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TOPICS: Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh & The Pittsburgh Playhouse · Pittsburgh Sunday Morning

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: light on the interests, issues, and concerns of the greater
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh area. Good morning. My name is Johnny Hartwell, your host. Today,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about the Humane Animal Rescue
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh, a fabulous organization. And from the organization, we
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: have Emma Wagner, who is a heart volunteer, foster and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: adopter of Maya. That must be some pet that you, like,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: it says in your bio that Maya must be some quite,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: is it a dog or a cat?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: She is.
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  Speaker 3: A dog.
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  Speaker 1: A dog. What kind of dog?
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  Speaker 4: She's a pit bull.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, I love the pit bull.
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: People are scared of pit bulls. Is she a scary
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: pit bull or is she a happy pit bull?
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: She's a happy pit bull. All pit bulls are happy.
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  Speaker 2: They are.
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  Speaker 1: They really are. The most dangerous part is if you're playing,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: they don't know their own strength.
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: Oh, gosh, yes.
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  Speaker 1: You know?
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  Speaker 3: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: So I love pitties. They're so cute. And then we
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: have an actual employee of HARP, Rachel Barron. Is that
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: your name?
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  Speaker 3: That is.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, Emma Wagner. Did I pronounce?
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I introduced you. Okay, good. So anyway, I love
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: talking about animals, and I love talking about HARP and
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: everything that you guys, but as an employee, what exactly
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: do you do?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: So I have many hats. I work both on the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: adoption side, where we find homes for all the animals
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: that we take in, and then we also work on
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: the intake side, where we take them in.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Did you know, did you know that October is, let
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: me see if I got this right. What is it, Michelle?
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Adopt a shelter dog month. Adopt a shelter dog month.
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  Speaker 2: I actually did.
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  Speaker 1: You did know that?
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  Speaker 5: I did.
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  Speaker 2: Well, every day is adopt a sheltered.
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  Speaker 1: That's right. So how long have you been with HARP?
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  Speaker 2: Just over six years now. Okay.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And when you started, did you start as an
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: employee or a volunteer?
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: I started as an employee. It was way back when
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: we were both animal care and adoption, so I've done
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: pretty much everything.
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  Speaker 1: Well, six years, that was like in the middle of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the pandemic.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Yes, it was high COVID.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Oh, what was that like?
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: It was very interesting. We were actually appointment only. Only
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: a certain amount of people could come into the shelter
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: at a time. We scheduled appointments for everyone. We only
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: handled maybe one or two people an hour. Now the
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: doors are open.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Well, it was funny. You would think we were all shut-ins,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: but back then you have COVID dogs, people who were
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: adopting dogs. Yeah, it was.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Actually a really good time for adoptions.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Really?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: What about now? What's the census like now for particular,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: you know, dogs and cats and things like that?
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we have definitely seen kind of a decrease in
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: the number of adoptions that we do. I know financially
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: people are kind of struggling at the moment.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Is that the reason?
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: People have had to go back to work after COVID.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Well, for those who aren't familiar with HARP, they have
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: two domestic animal shelters and the Wildlife Rehab Center. Do
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: you work with the Rehab Center at all?
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  Speaker 5: I don't.
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  Speaker 2: I've only gotten to go up there a few times,
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: but the people that work there are angels.
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  Speaker 1: For those who aren't aware of the Rehab Center, tell
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  Speaker 1: us what you know.
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  Speaker 2: So what I know, they take in basically the wildlife
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  Speaker 2: that we can't at the domestic shelters. They take in
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  Speaker 2: a lot of injured wildlife. And they obviously rehabilitate them
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  Speaker 2: until they can be re-released into the wild. If they
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: can't be rehabbed fully, then they take them on as
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  Speaker 2: education ambassadors to kind of educate the public.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so if you see an animal in the wild
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: that's either hurt or injured or something like that, try
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: not to touch it. The best is to call the
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  Speaker 1: rehab center, and if they can't help out, they will
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  Speaker 1: tell you. They'll advise you.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're awesome out there.
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  Speaker 1: And last year, more than 3,300 animals were adopted. from
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: harps north side and east side shelters. That's a lot
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of animals that you take in. It sure is, yeah.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Do you generally get more dogs than cats?
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  Speaker 2: I would say we definitely get a lot of applications
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: for surrendering both. Our dog capacity tends to be a
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: little bit on the smaller side just because they tend
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: to stick around a little bit longer than cats. So
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  Speaker 2: we kind of have the job of managing how many
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: we take in versus flow out. It's a lot of math.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get Emma's story about Maya. But you
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: have more than one dog, right?
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I do.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. So Maya is a pity. What's the other dog?
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: Kobe is also a pit.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Do they get along?
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  Speaker 3: They do, to an extent. I mean, Maya's old. She's
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: an old lady, so she can get cranky, and Kobe's
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: a little firecracker.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, really?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So what made you adopt an older dog?
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Well, actually, they shelter about.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: a year ago had a power outage. We all did
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: in Pittsburgh. I don't know if anybody remembers. We were
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: out of power for like three days straight in some areas.
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  Speaker 1: Which one?
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: I know, which one?
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  Speaker 3: But they were in a position where we needed to
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: get dogs placed in foster homes quickly. So I actually
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: came across Maya at my sister's workplace. She was a
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  Speaker 3: part of a program where she was able to go
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: into the public and go into an office space, get
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: exposed to people and just get some pets and try
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  Speaker 3: to get her adopted. So I saw her and I
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: was familiar with her. So I said, I'll take Maya,
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: picked her up and I fostered her. It was maybe
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: what Rachel, like less than a month that I fostered her.
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  Speaker 4: So we called Harp and said, you know what? I'm
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: going to keep her. She's not coming back.
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  Speaker 1: Was there any problems with Maya and Kobe getting along? No.
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  Speaker 3: Kobe is not a very territorial dog. She's just skittish
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: and very excited. So it was just a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of a transition period for Maya being older to get
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: used to her energy.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Do you know how old Maya is?
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: She's, we think, about 10, 10 and a half.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: She's getting up there in age.
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  Speaker 4: She is.
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe you revealed her age on the radio.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: How rude of me.
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  Speaker 1: She is going to be so angry at you. Mom,
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe you would do that.
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  Speaker 4: She doesn't look a day over five.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: That's cute. So have you had a history of adopting dogs?
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: I have, yes.
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  Speaker 3: I had a pit bull before the two of them
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: that I have right now. She got sick later in life,
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  Speaker 3: but it was a rescue, and I just have always rescued.
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  Speaker 1: I love it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: This is my favorite part about asking people who have
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: adopted a dog or have a dog. You have the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: name of the dog, but what do you call the name?
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  Speaker 4: This is such a good question.
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  Speaker 3: I'm so happy you just asked me because I don't
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  Speaker 3: call Maya or Kobe, Maya or Kobe.
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  Speaker 1: No, you don't.
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  Speaker 4: Maya is usually Maya.
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  Speaker 3: Papaya or Paya. And then Kobe, we have a plethora
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  Speaker 3: of names.
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  Speaker 4: It's either Bobie. Meister, my partner calls her. Not sure why. Kobe,
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: my Moby. Um, Cobra or Boberbutt. So that's our nickname.
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  Speaker 3: I love that.
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  Speaker 1: Now you have a cat.
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  Speaker 2: I do.
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  Speaker 1: And what's your cat's name?
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  Speaker 2: Her name is Eartha Kitten.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Oh, Kitten. And do you have a nickname for Eartha?
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  Speaker 2: I usually call her Eartha or if she's bad, she's Bertha.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I have, uh, And 110-pound
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: golden doodle named Leo. And rarely do we call him Leo.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: It's Lee-Lee, Lee-ster. I call him Leonidas if he's, like,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: if we're wrestling, you know. Yeah. He's the Greek god
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  Speaker 1: of Leonidas. And so, yeah, we never call our animals.
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  Speaker 3: Never.
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  Speaker 1: It's like terms of endearment. Exactly. Yeah. Now, adoptions are
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: about more than simply getting an animal into a home.
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  Speaker 1: What is the process for HARP?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have a pretty low barrier adoption process.
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  Speaker 2: We don't do home visits. We don't require fences for dogs.
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  Speaker 2: People can simply walk in. They can look at who
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: we have. For dogs, we don't allow folks to walk
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: through our kennel floor anymore just because it keeps the
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: dogs a lot more stress-free. It lets them kind of
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: relax a lot more than they could when there were
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: strangers walking past them. We have a conversation with the adopters,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: see what they expect from an animal, what they've already had,
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  Speaker 2: what they can safely manage. And we kind of try
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  Speaker 2: to matchmake them with an animal that will fit all
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: of their expectations.
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  Speaker 1: Now I understand the floor is what you talked about.
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  Speaker 1: But what kind of person are you looking for? What's
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the ideal person that you want to advise?
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  Speaker 2: Just anyone that really has space in their heart and
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  Speaker 2: home for an animal. We don't really have a lot
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  Speaker 2: of expectations for the person that takes an animal home.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I've heard stories of people who really want a
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: particular dog, and they have these restrictions, and that's unfortunate. Because,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: you know, it's better to have the dog, and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: if they don't have, like, I get it, you know,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: you should have a fenced-in yard, but not everybody, especially
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: in the city.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't have that luxury. And so, it's better to be
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: adopted and taken care of. That's my opinion.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. We always say, you know, a day out
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  Speaker 2: of the kennel is a better day than they're going
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: to have at the shelter. Regardless if you have a
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: yard or not.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Now, you have, you had a history of cats? Do
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: you have a lot of.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: This is actually my first cat ever. Oh, really? Yeah,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I had bunnies before I had my cat.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: No way.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Okay. What are they like? I've never had a bunny.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: They're interesting. I definitely, I was that... Young adopter that
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: didn't really know what I was getting myself into. They're
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: very particular animals. They are not very cuddly usually, but
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: they do have their own personalities.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: They do.
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  Speaker 2: They're very funny.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've had friends who've had rabbits and they can
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: be kind of ornery.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. My worst injury has been from a rabbit.
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  Speaker 3: Really?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Breaking up a rabbit fight.
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  Speaker 1: Particularly.
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: They?
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: They fight each other?
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: Can get ugly. Oh, wow.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: I know they, you know, when my friend's bunny, when
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: it was not getting its way, would have to thump
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the feet.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: They throw tantrums.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's so cute.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Does Harp have bunnies?
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: We sure do.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: We have bunnies. We have guinea pigs. We can have
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: all things under the sun.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I had three boys, and we got them a hamster
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: one year, and he got out, and we couldn't find him.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: But we could hear him in the house.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Oh, gosh.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: What a horror movie.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: For years. Oh, my God. And every once in a while,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: they go, oh, I forget his name. I think his
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: name was Angus or something like that. And it was like,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: we saw Angus. And he was living in the walls,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: and we didn't know how he survived. But, like, several
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: years later, we moved from that home, and we had
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: collector item weedy boxes. He found them, and that's what
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: he was eating for years.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: What a survivor.
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  Speaker 3: Right!
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  Speaker 4: That's incredible, actually.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: I know, right? So, you know, obviously you're here to
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: talk about the animals that you've adopted, but what is
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: your association with them? humane animal rescue?
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: I have quite a few.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Um, so I've been a volunteer and a foster home
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: for them for a couple of years now, but I
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: also provide their HCM and payroll services through Paylocity. So
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: I get a really cool experience to have like this
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: very deep personal connection with them, but also show up
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: as a professional partner and make sure they're supported pretty
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: much holistically from personal professional.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: You get a lot of people like, uh, like Emma that, uh,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: you know, that, uh, you know, works with the, with
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the organization then ends up adopting an animal?
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say we, we have a lot of
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: people that will see animals at different events that we
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: put on and they'll take dogs out through barks and
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: rec and they'll fall in love and they adopt. Yeah,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: we love, we love everyone that is tangentially connected and
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: then more intimately connected by adopting an animal.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: What does every harp adoption, what can, what can we expect?
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Sure. So you can expect a wonderful little animal. They
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: come microchipped, spayed and neutered. They have all their age-appropriate vaccines.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: And they've been loved on by all of us staff
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: and all of our volunteers and fosters.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately, do you have animals that stay in the kennel
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: for a long, long time?
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: We do, yeah. Our length of stay is not typically
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: very long, but we will have dogs and cats that stay.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Do you bond with those ones that have been in
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: there for a long time?
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: You feel sorry for them?
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Not sorry, just because I know... that I'm there every
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: day loving on them. I know that they're getting love.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: It does kill me to see them in the shelter
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: every single day.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: You obviously have a cat, but have you been tempted
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: to adopt another animal?
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Every day?
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Pretty much every day.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I would love to volunteer, but I would know I'd
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: be bringing home another animal.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: We hear that all the time. Yeah, I am very resolved.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: So, What are some of the, do you accept volunteers?
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we accept all kinds of volunteers. We have walkers,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: we have cat cuddlers. The Wildlife Center accepts volunteers. They
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: heavily rely on volunteers, especially in the summer. And people
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: do all sorts of things to support us.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Cat cuddler. That's quite a distinction.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm honestly very jealous of them every day. They
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: get to hang out for a few hours.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: I've had quite a few cats. None of them were cuddlers. Oh, no.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: The boys. The boys seem to be cuddlers. The girls
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: seem like, no, I'm not.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: More independent.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: My cat is a female and she, for a few years,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: tried to not be a cuddler.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Now she... Oh, she is?
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: No, she's a cutler.
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: I wore her down.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: I guess we're permanent roommates. I might as well get comfortable, right?
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: That's right. So what did you do prior to coming
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to HARP?
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: So I started out doing human social work. I burned
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: out pretty quickly from that, unfortunately. So I went to
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: walking dogs full-time and pet sitting. And when I was
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: looking to move to Pittsburgh, I saw this job opening
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: and it kind of perfectly melds. Social work and animal care.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Where'd you move in from?
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: I was living in Seattle. I lived there for five years.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: I am originally from Ohio, though.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: What part of Ohio?
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Canton.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right. Yeah, I know Canton very, very well.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: How'd you make your way to Seattle?
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: It was just the farthest I could possibly get away
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: from Ohio. Continentally.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: So you've been here for six years. Are you planning
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: on staying?
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do love Pittsburgh.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: All right. Can you maybe help me, you know, what
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: are some ways the community can help?
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so if you're a person like Emma and you
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: have time to foster, if you have space in your home,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: fostering is an amazing way to help if you're not
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: quite ready to adopt. You can also do the Barks
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: and Rec volunteer program, like I mentioned. You can take
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: a dog out for a few hours if you only
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: have a few hours on a Saturday. Okay. That's really
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: helpful in getting them kind of eyes in the public.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: Any way that you can help would be great.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: The Barks and Rec program is one of my favorites
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: that Humane Animals does.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Tell me more about that.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: So you can be a volunteer to sign up for
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: basically like a newsletter of Barks and Rec dogs that
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: are available to be taken out of the shelter for
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: a couple hours, like whether it's for a field trip
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: or a quick walk or take them to get some
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: ice cream, like something fun for the day, and then
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: you bring them back. So it's more so for people
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: that aren't available to foster day over day, week over week,
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: but can take them for a couple hours to give
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: them a shelter break.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Now, you do more than just adoptions. There's other things
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: that you can actually get your animal spayed and neutered.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: And what else can you do other than, you know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: adopting a pet?
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Sure, yeah. You can obviously donate. We do have a
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: wish list if you wanted to see what we need.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: At the moment, we can always use cat food and
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: dog beds, things that you might be getting rid of
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: if you had an animal and no longer have them. Obviously,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: you can adopt. That would be wonderful, but obviously not
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: everyone is ready yet.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Or you can dog walk.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Or you can dog walk.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Cat cuddles. Yeah. That sounds awesome. That sounds like a
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: great volunteer job. All right. So the Humane Animal of Rescue, Pittsburgh,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: two domestic animal locations, and, of course, the Wildlife Rehab Center. Yeah,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: more than 3,300 animals were adopted last year from HARPS
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: north side, east side. Now, which location do you work at?
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Both. Oh, okay. Back and forth, you'll see me both.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, you're a busy lady.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: And you've adopted two dogs.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Any plans on adopting more?
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: I always tell my partner I want four, but I'm
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: not allowed. So I'm done at the moment. We're going
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: to give Maya and Kobe their moment.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Would it be two more dogs or.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Two more dogs, yeah.
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah?
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, yeah. Would they be pit bulls? Absolutely.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: They have to be pitties.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: They're happy dogs. They really are. They're so sweet.
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: They're the best. They're like big pillows.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Which is your favorite kid?
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: Oh, this is a hard question, but it has to
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: be Maya right now.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: Maya, if you met her, she's just, she melts your heart.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: And to their credit, Maya's with them for over a year,
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: I think. Oh, wow. In Rachel's point of they get attached,
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Maya goes back to the shelter quite often, and she
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: is so excited to be there. Like, believe it or not,
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: she loves them. It's like going back to, you know,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: your old school. Yeah, she's like a celebrity there.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Oh, really? That is so cute. That's awesome. All right,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Humane Animal Rescue, you can check out all the details
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: at HumaneAnimalRescue.org. Rachel and Emma, thank you so much for
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: stopping by.
• 17:45
  Speaker 6: Thank you for having us.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having us.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: And up next, we're going to be talking to Keisha
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: LaLama of the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: My name is Ariel. When I arrived in the US
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: at 19, I struggled to find job opportunities without my
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: high school diploma. My entire life changed when I took
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: a chance and got my high school diploma at age 22.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: Everything I have, my education, my career, my marriage, I
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: owe to the Adult Literacy Center and my teachers.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: They were with me every step of the way.
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: Helping with my English and math, making sure I pushed
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: through all the challenges.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Ariel Your success proves that what I'm doing as a
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: teacher has real meaning.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: It was an honor helping you achieve your greatness. Now
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: you're helping others achieve theirs.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: It inspires me.
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: Education was the key that unlocked all my opportunities.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: When you graduate, they graduate. Find free and supportive adult
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: education centers near you at finishyourdiploma.org.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Brought to you by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: The Ad Council.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: And we're back. This is a public affairs program shedding
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the light on the interest, issues, and concerns of the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: greater Pittsburgh area. Our next topic is the Pittsburgh playoffs.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: And I think I've got the tiger by the tail
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: on this one. Keisha LaLama. Keisha, it's really nice to
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: officially meet. We met briefly at the Playhouse about a
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: month ago, and I invited you onto the program, and
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: you were such a nut. I was like, I've got
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: to get this lady on the radio.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I felt the same about you.
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: I knew we had to connect. We had that energy,
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: that synergy, and I'm just so excited to be here.
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: Thank you for having me.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: You're both crazy. All right, you're the managing and artistic director,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: executive producer, dean, conservatory of performing arts. There's so much
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: stuff that you do. What exactly do you do, Keisha?
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: So I'm the executive producer of the Pittsburgh Playhouse, which
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: means I oversee the vision of what we're trying to
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: do for Point Park University, our community, and certainly the
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: city of Pittsburgh. In addition to that, then I'm also
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: the dean. of the theater, film, and animation school. I
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: am the luckiest woman alive, and I live my passion
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: on the daily.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: You wear a lot of hats. How long have you
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: been in that position?
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: I've been in the position now for three years. I
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: was permanent dean, appointed permanent dean about a year ago.
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: And so, no, actually, I was interim dean for January
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: of 25, and then appointed permanent dean in 26 in May.
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: So yeah, I've been in that role for a.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: While, too.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: I wasn't keeping that track.
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's me and my head kind of reflecting, but
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: you saw me reflect, yes.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Okay, so now you've had a couple years to get
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: your footing. That's right. And so what has been your goal,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: and have you achieved some of your goals that you
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: want to do at the Playhouse?
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think for the Playhouse, our number one goal
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: was kind of three-tiered. We really want to build relationships
• 20:37
  Speaker 6: with our community. We want to deepen those relationships so
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: they're meaningful. But in addition to that, we want to educate.
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: We want to offer educational opportunities for our students to
• 20:47
  Speaker 6: really be ready for the industry. And beyond ready for
• 20:50
  Speaker 6: the industry, innovate for the industry. And then the third
• 20:53
  Speaker 6: tier is really focusing on the vitality of the economic
• 20:56
  Speaker 6: growth of the city. We have a gorgeous theater downtown.
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: We want to make sure that it's activated. We want
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: it to be the place to be. So we've been
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: working towards really developing the premier downtown epicenter for both
• 21:10
  Speaker 6: entertainment and education.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: So what's the history of the Playhouse?
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: So the Playhouse was actually established in 1934 in Oakland,
• 21:18
  Speaker 6: and it was across from McGee Women's Hospital. And unfortunately,
• 21:21
  Speaker 6: that building is.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: No longer there. It's no longer there. But what I
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: love about the new location, it was, I think it
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: was a bank or something?
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: It was.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: And a lot of the infrastructure is still part of
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the architecture of the Playhouse, which I think is really,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: really fascinating.
• 21:38
  Speaker 6: The Historic Society came forward and said, listen, you've got
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: to maintain some of this architecture, and it is stunning.
• 21:44
  Speaker 6: It makes the space so unique and so special. It's
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: just not a new building. There is history there. So
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: fusing the historic, I guess... preservation as well as the
• 21:57
  Speaker 6: history of the playhouse. You know, we're entering our 94th year.
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: And so there's a lot of history. We want to
• 22:04
  Speaker 6: make sure that we're honoring our legacy, but then building
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: those new traditions for future.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I've got more questions about the actual playhouse, but I
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: don't want to get too far away from, you know,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: telling people some of the things that you have coming up.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: And very soon, in just a couple of days, you
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: have Fall Fest?
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: So we really wanted to activate downtown. We launched a
• 22:26
  Speaker 6: Fall Festival for families, all ages, for everyone. We put
• 22:32
  Speaker 6: a gigantic pumpkin in the middle of Forbes Avenue and
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: launched a street festival.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: As one does.
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: Why not, right?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Just do it.
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: And so we put this gigantic pumpkin, family-friendly. We are
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: only one block from Market Square. So there's a direct
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: link to Market Square. Families walk up to Market Square,
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: go to the restaurants. They come down and hang out
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: with us. There's face painting, pumpkin painting, crafts. games for
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: the kids, prizes for the kids, just like you would
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: go to any carnival. But then there's vendors, local artists,
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: local vendors. So people can definitely support our local artists
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: and people that, of course, make things, which is great.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: But then we also have our food trucks.
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: Our local restaurants bring food trucks down.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: It's really, really, really fun. And then after that, you
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: have something very unique.
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: Yeah. So I guess I should go back to Fall
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: Fest really quick. And tied to that is a 45-minute
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: kind of theme park show called Boo's Halloween House Party.
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: Boo's Halloween House Party is a family-friendly show. It's only
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: 45 minutes. You can come in with your strollers if
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: you have to. If Grandma wants to bring an infant in.
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: Toddlers come in their costumes. Eight-year-olds in their costumes. But
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: Boo's Halloween house party is a really, really fun, family-friendly show.
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: Boo loses his boo, and his friends help him get
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: his boo back.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Well, everybody needs their boo back.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Correct.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Before we get into what I was going to ask
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: you about that special thing, is that what is unique
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: about the Playhouse, it's just not one theater. You have
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: various options. Smaller, bigger theaters, bigger. you have different things.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 24:10
  Speaker 6: So, we have a 550-seat proscenium theater. That's our standard
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: kind of traditional theater. Our Heimlich Theater is really quite versatile.
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: It's a unique space that allows us to do whatever
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: we want. We can have traditional seating. We can do
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: seating in a thrust. We can do it in the round.
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: When we do Ascend in the spring, it's an innovative
• 24:29
  Speaker 6: immersive show.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: There are no seats.
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: There's a ring that is let's see, rigged from the ceiling.
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: And we take the audience on a journey through earth, wind, water,
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: and fire that leads to a gigantic dance party and
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: just pure joy. So that space is really versatile. And
• 24:46
  Speaker 6: then the RAL is a smaller, more intimate space that
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: we do a lot of individual concerts or plays. And
• 24:54
  Speaker 6: that seats 99. And so those three theaters are really
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: quite special. But we also have the GRW1 Theater, which
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: is known for our dance concerts. And that space is
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: really reserved for our premier dance department. And they get
• 25:09
  Speaker 6: to be showcased there, which is great.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: You mentioned a big party. And if you love 80s,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: you have something special coming up.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: We have something so special.
• 25:17
  Speaker 6: We have secured the first deal of its kind with
• 25:20
  Speaker 6: New York City Partners Lively McCabe Entertainment. As the industry
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: is kind of going through this, I guess, transformation, this
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: is a defining moment in time for live theater and
• 25:31
  Speaker 6: We teamed up with Lively McCabe Entertainment to change the industry.
• 25:35
  Speaker 6: We are crafting a new work called Girls Just.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Wanna Have Fun.
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: Of course, this is tied to the movie that we
• 25:42
  Speaker 6: know so very well, but now it's a new musical.
• 25:46
  Speaker 6: And Point Park University was really, we played an integral
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: role in developing the new material, the book, the lyrics,
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: the songs with our students, January through May. And now
• 25:59
  Speaker 6: we are launching the world premiere November 11th, we are
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: launching a world premiere here in Pittsburgh that's going to
• 26:05
  Speaker 6: have momentum and the potential to go international, tour nationally.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: That's amazing.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: And someday make it maybe on Broadway. Yeah, it's very exciting.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: For more information on some of these shows, the website is?
• 26:18
  Speaker 6: PittsburghPlayhouse.com.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Um, so, uh, you, you mentioned, uh, the fall fest and, and,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and boo, and then girls just want to have a fun.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: And then you go into the holiday season and you
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: have something special there too.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: We, we have so much talent in Pittsburgh. I called
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: my dear friend who was actually my theater husband. I
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: met my real husband at his 50th birthday party. They're amazing.
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: Great human beings. Called Jason and I said, I want
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: to create a new tradition for Pittsburgh. So we're talking about, again,
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: honoring our legacy. but building these new traditions. We have
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: so much talent here. We are writing, creating, and commissioned
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: a new musical by Jason Call called Yuletide, A Holiday Spectacular.
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: It's everything you want in a holiday show. The warmth of,
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: you know, songs that are familiar to you and your
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: Christmas carols that are there. But the message of the
• 27:10
  Speaker 6: show is so beautiful. It's pretty much about being the
• 27:12
  Speaker 6: light that you see within yourself and that you want
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: to see in the world. And so, he's written this hilarious, heartwarming, nostalgic, futuristic,
• 27:23
  Speaker 6: awesome show. And he has done such an amazing job
• 27:27
  Speaker 6: to showcase Pittsburgh. We're also bringing back Tracy Recitello. She's
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: a local Pittsburgh native from Hopewell, PA. Our families are connected.
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: She was a Rockette for over 24 years.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: Oh, wow.
• 27:38
  Speaker 6: So Tracy runs Exactitude Dance, and she's going to be
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: coming in and staging Exactitude-style dances, precision dances, to really
• 27:46
  Speaker 6: kind of bring Christmas to life and the holidays to
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: life for Pittsburgh.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: And you've got Point Park right in your back pocket.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: You're just blocks away from downtown. And you mentioned the
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: educational part and the revitalization of downtown, and you're part
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: of that.
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Honestly, it's a great honor to be attached to
• 28:06
  Speaker 6: this leadership team. President Bruce Allis and Senior Vice President
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: Ted Black have a vision, a clear vision, for the
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: university and for the city. And the Pittsburgh Playhouse is truly.
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: Grateful to be a part of that role. The Playhouse
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: is definitely part of Point Park University, and we're looking
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: to help propel the city forward in any way that
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: we can.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: All right, we have one minute left, so can you
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: briefly give us a synopsis of everything that's happened over
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: the next two months?
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't want to miss it.
• 28:36
  Speaker 6: There's dance happening, there's music concerts happening, there's theater happening,
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: musical theater. We have so many different events, but I
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: think the key here is that it's family-friendly. We really
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: have opened the doors to grandmas, parents, grandparents, friends of families, infants, everybody.
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: We want to make it as accessible and as inclusive
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: as possible and fun. We just want to bring fun
• 28:57
  Speaker 6: back to Pittsburgh.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: I love that. We all love fun. That's good. Keisha
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: LaLama of the Pittsburgh Playhouse, the Managing and Artistic Director,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Dean of the Conservatory of Performing Arts. I don't know
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: what else you do. I don't know if your resume
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: is all here, but... It's always a pleasure. Thank you
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: so much for your time.
• 29:15
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Once again, if you want more information, the website is?
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: PittsburghPlayhouse.com.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: All right. As always, if you have any comments, a concern,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: or an idea for a future program, please email us
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: from this radio station's website. I'm Johnny Hartwell. Thank you
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: so much for listening. Hey, life doesn't stop when cancer
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: starts Some don't make it to treatment simply because they
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: don't have a ride You can change that Volunteer to
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: drive with the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery Program.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Visit cancer.org slash drive to learn more.