Shows / Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Telling the stories of shelter dogs, the heroes who fight for them, and what you can do to help.
Episodes
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Moving from Complaint to Change: Advice for Animal Shelter Advocates
Frustrated with your local animal shelter's conditions, but unsure how to actually bring about meaningful change? In this episode of Who Will Let The Dogs…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Rethinking Shelter Work: The 5 Tenets of Responsible Sheltering
Is the "save them all" narrative unintentionally causing more harm than good in animal welfare? In this special replay of our recent webinar, host Cara takes a…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Keeping Pets Home: Animal Harbor's Crisis Care Program
Host Cara Achterberg sits down with Emily Holland, Executive Director of Animal Harbor in Winchester, Tennessee, to discuss innovative, compassionate…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Shift the Paradigm: The Five Tenets of Responsible Sheltering
Description:In this episode, host Cara Achterberg tackles the ongoing crisis in animal welfare and proposes a necessary shift in how we measure success in…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Webinar replay: Responsible Sheltering for a Humane Community
In this episode, Cara introduces a groundbreaking new vision—"Responsible Sheltering" and "Humane Communities"—alongside two leaders on the frontlines of…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Responsible Sheltering for a Humane Community: Moving Beyond the No-Kill Label
Our animal welfare system is reaching a breaking point.Across the nation, stray populations are exploding, intake waitlists are stretching for months, and…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Frontline to Shelter Director: Confronting the Memphis Stray Crisis
In this episode, host Cara Achterberg sits down with Suzy Hollenbach, Director of Memphis Animal Services (MAS), for a candid discussion on the animal welfare…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
The Open Intake Dilemma: Rethinking Managed Admissions & Creating a Truly Humane Community
What actually happens when animal shelters turn away immediate surrenders? In this episode, we take an honest, unvarnished look at the reality of open intake…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Has "No-Kill" Gone Off Track? 32 Years in Animal Welfare with Tammy Fox
In this episode, Cara sits down with Tammy Fox, Executive Director of the Florida Keys SPCA, to unpack how animal welfare has dramatically shifted over the…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
The Missing Safety Net for Our Pets
After our last episode on the critical differences between public shelters and private rescues, we received a lot of... let’s call it reactive feedback. In…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Shelter vs. Rescue: The Misunderstanding Breaking the System
Why are our animal shelters broken? It starts with a massive misunderstanding. Too many people judge a tax-funded municipal shelter by the exact same yardstick…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Is it time to retire the phrase 'no-kill'?
Words matter. Decades ago, the term "no-kill" revolutionized animal welfare and ignited a movement. But today, has that very vocabulary become weaponized?In…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Tackling Warehousing, making the hard decisions and turning a shelter around
A conversation with Meridith Perry, who inherited a Mississippi animal shelter on the brink of collapse. When she took over, the facility was broke…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
A Larger Lens on this Animal Crisis
In this eye-opening episode of Who Will Let the Dogs Out?, co-founder Cara Achterberg tackles the escalating animal crisis with raw honesty and a glimmer of…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
The Impossible List: Why Shelters are Set up to Fail
What happens when our "save them all" slogans collide with the heartbreaking reality of underfunded, overwhelmed animal shelters? After visiting over 200…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Shelter Crisis: No-kill, Warehousing, and the Impact of the Pandemic
The animal shelter world has shifted drastically since the pandemic, and we need to talk about the uncomfortable reality behind the headlines. In this episode…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
New Idea for Shelters and Rescues: Post Adoption Programs
The animal crisis in our country is growing every day. The solutions we've used for decades are helping us tread water but make no real progress. We need new…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
5 Ways Local Businesses Can Help Animal Shelters Save Lives
Utilizing local businesses and organizations can be a shelter's superpower when it comes to engaging its community. Here are five ways to invite them to help…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
7 Secrets to Successful Animal Shelters
We just got back from our latest shelter tour. We've now made more than 200 visits to shelters in 16 states, yet I learn more with every tour. We were able to…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Setting Shelters Up For Success
Explanation of the difference between different types of shelters (municipal, nonprofit, regional), examples of some exemplary ones, and how they function…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Shelters, Intake, and Hard Choices
We just got back from a tour of shelters in southern states and some things were very clear. A shelter's intake practices can compound the crisis, but they can…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Stronger Together: United for Animal Welfare
Stronger Together is a program to bring together all the players: rescue and shelter employees, volunteers, and advocates, plus government officials and change…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Real quick - here's why we go to shelters
A brief episode explaining why we visit animal shelters, what our purpose is, and what happens when we go there - and afterward. For more information, visit…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Let's Have a Real Conversation about the Shelter Crisis
Shelters and rescues all over the country are overwhelmed. Our stray population is growing. More dogs are being surrendered. More dogs are being killed…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter 5: (Part 2) Veterinary Access and Community Engagement
This episode dives into the critical pieces of veterinary access and community engagement for shelters and rescues. This is the second half of the chapter on…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Volunteers are Vital
Why do volunteers matter and why truly great shelters have them at the heart of their program. This episode offers inspiration and practical ideas for…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Making Spay and Neuter Funding Easy and Accessible
Cara Achterberg, cofounder of Who Will Let the Dogs Out, shares the new program, InstaSnip, for easy and accessible spay and neuter funding available to our…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter Five: Solutions (Part One)
The first half of chapter five of Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues shares stories of leaders who are finding ways to…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
NC and GA Shelter Tour Wrap Up
We just completed a shelter tour of six shelters and rescues in North Carolina and Georgia. Here's what happened, who we visited, and what we learned. To read…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter Four: Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?
This is the fourth chapter from the book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues. Learn more or get a copy for yourself at…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Why We Travel to Shelters and Rescues
Traveling to shelters and rescues is the basis for all of our work. Here's why we do it and why it's so important. If you'd like to learn more about Who Will…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter Three: Causes
This is the third chapter in our book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues read for you by the author. To purchase a copy…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Too Many Dogs in Memphis (and Everywhere)
Our visit to Memphis Animal Services was eye-opening. It's a tough situation and thankfully a lot of people are working to change that. You can read the blog…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter Two: A Word About No Kill
The second chapter in our book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues shares thoughts on the words 'no-kill' - what the…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
A Visit to the Huntingdon Dog Pound
This was our second visit to this dog pound in rural Tennessee. Find out what life is like in this Carroll County dog pound in February 2025. You can see a…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Chapter One: A Few Definitions (Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions)
This is the first chapter of Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues written by Cara Achterberg. The chapter is titled A Few…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Managed Intake and Community Sheltering: best intentions and dangerous consequences
There are too many animals in our shelters and the number of animals dying in our shelters has gone up for three straight years (after going down for decades)…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
The book: Introduction
Until we have an audio version, we will be publishing the book in podcast episodes for those of you who would prefer to listen rather than read (or you spend…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Crisis Created by Misuse of the HAAS Model of Sheltering
In this episode, I talk with Suzy Hollenbach of All 4s Rescue League in Memphis. We talk about how the HAAS model of sheltering being embraced by Memphis…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
How Do We Engage Our Communities?
Community engagement is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to creating a shelter that is sustainable, successful, and saving every savable animal…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Three Elements Needed to Turn Around a Struggling Animal Shelter
Three elements that hold the key to making a municipal shelter a life-saving resource for its community. Referenced in this podcast: Dr. Kim Sanders, Anderson…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Dog Pounds in this Day and Age
Have you ever been to a dog pound? Join me on my first trip to a dog pound in western Tennessee. The dog pound in this episode is the Huntingdon dog pound in…
Who Will Let the Dogs OutSaving Dogs While The Sky is Falling
Visit Corinth-Alcorn Animal Shelter in Mississippi where they are saving thousands of animals even as the roof falls in on them. A remarkable couple has led…
Who Will Let the Dogs OutAnger Won't Keep Dogs From Dying
Life and death decisions are made on a daily basis at MARL (Mississippi Animal Rescue League) in Jackson, MS which handles over ten thousand animals every…
Who Will Let the Dogs OutPurebred Puppies for Sale - Cheap!
A visit to a market in Mississippi where puppies and dogs are sold alongside Chinese-copy sunglasses, t-shirt closeouts, and pork rinds. for more information…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Superheroes Do Exist (Animal Rescue Corp)
Travel with us on our rescue road trip to TN, MS, and MO. Our first stop was an unexpected one, but we're glad we made it. We stopped in Lebanon, Tennessee at…
- Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Trailer Who Will Let the Dogs Out
Introducing a new podcast to share stories of dogs and the heroes who fight for them. Travel with writer Cara Achterberg and photographer Nancy Slattery as we…