet homelessness issue at a country level. With data from over 200 global and local sources, boosted by quantitative research, the Index is a measure of pet homelessness at a point in time.

The data can be used by animal welfare organizations, policymakers, pet professionals, academics, researchers, and other interested parties to understand and work towards ending pet homelessness.

Tackling pet homelessness helps both animals and people – bringing the benefits of the human-animal bond to more people and ensuring every pet has the sustained care and nutrition that they need to thrive.

Join me in a recent interview with leading shelter expert Ellen Jefferson,

Executive Director at American Pets Alive! and Dr. Jennifer Ogeer, VP of Medical Science & Innovation at Antech Diagnostics, Mars Veterinary Health and Chair of Veterinarians without Borders, to learn more about this newly launched Index and how the insights from it can identify the underlying issues—an important tool helping to spur action to end pet homelessness.

See the entire interview here:

For more information, go to endpethomelessness.com and American Pets Alive! | Helping communities save more lives.

BIO: Jennifer Ogeer, Vice Chair, Diversify Veterinary Medicine Coalition and Canadian Chair, Veterinarians Without Borders

Dr. Jennifer Ogeer is passionate about supporting the human-animal bond and is dedicated to building a community that goes beyond color, gender, race, and economic barriers. She has spent several years in academic teaching, research, clinical practice and administration as an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Canada.

She is committed to promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in Veterinary Medicine and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Diversity Veterinary Medicine Coalition (DVMC), a member of the Mentorship Committee of the Multi-Cultural VMA and an Executive Member of the Black Veterinary Professionals Association of Canada. Her areas of interest include clinical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disease, infectious diseases, and molecular diagnostics.

Dr. Ogeer volunteers with several not-for-profit organizations; she has served a term as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Oakville-Milton Humane Society in Canada and currently is the Chair for Veterinarians without Borders in Canada, part of Veterinaires Sans Frontieres/VSF International and the Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Ontario Veterinary College Pet Trust Advisory Board of Directors.

She graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), University of Guelph, Canada over 25 years ago. Later, she completed an emergency medicine/critical care residency at Tufts University/Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston and earned a Master of Science degree in Critical Care at the OVC. Her strong interest in business management inspired her to pursue and complete an Executive MBA and Master of Arts in Organizational Behavior and Leadership.

She has two senior dogs and four cats, all of which were rescued. She enjoys yoga, pilates, cycling, weightlifting, and kickboxing.

BIO: Ellen Jefferson, President and CEO, Austin and American Pets Alive!

Ellen Jefferson, DVM, is the President and CEO for Austin and American Pets Alive! and serves on the Executive Team for the Human Animal Support Services Project, an international collective of shelter industry leaders, moving government Animal Services to become Human Animal Support Services.

Dr. Jefferson has had a diverse career in rural, urban, private, emergency and shelter practice, founding EmanciPET spay/neuter clinic and leading Austin’s successful efforts to become the largest No Kill City in the United States. She authored “Using Data to Make Austin a No-Kill City,” published by Maddie’s Fund, as well as work in the Journal of Veterinary Medicine.

Among her many awards, she was unanimously chosen to receive the first Avanzino Leadership Award, given for outstanding contributions to the No Kill movement. She serves on the National Steering Committee for Best Friends Animal Society, the Shelter Advisory Council for Pedigree Foundation, and the North American COVID-19 Response Coalition.

*Interview courtesy: Mars Petcare