State of Animal Welfare: Updates from Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue's Melissa Brunson

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Melissa Brunson, Executive Director of Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue, returns to share critical updates on animal welfare in Southern California where shelters are facing overwhelming challenges. Kern County's 40% euthanasia rate reflects a system in crisis where happy, healthy dogs are being euthanized simply due to lack of space. 

Ways to help:  Donate to Marley's Mutts, Follow on Facebook, Follow on Instagram, and Subscribe to Marley's Mutts YouTube Channel.

Some Episode Highlights:
• Miracle Mutts program now partnering with behavioral health organizations for therapy dog services
• Positive Change program expanding to multiple prisons including negotiations for Arizona facilities
• Mutt Movers transport program has relocated over 400 dogs this year from overcrowded shelters
• Kern Safe coalition bringing multiple rescues together to address overpopulation crisis
• New Troops and Tails program launching to provide emotional support animals for veterans
• Only 8% of problematic pet situations stem from "bad owners" – most issues relate to education and resources
• Spay/neuter clinics making significant impact with 2,500 animals fixed in a single month
• Social media engagement critically important to rescue visibility and adoption success

Also discuss, the groundbreaking Kern Safe Coalition has united former competitors to tackle overpopulation collectively. Their coordinated approach delivered 49 spay/neuter clinics in a single month, sterilizing approximately 2,500 animals and dramatically reducing their waitlist from 1,500 to around 500. Melissa dispels common misconceptions about rescue, revealing research showing only about 8% of problematic situations stem from truly "bad" owners. Most challenges arise from lack of educa

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But also a lot of those petparents are here to help share,
educate, advocate for animalrescue, fostering and adoption.

(00:49):
And this episode is reallygreat for me to have my first
guest return for a secondepisode Super excited to have
Melissa Brunson here with ustoday.
She is the executive directorof Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue in
Kern County, california, and she, at this point, is my number

(01:10):
one guest.
Her previous episode has beenone of my most popular.
People are still listening toit and I realize it's been long
enough.
We need to do an update.
So Melissa and I talk about thestate of the overpopulation
crisis in our country in ourstate, california, and in the
central Southern California andhow the various programs

(01:33):
Marley's offers helps us to saverescue dogs and shelter dogs
every single day.
This was recorded prior to thefires that occurred in Los
Angeles in 2025.
Being in Kern County inCalifornia, we are around two

(01:54):
hours away from several of thefires and so, of course, melissa
and Marley's has been impacted.
They are trying to help some ofthe animal rescues, shelters
and nonprofits in the LosAngeles area by taking in some
pets so that they have morespace to bring in the pets that
are impacted.
A lot of the organizations downthere are not only dealing with

(02:17):
pets like cats and dogs.
They've also had to deal withlarger animals like horses and
donkeys, and also wild animals,because a lot of these areas
were very close to obviously.
That's why there's fires lotsof trees, lots of trails, places
where wild animals live andthey're also being highly
impacted by that.

(02:37):
All that being said, melissaand I recorded this before those
fires happened, so we do notspecifically talk about that,
but any of the things we talkabout can still be applied in
ways that you can help eitherMarley's as an organization by
donating or fostering orvolunteering so that they can
help more animals that are beingdisplaced from Los Angeles, or

(03:00):
by just supporting one of theirother amazing programs.
We also talk at the end abouthow important social media is to
animal rescue and the littlethings we can do as followers to
help boost them on thosedifferent algorithms on the
different social media platforms.
I'm really excited to be back,have our first full episode back

(03:22):
and getting to share some timewith Melissa Brunson from
Marley's Mutt's Dog Rescue, astate of the animal welfare in
our country and state, but alsosome great tips of how you can
help in your own community, andthat's what it's all about.
I am here to educate andadvocate, and if one animal gets
saved, fostered, adopted,rescued from listening to my

(03:47):
podcast, then my work is worthit.
So thank you for being here,for listening, for continuing to
listen and come back as webring new episodes, and I just
want you to know how much Iappreciate your support of this
podcast and I hope you enjoythis interview.
I am super excited to be herewith my guest today, someone who

(04:21):
maybe is probably familiar tomany of you, but especially my
listeners, because I interviewedher before and she is still the
number one downloaded episodeof this podcast.
This is amazing, so I'm veryexcited to welcome back Melissa
Brunson from Marley's Mutt DogRescue.
Hi Melissa, thank you so muchfor being here.
Hi, it's so great to be back.

(04:42):
I know it's kind of crazy tothink how long it's been.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
I think it's been almost a year, maybe longer.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, I was thinking your episode came out March or
around then of last year.
I mean I can look it up.
But and then a few months laterI also interviewed Connor from
Marley's, which is a greatepisode too.
So I know everybody wants tohear what's going on with
Marley's, how are things, what'snew and all of that.

(05:11):
So let's start with a kind ofcatch up report of where things
are from.
You know about a year and ahalf ago where things are at now
for you.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
So Rescue moves very fast and it also moves very slow
.
So our Miracle Muts program isnow operating with current
behavioral health and so that'sbeen a big partnership that
we've forged in the last year,which has been amazing, and our
program has grown.
We have so many people askingus about, you know, can you
bring your therapy dogs to?

(05:42):
You know any number of events.
We've been super busy, which iswonderful.
We need more people.
So if you have a dog that youthink is a therapy dog candidate
, you know, reach out to ourMiracle Muds program because
we're constantly looking for newdogs to be certified to be able
to go into.
You know any number of types offacilities.
It could be, you know, seniorliving.

(06:04):
It could be our books and booksprogram which helps, you know,
our folks, young kids withliteracy again from behavioral
health.
We just have so many differentplaces that we operate in for
miracle months.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Positive change.
I would just say that is sogreat If you've never
experienced it or seen ittherapy pets, but therapy dogs
are powerful.
I remember when my dad was inthe hospital and he had one come
and it just lit up his wholeface and his day.
You just don't understand thepower of petting a dog for a few

(06:41):
minutes.
You don't.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
And it's great for folks that are, you know, like
your dad.
It's really good for kids whenthey're having literacy issues,
because they get to read to ananimal that isn't going to judge
them Right.
And then it's also great forpeople that are going through
rehabilitative services fromstrokes or things like that as
well, because then they get to.

(07:04):
You know, petting the animaland running your fingers through
its fur helps the dexterity inyour hands and all those kinds
of stuff.
Those kinds of things as well,you know.
And then also rehabilitativeother types of rehabilitative
services people that arestruggling with addiction.
So, yeah, it's a great program.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Pets are so healing.
We all know that.
That's why we have them right.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Exactly.
That's why we work with them,right?

Speaker 2 (07:29):
That's why we come home for a long day and we want
that pet, so I love that.
Miracle Muts is still growingand I hope anyone out there
listening that's interested intheir dog being a therapy dog
can go to the website and learnmore about that.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Our Positive Change therapy dogcan go to the website and learn
more about that.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Our positive change program isrunning.
We have a program at CCI tohatch pee.
That one's been running for along time.
We have two yards at North KernState Prison.
We are working on a contractwith Kern Probation.
I'm just waiting for thepaperwork to go through on that.

(08:04):
Kern Probation is theorganization that runs juvenile
facilities and there's three ofthem in Kern County.
So we're just waiting for, youknow, the contract and all of
that to go through.
For those which it's amazingbecause they reached out to us
and said, hey, we want to fundour own programs, and we were
like, awesome, like we can dothat.
That's great.

(08:24):
So we're excited about that.
We're working on federalfunding for our prison in
Victorville and then we recentlyobtained an RFP which, for
folks who don't know, is agovernment funded contract with
the state of Arizona to run twoprisons there.
We're not going to be the rescuethat will be running the

(08:46):
program.
We have a rescue there that'sgoing to be facilitating it.
So we just got back fromPhoenix, actually late last week
, so we've got a lot going on.
That's a lot.
Our Mutt Movers program overthe weekend broke.
Over 400 dogs moved out of KernCounty for the year so far and
it's, you know, just barelyNovember.

(09:07):
So we've got, we've been movinganywhere from 35 to 70 animals,
you know, a month, and so we'rehoping we'll get close to 500
for the year, which is great ina year when adoptions are slow
for everybody.
It really has given us a pathto be able to get dogs out of
Kern County because our sheltersituation has not changed that

(09:29):
much.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Unfortunately not you .
I knew you guys were doing alot with that because I get all
the emails asking for support ordrivers for the transports and
I'm like that's amazing.
You know it's a great way, butI also know other areas are
impacted too.
So there's a limitation on howmuch can move and where, and all
of that, yeah, there's ageographical limitation as well.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Going all the way out to, you know, the East Coast is
kind of difficult.
We have been exploring otherthoughts on how do we move dogs
east Maybe not all the way tothe East Coast, but more east
Cause.
Right now the majority of ourtransports are going to
Washington and Montana and thoseare in conjunction with the

(10:12):
city of Bakersfield animal carecenter.
So it's been great to be ableto move dogs for them and, you
know, to be able to pull dogsfrom Kern County animal services
as well.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
Right, yeah, I was saying to Melissa before I hit
record that it's been about ayear and a half since I was
volunteering and working in theshelter with adoptions, but
everything I see, I'm like itdoesn't seem like things have
really changed.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
They really haven't.
They have and they haven't.
We can talk a little bit moreabout that later with an update
on, like what's going on in thecommunity too.
I think it's an important topicto talk about and to just kind
of give folks a state of theunion, so to speak, on that
regard.
Right, and then, starting inNovember well, november 9th we

(10:59):
are going to be announcing thatMarley's is going to be starting
a veteran program, just anotherway for us to help the
community.
It's a passion project forConnor, who was on your podcast.
He is a veteran and you knowwe've been talking for quite
some time about how do we helpveterans that are either
transitioning right out ofmilitary service and into

(11:23):
civilian lives and how do wereally help those that are
struggling.
There's about 45,000 veteransin Kern County and at our last
juncture of you know relay ofinformation, there's really only
one facility that's attached tothe VA that helped them with
their mental health.
Okay, so Troops and Tails,which is the name of the program

(11:45):
going to be a way for Marliesto be able to give back to the
community and help veterans thatreally need that mental health
assistance.
So we're going to be workingwith a group of therapists who
have already agreed to sign onand there'll be individual
sessions, group workshops andthen, hopefully, some of our
dogs will get adopted asemotional support animals.

(12:08):
We're working with a fabulousorganization called Doggie Do
Good.
They are in Arroyo Grande.
They do service dog training,but they will also do ESA
training.
So they're going to be out hereabout once a month because they
do work in Tehachapi, and sothey're going to come out and do
some assessments on our dogs aspart of our partnership.
And so they're going to be, youknow, they're going to come out
and do some assessments on ourdogs as part of our partnership

(12:28):
and then, as we kind of workthrough, hoping to be able to
obtain grants that will help usbe able to fund service dogs for
veterans, because most peopledon't know this, but the waiting
list, the average wait time, istwo years.
That doesn't surprise me, no,and with the suicide rates with

(12:48):
veterans and you know, knowingthat doesn't account for
addiction-related deaths thenumber's really more like 44 a
day, not 22 a day, and so we'rehoping that we'll be able to,
you know, help the community inthat regard as well.
Thankfully, we have some greatgrantors who have already said,

(13:10):
you know, sent us money so thatwe can start the specific yard
that's just for that program andwe can start working on those
things.
So it's super exciting, we'reexcited about this program.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
I'm excited.
It sounds like a great program.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
And.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
I am a daughter of a veteran so it means a lot to me
and if my dad was still here hewould love to hear this, because
he was an animal lover hiswhole life and, you know, even
though he was in the servicedecades before I was born.
There's a pride of being a partin having a veteran in your

(13:45):
family and it's funny.
From my own experience inpsychology, I understand the
need for veterans with mentalhealth.
But also, as the daughter of aveteran, I realized a lot
growing up that my dad wouldn'treally talk about it and it
wasn't until he got older and hewas I knew he was a veteran.

(14:06):
We went to the VA for medicalstuff like that.
But it wasn't until I was olderand he really started talking
about his experiences and I waslike gosh, no wonder you didn't
want to talk yeah, it's, it'stough, it's really tough.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
I mean, my ex-husband was a veteran, is a veteran,
was a veteran.
He's a veteran.
My uncle's a veteran and wehave, you know, a few that that
work and volunteer with us aswell, and so we're excited to be
able to provide that service.
I think we've come a long wayas a country in terms of how we

(14:41):
treat our veterans, but I stillthink that there's so much more
that we can do.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Absolutely so.
If someone's listening to thisepisode and they're like I
really want to help, I want todonate or do something, what
would you say to them,specifically for Marlies, that
you're looking for support interms of finishing out the year
and moving into a new one?

Speaker 1 (15:03):
I mean, we're always looking for support.
In so many ways I think peoplethink about, oh, I don't have
time to volunteer or I don'thave the money to donate.
And the reality is this day andage where social media, the way
it is, sometimes all it takesis a forward as one of our posts
to, you know, a private messageor to a story or to something

(15:26):
like that on your social mediathat catches someone's attention
.
So it could be as simple asjust sharing, when you look at
our social media, just sharingwhat we're sharing, right,
sharing the stories of the dogs,sharing about our programs.
And then we always needvolunteers.
Everybody in animal welfareneeds more volunteers, more
hands-on.
We need fosters and I thinksometimes needs more volunteers,

(15:48):
more hands-on.
We need fosters, and I thinksometimes with fosters, folks
think, oh, it's got to be longterm until the dog gets adopted,
and that's not necessarily thecase, right?
Sometimes just having a dog wecall it, like you know, home for
the holidays, finding a homefor a dog for the holidays, for
a week or two, while people are,you know, I know there's lots
of people that travel, but somepeople are just like to stay

(16:08):
home during the holidays andthey're off work and sometimes
just having an animal in a homefor that amount of time gives us
so much information about thedog and also, you know, gets us
so much content that we can post, because people like to see
animals in homes and when theydo and they see how they behave,
then they're so much moreexcited about that, right.
And then also, you know, givingTuesday is coming up.

(16:29):
It's the Tuesday afterThanksgiving every November,
which is a really important dayfor every nonprofit across the
country when people really getexcited about causes that are
close to them and kind of nearand dear to their heart, and
then they have the ability to beable to give back in that way.
And then year-end giving I meanyear-end giving is a big time

(16:50):
as well.
I'll be honest, I don't thinkwe talk enough about year-end
giving.
I think we all talk about it,but I don't think people
understand that it's animportant time of year, not just
for nonprofits, because we doearn quite a bit of money.
That gets us through the firsttwo months of next year, which
are typically very difficultfinancial months for most

(17:11):
nonprofits January and February.
After the holidays everybody'slike, yeah, I'm tapped out, I
don't have any money, right.
But if we make a push prior tothat and folks think about oh, I
could get a tax break if Idonate Right.
So it's great for the nonprofit,but it's also great for you.
You know the donor, becausethen you get the tax right off

(17:34):
before next year's tax seasonstarts.
But I think there's so manyways to give back that people
just don't really think about.
And I think the other thingthat's important is it doesn't
have to be a lot Yep To make animpact.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
Right, I can say I have a recurring five dollar a
month that you get.
Yeah, and it's great because Idon't forget that.
No, I don't forget.
But then when I see somethingnew going on, I'll make another
donation or something like that.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, but you know, just five dollars a month, or
you know ten dollars a month ortwenty, you know continue with

(18:26):
our mission, but it's the folksthat give five, 10, 20 dollars a
month, right, those folks arethe ones in mass that really
bring in the majority offundraising money, and so I
don't know that people recognizehow important that is.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Right, yeah, because it's something that I know I can
afford and I can always up itif I want to, you know, and it's
a great way to do it throughoutthe year without even having to
realize it, and then, like yousaid, at the end of the year, oh
, that adds up and I get to, youknow, write it off.
I think people often think theyhave to give hundreds or even

(19:03):
thousands and they don't realizethat any nonprofit, but
especially animal rescue, thatfive dollars is food, that five
dollars, you know, is gas orwhatever it is needed for an
organization.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
And it's true.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
It's important for people to give what you can.
Every dollar counts.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
It really does, and I think you know it's also
interesting because people areso used to traditional
nonprofits and their margins ortheir you know how much their
general administrative costs are, and they don't realize that
it's different in animal welfarebecause we have to have people
that are taking care of theanimals, so ours is always going
to be a little bit higher,right, because we have to have

(19:44):
folks, like for us at our rescueranch, you know, making sure
that all the animals are caredfor in the way that they deserve
to be.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
So Right Now.
I know recently you guysstarted a channel on Instagram
and talking about some newthings going on with social
media.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?

Speaker 1 (20:04):
So we started a broadcast channel for the folks
that follow us, as a means forthem to just stay in touch and
to drive, you know, traffic, andfor them to be able to see some
things that not everybody seesRight, and so we started a
broadcast channel that is free.
We did start subscriptionservices on YouTube, patreon and

(20:27):
Instagram as well.
It's all going to be the samecontent, but we wanted to give
people the opportunity to usewhatever platform they're most
comfortable with.
Right, because there's so many.
It's five dollars a month andfor five bucks a month you get,
you know, one basicallyexclusive content video a week
and then you get pre-releasecontent.
We are going to stick our neckout there a little bit and start

(20:50):
showing some of the bloopersthat we catch on video right and
in photos, just because thoseare things people never see and
we never do anything with it,but they're so funny sometimes
Literally so funny and noteverybody loves a funny pet
video, right, and then part ofthe subscription service is also
is going to be training tips,fostering information, adoption

(21:15):
information, how do you find theright dog for your home?
So not just the cute, you knowdog stuff, the videos of our
dogs getting adopted or the dogstories, but also like what can
we do to help solve yourproblems?
Which is so important, yeah,yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
No, you know, I think it's a great thing to do,
because I love that you'remeeting people wherever you are.
Youtube, you know wherever youare, go there and follow us and
subscribe.
But it's also I have a couple.
I actually have a couplerescues or pages that fundraise
for rescues that I am subscribedto, so I get special content.
They know me because I commentand they're like, yeah, content.

(21:58):
They know me because I commentand they're like, yeah, but
having a channel also is great,because you never know who's
seeing your post because of allthe algorithm stuff.
This way, you know people arebeing notified every time you're
putting out something, andthat's a big impact in terms of
visibility, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
It is.
Yeah, it's helped a lot.
I mean, I was shocked.
We started a broadcast channeland within the first five
minutes we had 200 subscribersand I was like, how did that
happen?
And it's great.
We don't post in there everyday, no, just like we don't do
subscription content every day,but it gives people more
visibility into what we're doing.
And you're right, like Inoticed with folks that I follow

(22:32):
, I'll go a week or two and I'llbe like, oh, I really miss
seeing this person's content.
What happened to it?
With the broadcast channel, wecan just, you know, make sure
that folks are seeing what we'reputting out there gives us
better visibility.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, that's great.
And when I post this interview,I now post all the video
interviews on YouTube.
I can tag your guys's YouTubechannel so people can go and
subscribe.
And I know for me doomscrolling on social media
especially right now with anelection and everything else
going on in the world can bekind of depressing.
But when I doom scroll pets,I'm not depressed and oftentimes

(23:10):
I'll see that one video orsomething.
Yeah, it's what I needed.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
I needed a smile and now I can move on with my life
or I want to go see a cooladoption story for a dog that's
been at Marley's for a while,and and we do post, we post
shorts on our YouTube.
We also post, you know, longervideos there as well that folks
will have access to.
So, yeah, yeah, that yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
So you mentioned it earlier but we'll kind of get
into it now.
So Kern County, california,what is kind of the state of our
situation in terms of animalwelfare and rescue?

Speaker 1 (23:49):
We still have a 40 percent euthanasia rate, which
is difficult and obviously itfluctuates Right, so that's an
average Right.
Which is difficult andobviously it fluctuates right,
so that's an average right.
But about a year ago we startednot marley's, but there is a
bunch of when I say we, I mean agroup of rescues, and the two
main shelters in our areastarted a group called kern safe

(24:11):
, and the purpose of kern safe,uh, so it's marley's mutts, sos
dog rescue, emma and mel's um,almost eaten from ridge crest.
We've got bakersfield cityshelter, kern county animal
services.
We all came together as a groupand said, okay, so we're kind

(24:34):
of tired of complaining abouteverything, right, because
that's what happens.
That's what happens in animalwelfare is people get so focused
on what's not happening insteadof what they can do to affect
change.
So we were able to and gosh, Ihope I'm not forgetting anybody,
because that would bedisastrous.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
So I probably should jump off and apologize and make
sure I didn't do that ahead oftime, but I'll make sure to look
it up and list everybody in theshow notes.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
So we together decided that you know what can
we do, how can we come togetherand create an organization that
can help affect change?
What is that and what types ofthings does the community need?
Because I think very often wekind of go to.
Well, you know, it's crappyowners.

(25:26):
It's not always crappy owners,sometimes it's that, you know,
vet care is too expensive.
Yes, sometimes it's a lack ofeducation.
Nobody's ever told them spayingor neutering your animals is
better for their health.
Oh, and also, you're not goingto have oopsie letters, right,
right, you know, and there's somany aspects to what we need to
do to tackle the issues in KernCounty.

(25:49):
So, kern Safe, we just basicallysaid we know that we don't all
have the same resources, but wedon't want to exclude anyone
from being part of Kern Safe.
We have quite a few volunteersand we're so grateful to them
from all different types oforganizations within Animal
Rescue that come and help us.
So we have done four vaccineclinics, four massive vaccine

(26:12):
clinics where we did, you know,dap, rabies, microchips, signups
for spay and neuter.
Most of those clinics weredoing over 400 vaccines At every
single clinic.
We have one coming up onNovember 16th and I'm not going
to disclose the location, justbecause we typically try to make

(26:36):
sure that we're reaching thefolks that we need to reach
through traditional methods.
Right, we don't put it out onsocial media because then it
just doesn't reach the peoplethat we're looking to reach.
So most of the organizationsthat are part of Crimsafe have
been running spay and neuterclinics.
Safe have been running spay andneuter clinics.
We've put into the community,into Kern County, in the last

(26:59):
year, or in you know just undera year, about $3 million in
funding for spay and neuter.
Our list at one time was 1,500pets at any given time.
Oh, my God, we are just nowgetting to a space where our
list is 5.3, which still soundslike a lot, but it's a really

(27:22):
good indicator for us as anorganization with CURM Safe to
say okay, so our list isn't1,500 at any given time for
months at a time, right, and ustaking animals off of the list
and sending them to spay andneuter clinics and so it's not
1,500 at any given time anymore,right, we're at 500 now, and so

(27:45):
that's great because we knowit's making an impact.
The shelters have shared withus that they are not seeing the
level of illness that they wereseeing last year.
But we know it's a challenge.
It's going to take us fiveyears to get things under
control.
Yeah, yes, because of the sheervolume of animals we have in
the county.

(28:05):
Yeah, and how many people don'tknow?
You have to vaccinate youranimals every year Because even
if you're just taking them outfor a walk, they could still be
a dog and snarf something up offthe ground.
Or if it's a cat, right, right?

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, it can happen.
It's actually funny.
I just recently so I'vefostered kittens for Kern County
Animal Services and two yearsago now I had a litter of six
bottle babies.
That was a full-time job, Wow.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yes, of six bottle babies.
That was a full-time job.
Wow, yes, no, definitely it wasa full-time job.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
But I adopted one of them, our pumpkin oh, and she'd
been spayed and vaccinatedthrough the shelter and then all
of a sudden I realized, oh mygosh, I haven't taken her to the
vet to get.
Oh no, it's been too long,right.
So I took her to the vet.
I have literally had the samevet since I was a child, where

(29:01):
we took our family dogs, and ittook a week for me to be able to
get in because of how bookedthey are and just for an exam
and vaccines.
And she also had a little morework done because we weren't
sure what was going on with her.
That was $300.
Yeah, I was like, wait what,wait what.
Yes, it's so expensive need toget that.
Even annual vaccines can be alot for someone in this economy

(29:24):
when everything's more expensive.
And here in Kern County I'vehad many friends tell me how
hard it is to find a vet that'staking new patients as well as
get in if there's a seriousissue that you know, most people
have to sit in the parking lotat the emergency vet for hours
waiting.
So I don't think peopleespecially if you've always had

(29:46):
pets and you take care of themyou've never really seen you
don't realize the impact of that.
Being able to have a vet to getin the cost.
All of that is a big part ofwhy we are where we are.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's true and I think you know, thankfully there are
organizations like TractorSupply and Petco and you know
Critters Without Litters andCurrentSafe and organizations
like that will help to be ableto do.
You know, lower costs Right,the lowest of the clinics for

(30:21):
Kern Save were $20 per animal.
Right, that includes conemedication, surgery and all of
that and that's because therescues or the shelters are the
ones that are sponsoring thoseevents right, right Are paying
for the vaccines themselves andthe supplies and all of that and
our partner.
So snip is spay and neuter.
Imperative project is part ofcurrent safe as well.

(30:44):
Okay and so and they're great.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
I that's actually where pumpkin she was got.
She got snipped on the bus inthe parking lot at the shelter.
So it's great and it's so mucheasier the younger you do it.
So it's like don't put it off,find where you can go.
But I know a lot of it becauseI experienced it myself when I
would almost get into argumentswith people in the public about

(31:10):
certain things, that a lot of itis lack of education.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
Right, it really is, and it's sad, I don't think.
I think it's something like.
So Connor and I made a trip toBoston last year at this time
and one of the things they'vesince been able to kind of get
their animal issues, you know,under control.
But they shared with us thatwhat they found out through all
their research was that about 8%of the population are the ones

(31:39):
that are not good animal owners.
Wow, so the rest of it isreally lack of education, lack
of resources.
I mean there's any number ofthings that could be
contributing to what ishappening, and so we really have
to attack it on all fronts.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I think that's true.
I think, especially when I talkto people, they like the blame
what is happening and so wereally have to attack it on all
fronts.
Yeah, I think that's true.
I think when I talk to people,they like to blame the bad, you
know, parents, the bad petowners, whatever you want to say
, but it's like that's not it,because, trust me, I've been in
there and people sometimes haveto give up pets they love I.
You know, I saw often when Iwas in the shelter, a lot, you

(32:17):
know, older dogs that were therebecause their human was in the
hospital or someone passed away.
You know there's a lot, there'sa multitude of reasons, but I
love that you guys are reallytrying to figure out what it is
that you can help with thatactually makes an impact.
Right, and it's again.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
it was kind of born out of okay, we're tired of
complaining about everythingthat's happening.
Everyone's talking about howbad it is.
What are we doing about it?
It's not enough that we'repulling animals from the shelter
and bringing them into ourrescue.
That's part of it, but it's notenough.
Right, that used to be enough.
It did.

(32:56):
I mean, when you have happy,healthy, social animals dying
every day in the shelters,pulling dogs into your rescue
isn't enough.
You do what you can, and I thinkthe nice thing about Kern's Day
is we all just said look, weall have different resources
available to us.
Some of us have spay and neutergrants.
Some of us have vaccine grantsresources available to us.

(33:17):
Some of us have spay and neutergrants.
Some of us have vaccine grants.
Some of us have volunteers whoare willing to go out in campus
neighborhood.
Some of us, you know, arereally great at administrative
stuff, and so we were.
We made it very clear in thebeginning whatever you have to
bring to the table, bring it.
It doesn't matter if you knowMarley's puts in a hundred
thousand and another rescuedoesn't have that.

(33:39):
But you have the ability tocanvas, or you have the ability
to print flyers or volunteer orwhatever it may be Like.
We don't care about what levelof financial responsibility you
bring to this table.
We care about how committed youare to working as a group to
make stuff happen.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Right, and I can also imagine having worked in the
shelter and volunteered and youknow, went to the ranch for a
day and volunteered and all ofthat.
People don't realize thecomplexity of how all the
organizations interact, worktogether, don't work together,
right?
I mean I know just from beingin the shelter itself is an

(34:21):
organization and there'spolitics and it's related to it
being county funded and countyrelated versus the city, shelter
versus.
You know, I think a lot ofpeople don't understand the
level of involvement in rescueand all the different people and
what they do and what theycan't do, and there's a lot of

(34:43):
miscommunication or blaming andpointing fingers.
So being able to bringeverybody to the same table I'm
sure has made things a loteasier.
Just for you guys, it has.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
I think traditionally everybody in rescue kind of has
their own way of doing things,or like you're right, if you're
a shelter, you have your own setof politics and problems that
you have to deal with.
We've tried really hard to cometogether and just say look,
we're all going to do thingsdifferently.
As long as you're doing itethically, how we do it and how

(35:18):
we do it that differs, doesn'tmatter, right?
Because our goal is the sameand we can't do it without each
other.
We all need each other to beable to do that, and I think
people initially were reallyexcited.
And then, you know, as thingsgot harder and what I mean by
that is we just had to put thework in to get it done.
Everybody that is part of GrimSafe runs their own organization

(35:41):
or works for their ownorganization.
So we're doing rescue and thenwe're doing rescue right Right,
Education and advocacy on top ofthat.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
So I certainly learned that rescue and shelter
workers literally are working24-7.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
They are, yeah, there is no, are yeah when they're at
home and they're fostering.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
I mean I realized almost every person I met who
works in the shelter is alsofostering.
It's also coming in on theweekends or helping out at
events.
So I can imagine adding anotherorganization or process on top
of that is hard, but maybe it'salleviated.
Some of the other it is.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
But we also said, like, whoever wants to be a
member of Kern Safe can be amember of Kern Safe.
And again, whatever you bringto the table as a volunteer,
whatever you have, bring it tothe table.
We do have a leadership teamand we have to just like any
other organization.
Right?
But we really made a commitmentat the beginning of starting

(36:54):
Kern State to saying again, wedo things differently and
whatever grief or drama peoplehave had in the past with each
other for whatever reason,doesn't matter anymore.
We're all going to leave thatat the door and we're going to
come together as a community tohelp our community, because if
we don't, we're just going tocontinue to be in the same boat,
right?

Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, and in fighting between rescue groups doesn't
help anybody, let alone theanimals.
And you guys don't want towaste your time with that kind
of stuff.
You want to.
You want to focus on what youknow you need to do.
Focus on what you know you needto do so.
And I'm sure everyone listening, wherever you live state,

(37:23):
county, city there's differentrules, there's different
processes and policies and laws,but everybody can contribute
right In one way or another, andwe're really all just wanting
the same thing which is lesshealthy animals being e less
healthy animals yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
And I think the goal really is how do we keep animals
in homes?
Right, what is it that folksneed to keep animals in homes?
How do we do that?
They need vaccine, they need tostay healthy, they need access
to lower cost vet care, becauseI do understand vets and vet
offices need to get paid too.
I totally get it right.

(37:58):
Right, but to some degree weneed to have folks that are
offering that as well, and weneed to be able to come together
as a community.
It doesn't matter who it is,whether it's a rescue or a
shelter, or a veterinarian oranybody from the community
that's passionate about animalwellness.
It's going to take everybodyChecking your ego at the door

(38:23):
right, recognizing that we'reall going to do things
differently, but that if wedon't do this, the animals are
the ones that end up sufferingAbsolutely.
So we had 49 spay and neuterclinics in the month of August.
What, just for Kern Safe alone?
Oh my God.
Somewhere in the vicinity of2,500 animals were spayed and

(38:46):
neutered in that month.
Oh my gosh, it's insane.
It's insane.
They read us the scheduleduring a Kern State meeting.
Snip read us the schedule andwe all just were like mind blown
because that was city shelter,county shelter.
You know Marley's SOS UnityK-Line MNMALS.

(39:06):
Anybody that had in Kern Statethat had access to funding for
spay and neuter but like 49?

Speaker 2 (39:14):
It's crazy yeah it's crazy Great that many animals
were helped.
It's crazy to think that manyneeded it.
And how many more are there.
You know, I don't think peoplerealize how quickly the volume
of animals happen.
I mean, I've seen diagramsabout like one cat unspayed for

(39:38):
10 years.
You know it's like thousands.
You know as they multiply andmultiply but people don't
realize how quickly 10 dogsturns into 100, 1000, all of
that turned into a hundred, athousand, all of that?

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Well, and I don't think they.
So.
We have had quite a bit of youknow, conversations with folks
about why it's importantPyometra and you know, female
dogs to singular cancer and maledogs.
I even had a friend of thefamily reach out to me not too
long ago and was like, oh, Ihave a one old pit bull and you
know I don't think I'm going toget them fixed.
And I was like, OK, so first,are you saying that because you

(40:15):
know that it's going to annoy me?
Second, of all, you know it'simportant because, anything else
aside, that's how they gettesticular cancer.
And the argument back was well,the percentage is really low.
Well, if they don't have them,it's nothing, but if no, then
the chances are zero.

(40:35):
So, but also, keeping youranimals safe.
I don't think people realizegetting them spayed and neutered
keeps them safe.
Yep, what if a male dog knowsthat a female dog next door is
going into heat, but there'sanother male in the yard and
those dogs aren't dog friendly?
Right, you could have a massivedog fight on your fence, right,

(40:56):
Like there's not just.
It's not just that, it's thatfrequently dogs get out even in
the most secure yards.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Right, I just saw a dog walking down the street
yesterday when I went out.
So it happens all the time dogswith.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
We have yards with coyote rollers on them and we
weren't leaving the dogs outtoday because our weather is
really kind of dreary and cold,and we put her in a yard so she
could do her business while wewere cleaning her cow so that we
could put her back in, I wentoutside to go talk to one of the
staff members and she camerunning right up to me.
So that's just an illustration,right?
Like even here, sometimes thathappens, and so you want to make

(41:37):
sure that it's not just anissue of reproduction, right,
it's a health issue, it's asafety issue.
It's a responsibility of a petowner to do that for their
animal, right?
Because, I'll be honest,there's so many times where we
see dogs that come in from thepublic or into the shelter and
we'll go, oh, that's the finestof Bakersfield breeding, right,

(41:59):
yeah, they have health issuesand again, I'm not saying that
it's intentional or that it'salways intentional, because I
don't believe that it is.
I think a lot of times, folksjust are not educated about
those things and don't, right,right, they think it's just a
matter of, oh, I don't want herto get pregnant, or Right?

Speaker 2 (42:20):
And a lot of times, people with male dogs think, oh
well, they're never around otherdogs, right, it doesn't matter.
No, I have gotten intoarguments with people about it,
but you're so true.
I think there's a limitedunderstanding of why we should
do it and it's not about that.
Like I've said to people evenon on social media, I'll reach
out and say you know, just soyou know, your animal, your pet,

(42:43):
your cat or dog will livelonger, they'll have a healthier
life, reduces a lot of cancersas well, as they just live
longer and are healthier andhave less things.
And the younger you get themspayed and neutered, the easier
it is.
So I think people just, yeah,they.
There is definitely a hugecomponent of education and so I

(43:04):
would see this you know it's a.
Well, you can't tell me what todo with my pet, like well,
we're not trying to let you knowwhat's best for them, right?

Speaker 1 (43:13):
And culturally.
I think too, there are someroadblocks there, right?
We hear quite often when we dovaccine clinics and we ask folks
do you want to spay or neuteryour pet?
And they're very often it's Idon't want to.
You know, I don't want to altermy male dog for whatever reason
.
They think that it's going todisfigure them and they don't
want to alter them and I justI'm like it's healthier for them

(43:36):
.
And then we, you know, reallyspend the time educating as much
as possible, and most of thetime they do it because they
really do value their animal.
But they didn't know or theydidn't understand how important
it is and it's not just thatit's an only dog household and
it's right, you're not going tohave an oopsie litter it is that

(43:56):
your dog, if it gets out, couldreproduce and that not
something that we want for them.
And you're right, you know,healthier, longer lives and all
those things as well, but alsosafety, right.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
And I would say one of the things I think people
don't understand about whenanimals are in heat and they're
mating, it's not pleasant forthem, especially the female
animal.
Yeah, it's actually quitetraumatic and scary and you know
, I don't want my female cats togo through that.
We have ferals in ourneighborhood.
We never know.
I'm not any chances, not justabout kittens, but I know they

(44:34):
could get hurt, you know, yeah,and so I get what you're saying
and there that's, I think, a lotof the education piece of it.
You and yeah, there's peoplejust don't want to be told what
to do.
But ultimately.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
But they need to understand.
I don't believe that people arejust like, oh hey, I'm gonna be
a crappy pet, right.
I think the vast majority ofpeople are just.
They just don't know.
Yeah, we're not talking aboutbackyard breeders.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
We're talking about people just not understanding
how important it is and I thinkthat comes into play not only
with spay and neuter but alsowith, you know, no kill versus
kill shelters.
It's funny A couple of weeksago I went to get blood taken
and I had my shirt on that hasthe name of my podcast on it

(45:23):
that says adopt.
And so the lady goes, oh,what's that?
And we started talking and shehad a pity she loved for years
and years and I thought aboutgetting another animal.
But I want to go to make sure Idon't want to go to one of
those kill shelters.
I want to go to one that's not,I don't know.
You want to do the opposite.
The kill shelters are the onethat need you to adopt the pet
to save a life.
So can you talk a little bitabout where that falls into,

(45:47):
kind of the issues you run intoin terms of people, stereotyping
, rescue or shelters and thatsort of thing?

Speaker 1 (45:58):
So October is Pitbull Awareness Month, so that's good
timing.
Shelters essentially mean thatthe animal is at the shelter
until it gets adopted or, youknow, something happens and it
gets sick and it needs to behumanely euthanized In our
shelter system, in our killshelters and I hate using that

(46:21):
word because it gives aconnotation to the people that
work there that this issomething that they want to do
and they don't.
So there's, you know, a fewdifferent reasons as to why kill
shelters euthanize dogs.
Number one they come in andthey're severely injured or sick
, and they have to because theanimal is suffering Behavior
issues, which is obvious.

(46:44):
We don't have to go into that.
And then for space, the sad partis, in our county animals are
being euthanized for space,right.
So in some instances, in someshelters and other areas of the
country, animals come in andthey're euthanized solely
because of health and behavioralissues.
But our populations are so highin our shelters that we're

(47:07):
euthanizing happy, healthy,social dogs for space.
That is not something thatanybody that works in a shelter
ever wants to tackle and I thinkpeople need to know that.
Yeah, you can adopt from ano-kill shelter.
If you adopt from a killshelter, you're saving a life.
But on the flip side of that, Ithink part of the issue is that

(47:43):
people have misinformationabout dogs that come from
shelters or from rescues andthey think that they're all
going to have behavior issues,they're all going to be
difficult to work with.
They're all going to come withbaggage, going to be difficult
to work with.
They're all going to come withbaggage Right now, because of
the state of affairs in ourcounty, there are more happy,
healthy, social dogs than thereare anything else.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with a dog from a
shelter versus some other place,because that's just where
they're waiting for a home.
It's not right.
Nothing bad is happening to theanimals in the shelters,
there's just only a finiteamount of space.
And you know, I saw days where60 dogs would come in.

(48:21):
You're like, if 60 dogs come inand there's no empty cages,
where are those dogs going to go?
And people just don't realizethat they're mandated by rules
and regulations and they can'tdo anything.
And you know, I've hadexperience with no kill shelters
and organizations where I'vebrought stray animals I found

(48:41):
and they turn me away telling me, oh, it's too old, you can take
them here or there.
And I'm like that's the thingthey have the ability to say no
to whoever they want to, unlikeother shelters.
So yeah, I think there's alsothat miscommunication issue that
I find with people, becauseit's just that stereotype of
what a shelter is and what doesno kill mean and all of that.

Speaker 1 (49:04):
But yeah, and I think people really do have some
misinformation about that RightAll the way around.
You know, about a month agoKern County Animal Services put
out a plea.
They had 70 dogs on theireuthanasia list so we went down.
We pulled 24 dogs that week,which is massive.
I think the stars aligned withthe universe, right, because we

(49:28):
had 15 or 20 adoptions and wewere going to have to pull
animals for a positive changeprogram and it just so happened
that it happened right beforethey put that euthanasia list
out.
Every single dog we pulled,good with other dogs, good with

(49:49):
humans, no behavior issues,happy, healthy, social, right,
and they've all been great.
They all have differentpersonalities, some of them are
more different than others Imean, there's all of those types
of things but Right, 24 happy,healthy, social, dog-friendly,
people-friendly dogs.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
Yeah, and it's also that reaction you get when you
tell people yeah, puppies areeuthanized, kittens are
euthanized, they can't take careof themselves.
What do you want us to do?
We can't.
Our staff is not here 24-7.
You know, there's so manythings like that.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
People don't understand Well, and they're
cohabitating two, three, fourand five animals.
Oh yeah, and I don't thinkpeople realize this.
They're not supposed to bedoing that.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
Right, there's supposed to be one dog in a full
run, not six and a half run.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
They're doing it out of necessity, because they don't
want to euthanize happy,healthy social dogs.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Right and cats.
It's heartbreaking.
It's like a mountain.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
You start to climb up and you realize oh wait, this
is a lot higher than I thoughtit was Right.
And it's hard because there's alot more at play than just the
shelter itself and the peoplethat work there, Right.
There's politics involved,there's public funding involved.
There's pressure from outsidesources.
It's really not an easy spot tobe in and I feel for the people

(51:12):
that work in our shelters.
I really do.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
They're amazing and you know I got a small taste of
it.
I'm like I don't know how theydo it, you know, 24-7, week
after week, month after month.
And I think sometimes whenthere is a really bad shelter
and really bad stuff happeningat one place, it gets labeled on
all shelters and that's nottrue.

(51:34):
Everyone I've ever met in ashelter loves animals and will
do anything they can to savethem and help them and get them
into their own home.
Sometimes shelter issues arepolitical and it's all about you
know who's running what andwho's in charge of what and
stuff like that.
But a lot of that is beyond ourcontrol.

(51:57):
But the things that are in ourcontrol are volunteering,
fostering, adopting, educatingpeople.
We know about it.
What if someone listening rightnow is like they're on fire,
they're ready to go?
What are the top three thingsyou would tell someone to do
that they can do without itcosting a lot or having to spend

(52:18):
a lot of time to support arescue or shelter like marley's?

Speaker 1 (52:23):
donate, volunteer volunteering doesn't have to
take a lot of time.
You know, with Kern Safe we tryto do vaccine clinics.
We can't run them in the summerbecause we all know how hot it
is in Bakersfield in the summerand it's not good for the dogs
or the humans to be out in thatheat.
Volunteer, we do those onceevery other month.
You can spend four to six hoursonce every other month if you

(52:45):
plan it to help with those typesof things.
Spread education and awarenessis another one.
Really help people tounderstand, because there's no
way we can get to everybody thatwe need to get to.
But each organization in and ofthemselves are doing what they
can to educate and share thestories, share that information

(53:09):
so people see it.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
Yeah, so everybody can find their place in their
own world.
To help spread awareness.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
Well, and there's just so many ways to help, and
one of the easiest is just hitthe share button so that people
see it.
You never know who's going tosee something you share, or
who's going to share it andsomeone else is going to see it,
right, right, it's so importantto do that and it's not that
hard it takes two seconds.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Absolutely Well.
I know we're almost up with ourtime and you're a very busy
person.
I want to thank you again forcoming back to the podcast and
sharing more and just being hereto, you know, kind of give
everybody the update but alsowhat we need and what we need to
do as a community to help, andI'm sure that I will have all

(53:58):
the links in the show notes forMarley's and Melissa and all of
their amazing programs, and Ijust want to thank you for being
here and giving me this time.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Thanks for having me.
It's always great to chat withyou.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode.
I am so happy to have you herelistening, learning and sharing
these amazing pet storiesalongside me.
I would love to hear yourthoughts on the newest episode.
You can email me, dm me onsocial media.
I want to hear from you.
Did you enjoy it?

(54:35):
What was your one big takeawayfrom my conversation with
Melissa, and I'd love for you totell me what you would like to
see me talk about on thispodcast.
My focus is education andadvocacy around all the
different areas of animalwelfare and rescue, but I'd love
to hear from you Is there atopic you'd love to see me

(54:55):
discuss?
Do you know someone workingvolunteering in animal rescue,
non-profits, shelters that youthink would be a great guest?
Let me know so you can go intothe show notes and send me a
message.
You can DM me.
You can DM me.
You can email me Wherever yourpreferred platform is.
Reach out.
I'd love to hear what youthought of this episode and get

(55:17):
some feedback about what youwould love to see in future
episodes.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Much love to you and your pets.