October 10, 2023 • 27 mins
One woman dedicating her life to advocate for animals around the world. In a heartfelt exchange, your host Julie Marty-Pearson sits down with Lori Kalef from SPCA International, who paints an evocative picture of her lifetime passion for animal welfare. From the tender age of 11, Lori began her journey in animal rescue, a path that eventually led her to a significant role at SPCA International. Her perspective sheds light on the immense global impact of organizations like SPCA, offering a stirring insight into the tireless efforts to safeguard animal welfare worldwide.
Lori unveils the extraordinary endeavors of SPCA International in reuniting service members with their cherished pets post-deployment through their Patriot Pets program. This poignant narrative highlights the profound healing effect these reunifications have, aiding not only in the transition back to civilian life but also serving as a lifeline to many grappling with thoughts of self-harm. The narrative takes a sharp turn as she recounts the daring acts of service members who, against military policy, choose to rescue animals during their service.
You'll also learn about the significance of grants, veterinary supplies, and funding for spay and neuter programs, and how these measures are crucial for maintaining public and animal health through the Shelter Support Fund Program. As we navigate the broader landscape of global animal welfare, we also discuss the changing attitudes towards these vital causes and how social media plays a pivotal role in spreading awareness. Listen to Lori's profound appreciation for those in service and the unforgettable stories of lives - both human and animal - profoundly changed by these acts of compassion.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie Marty-Pearson (00:06):
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers
, welcome to another episode ofthe story of my pet podcast.
I'm your host, julie MartyPearson, as always, and I'm very
excited to bring you a brandnew not one, but two episodes.
This week I had an incredibleinterview with Lori Califf, who
works with SPCA International,and we talked about so much
(00:29):
important information andseveral of their programs that
I've split it into two parts tomake sure that you listen to all
of this important information.
I'm very excited to bepartnering with SPCA
International with these podcastepisodes and I really hope you
enjoy listening to ourconversation and will follow and
(00:50):
support their very importantinternational programs helping
animals around the globe.
Before we get started, thankyou for listening.
I appreciate all of you.
If you want to help support thepodcast, please click, follow
and rate and review wherever youare listening to the podcast,
on whichever platform or app,and all of that will help more
(01:12):
people see the podcast andlisten to all of this important
information so we can help moreanimals in need.
Here is part one of my interviewwith Lori Califf from SPCA
International.
My friends and fellow animallovers, I'm excited for the
(01:33):
conversation I'm about to have.
I'm really excited to have aguest from SPCA International
and organizations I've followedfor a year and just love all the
work they do, so I'm very proudto have them on the podcast and
I want to introduce to you LoriCaliff.
Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Lori Kalef (01:52):
Oh, it's such an honor, so excited to be able to
talk to you.
Thank you for having me on.
Julie Marty-Pearson (01:57):
So you are coming to us from where?
Lori Kalef (02:00):
I reside in Victoria , british Columbia, so on the
west coast of Canada.
Our headquarters, though, forSPCA International is located in
New York City, so hence theterm international.
We have.
Many of us lives abroad, and weall work together remotely, so
we're pretty lucky, in portions,to be able to do that.
That's great.
Julie Marty-Pearson (02:20):
So have you always been an animal lover?
Is it something you grew upwith?
Do you want the long story orthe short story, or the medium.
We'll go medium.
Okay, we'll go medium.
Lori Kalef (02:35):
It's a funny story.
This is when I'm asked thisquestion.
It always brings me back towhen I like to think.
I was two years old and mymother brought me to a
department store called theHudson Bay in Canada and she
said you get to pick out a bathtoy.
And so I picked out this pinkwhale and I've tried to find it
since, but I can't.
And the whale was missing a fin.
(02:56):
And she said don't take thatone, it's broken.
And I said, no, it's not broken, it's perfect.
And so, when tears, she boughtthat for me, and I grew up in
the 70s I just revealed my agein the days where doors were
left open and neighborhoods wereso safe and friendly and my
(03:16):
mother would often catch mecrawling across the street to go
visit the neighbor's dog andshe always knew that she would
find me somewhere sitting with adog or a cat.
So it started at a very youngage.
Julie Marty-Pearson (03:27):
That's great, I understand.
I was always that child.
We would go to someone's houseand all the girls wanted to play
with the baby.
I'm like, where are your pets?
Lori Kalef (03:37):
That's right.
I just saw something onInstagram actually.
That said, when you go to aparty, don't you feel like the
best person when the dog picksyou to sit next to you?
Julie Marty-Pearson (03:47):
Exactly, you've been working in animal
rescue, animal welfare for along time, so how did that as
your profession, working in thatfield, how did that evolve?
Lori Kalef (03:59):
Yes, I think I often get that, asked that question
how did you get into animalwelfare as a profession?
And I think back in the day Inever thought that what you are
truly passionate about, what youlive, breathe, eat and what you
care about most, can actuallywork for and advocate for
animals and the people who helpanimals.
I've always volunteered at thelocal animal shelters.
(04:21):
When I was young Again, thiswas like back in the day when
there was no age limit.
I come from a big family ofanimal lovers as well, so I do
remember the day that I gotinvolved.
I think I was about 11 or 12 andmy mother had read something in
the local newspaper that thelocal SBCA was in dire need of
volunteers because they got in alarge number of cats, and so
(04:42):
she picked me up from school andwe went and fed all the cats
it's laying the cages and myfather came after work and he
would walk the dogs that nobodywanted to walk, and so I got
grandfathered in that waybecause the local SBCA the
director at the time, always hada vision of starting an
international chapter, and manyyears later he did, and by this
(05:04):
time I graduated university.
I didn't take any studies thathave to do with animal welfare.
I don't even think they wereavailable at the time.
I graduated in sociology andpsychology which does help and
then went on a trip once toFlorida and read about the
situation where people wereadopting dogs and cats that they
didn't want in the Everglades,and it was just traumatic to
(05:28):
hear.
So I reached out to the founderat the time and he put me in
touch with his assistant and Itold him about the story and she
asked me to write for them, andso I did and I volunteered for
about a year writing grants andjust forming relationships with
partners all over the world, andeventually they invited me into
attend staff meetings and longbe cool that got hired a year
(05:53):
later.
So I've been with SBCInternational as a staff since
2012.
Julie Marty-Pearson (06:00):
Wow, so you've been with them for a long
time Over a decade, I'm tryingto remember.
Yeah, amazing.
And as all of the people I'vemet on the last year and a half
in creating this podcast andgetting more involved myself in
the animal rescue, beyond justfollowing and supporting on
social media.
(06:20):
I hear the story a lot wherepeople either as a teenager, got
involved as a volunteer orfostering, or their family was
involved, or you werevolunteering and it grew into
working with an organization,which I think is so important,
because you're not just comingin and seeing it as a job,
you're coming in seeing it asyour passion, like you said.
Really, you have to have thepassion for it in this field
(06:42):
because it's so difficult andcan be so overwhelming that you
have to have a taste of itbefore you walk into helping an
organization grow.
Lori Kalef (06:50):
I think you just hit the nail on the head that most
people and rightfully so getinvolved because they love
animals.
But I think the part about itthat you really have to
understand is that you have tolove people too, and you're
dealing with a lot of people whoare on the front line day after
day.
We are a strictly program-basedorganization.
(07:11):
We don't have our own shelterlike an SPCA would.
So, just aside, spca stands forSociety for Prevention and
Affirilty to Animals, and sowe're not affiliated with any
other SPCA, but we would helpthem if they needed to through
various programs.
But really you have tounderstand people.
You have to understand, for,especially in my position
(07:34):
because we work locally, youhave to understand different
cultures and what the setbacksare, and you can't go into any
situation imposing what you knowand what you learned and what
your beliefs are on that cultureor especially that government
who has different regulationsand different ideologies about
animals.
So there's always manychallenges to face and many ways
(07:56):
to navigate how you can helpanimals.
It's not just a black and whitesort of occupation.
Julie Marty-Pearson (08:02):
Absolutely, and I think that's what's
important for people tounderstand is we realize that
not everyone can volunteerphysically or not everyone can
foster, but there are so manyways you can impact animals and
help organizations do the workthey're doing.
Because it is complexespecially I know, even having
volunteered and worked at mylocal shelter just the
(08:23):
complexity of it's a countyshelter, it's run by the county,
it has to follow certain rules.
So I can't even imagine thecomplexities for you guys when
you're dealing with differentcountries and dealing with
political structures and lawsand regulations.
And even just thetransportation of animals across
borders can be so difficult,let alone all of the what
(08:43):
happens behind the scenes tomake it happen.
Lori Kalef (08:45):
That's right.
And first I just wanna say Iapplaud you for volunteering at
your local shelter, because Iknow that's not easy.
I know what it's like to walkinto shelters and see the eyes
of these animals, that all ofthem my mother animals are
speaking to.
Julie Marty-Pearson (09:03):
They're saying yes.
And it's hard and there's avery high burnout rate.
Lori Kalef (09:08):
So it's really important to look after yourself
and not just constantly lookingafter the animals and the
people.
But you've just shown somethingreally important about one of
our programs abouttransportation, one of our
programs.
It's called Petriot Tets.
It's formerly known asOperation Baghdad Pups Worldwide
, and that's a program that webegan in 2008 when a soldier who
(09:30):
was on deployment to Baghdad,iraq, contacted us and a dog
wandered onto their face and oneof the soldiers says I can't
leave this dog behind.
He has bumped up the morale andthe rest of the platoon.
She has essentially saved mylife and mental health.
And so there's one thing aboutus where there's a will, there's
(09:51):
a way.
My mother always taught me that, and I was in part of the
organization at the time, but webrought that dog home and since
then we've brought home over1300 dogs and cats and one doggy
for US service members who areon active deployment or who are
veterans working as contractorsoverseas in court-torn zones.
The red tape to be able tobring a dog or a cat home to the
(10:15):
United States and that's wherewe bring them to is very complex
.
Like you said, we often getthis question why can't you just
put the dog on an airplane withyou and there are so many
regulations and red tape tofollow and we really strictly
adhere to the exporting andimporting governing laws of both
(10:35):
countries.
And it can take up to sixmonths, especially with the new
CDC regulations for dogs thatare deemed coming from high-risk
rabies countries.
So there's about 113 of them.
Julie Marty-Pearson (10:49):
Wow, I can't even imagine because I
know from just learning frompeople in rescue that being in
the shelter just the regulationsfor the medical aspect, because
when dogs are confined or heldin places together disease
spreads so fast.
So I can imagine how difficult,how regulated it is.
We're protecting that animalbut you're protecting the only
(11:11):
other animals that are intransit or near them, or
protecting the animals in thecountry that they're coming to.
I'm sure that must be a verydifficult part of the process.
Lori Kalef (11:20):
Yeah, it is, and it's not just an animal issue,
but we look at it as a publichealth issue as well, and that's
a very helpful approach whenwe're working with governments
who their main way ofcontrolling and overpopulation
of animals is to sadly go on.
They call them or they put themin municipal shelters and they
don't stand a chance, they'recity pounds or whatnot.
(11:42):
Our other program whichactually started our entire
organization back in 2006, iscalled the Shelter Support
Program and one of our biggestmissions is to be able to chaff,
neuter, vaccinate and release.
So we want to maintain thehealth of the public and, of
course, maintain the health ofthe current population of
(12:02):
animals so that both can livesimultaneously and harmoniously.
So this program one of theaspects in that we send out
grants, that's, a grant givingprogram and we help.
I think we're over 300 partnersnow.
I think this year it'llprobably go up about 100.
(12:23):
And so we sent funding andveterinary supplies to be able
to help with spain neuterprograms and vaccination
programs.
It's World Ravies Day at theend of September, and so we're
running a big campaigndistributing over $30,000 of
homes, funding and resources forWorld Ravies Day so that we can
people from all over thecountries, establish
(12:44):
organizations and shelters, willbe able to do more vaccines.
Julie Marty-Pearson (12:50):
That's amazing because vaccines are
crucial and even in the US we'veseen such an issue with all the
animals who were adopted duringCOVID and didn't get vaccinated
, and that's a lot of the healthissues that are now faced by
shelters, because now they're inthere, they haven't been
vaccinated, they're getting sickand it's spreading.
So I can imagine in anothercountry where they don't even
(13:11):
have access to getting vaccines,or spain neuter, that it's
critical for them in terms oftheir overwhelming pet
population, especially ifthey're on the streets and it's
easy for them to spread disease.
Lori Kalef (13:23):
Very easy.
Yeah, sadly, we've seen theworst of the worst, but we've
also seen the best of the best,and I think that there is.
There has been a paradigm shiftover the last decade on the
approach to managingoverpopulation of animals and
keeping them healthy and safe,and I think one of the biggest
contributors to that is socialmedia, and younger populations
(13:45):
are seeing this and seeing whatcan happen and the cruelty.
And then, of course, if we'regoing back to how some
governments around the worldmanage their population by
killing young children areseeing this on the streets and
the effect that it has on themas well is pretty profound.
So I think there really is anice shift happening.
(14:06):
Of course, social media alsobrings up the worst, and we see
a lot of atrocities around theworld, but there… it's
definitely more good than bad.
That's what I can tell you.
Julie Marty-Pearson (14:20):
I can't imagine what animal rescue was
like 10 years ago when youdidn't have the power of social
media to spread awareness, toeducate, to fundraise even.
I see so many local, smallerrescues fundraise quickly for a
dog that needs out of a shelterthat they would have never had
access to, and I think it alsoinspires people to act and to
(14:45):
get involved.
Lori Kalef (14:46):
Absolutely.
It enables people to be invoice.
You said something, you touchedupon something before, about
how a lot of people might getinvolved and whether it's a lot
of obviously non-profitorganizations.
They rely strictly, solely onkind donors and with the
introduction of social media andfundraising, even if you can't
(15:07):
donate, you can share stories,you can share even the
atrocities and you can be avoice and people who have
followers also understand and itleads to such a wonderful
ripple effect that gains moreand more support.
So anytime somebody asks, Iwould say this anytime somebody
asks me how can I help?
They're already helping becausethey're a voice and they're
(15:29):
sharing and they want to knowmore about situations.
Julie Marty-Pearson (15:33):
Yeah, I think that's critical and it's
one of the reasons I started thepodcast.
But I've this is motivated tokeep me going is just sharing a
story.
You never know who might see it.
Even if it's not a like or acomment, People see stuff and it
makes them stop and mayberealize, wow, I need to know
more about this, I want to beinvolved.
But simply reposting, resharingis.
(15:54):
It's a huge thing because itkeeps the momentum of whatever
that story is or the need ismoving forward.
Yes, Absolutely.
Lori Kalef (16:02):
And you probably know this too, that there's a
fine line with what you share.
If you're constantly, alwayssharing the horrible stories,
you're probably going to lose alot of followers, because
there's compassion fatigue andit's just hard to watch that.
All the time we really try tohighlight a lot of our successes
and the reunions, especiallydogs and cats coming home to
their veterans and activesoldiers and contractors, even
(16:26):
embassy workers.
So it's important to remindpeople that it's not all bad,
that there is a lot of good andthere are a lot of incredible
people and organizations aroundthe US, around Canada and around
the rest of the world who aredoing such great things.
Julie Marty-Pearson (16:42):
Absolutely Speaking of that with Patriot
Pets, is there a story maybe youwant to share about a reunion
or one of the trips you were onbringing the pets home that you
think would really inspirepeople to learn more about the
program?
Lori Kalef (16:56):
Oh, yes, this is a great question.
Now I have to choose which one.
I don't think.
When a soldier service memberis on deployment and they
contact us, they need to gothrough a vetting process to
make sure that they're not justbeing reactive and they're going
to take this dog and not beable to look after it when they
(17:16):
get home.
We really form strongrelationships with these
individuals and they become partof our family and for many
years I always say that once youcome into the program, you're
part of our family forever.
You got to deal with that, andso they keep in touch and they
tell us how these dogs or catshave changed their lives.
There's one particular dog,there's many, but there's one
(17:39):
particular dog and I won'tmention the soldier's name
because I want to respect hisprivacy but it was during a
pretty rough political time inthe Middle East and he had a dog
that he fell in love with andhe later confided to me that he
was on suicide ideation and hewas thinking about taking his
(18:01):
own life while on his deployment.
You're so far away from yourfamily.
You don't have the luxuries,even a bed or the ability to
sometimes wake up when you wantto wake up or have a nice sleep,
because you're always on watch24 hours a day and this dog
saved his life.
And the dog is still alive.
(18:22):
The soldier's still alive andwe keep in touch and he always
reminds me we're checking witheach other periodically how
integrating back intocivilization was such a key part
for him as well when hereturned to the United States,
and he has since left themilitary.
But this dog helped himreintegrate back into civilian
(18:42):
life.
And I think that's one of thekey aspects about this program
is that we don't always realizethat we're not just saving not
we, but everybody doesn't alwaysrealize that we're not just
saving the dog or the cat, butwe're saving people's lives as
well.
Julie Marty-Pearson (19:00):
That's really powerful.
But I would say so true.
I know personally.
I've been through differentstruggles in my life mental
health wise, physical healthwise and I've always had pets as
my crutch not that they didanything special other than just
letting me pet them or sleepwith me or whatever it may be.
So I can imagine someone goingthrough something so difficult
(19:21):
being in the armed forces, beingin such high alert, dealing
with difficult mental healthissues, having the dog there
with him at the time and thatbond they had really developed.
That's just so powerful andit's amazing that he was able to
keep that and grow with it andhelp them with reintegrating.
But I also think it's animportant story.
(19:43):
We don't really realize day today what our armed forces go
through, especially when they'reoverseas.
They're away from theirfamilies.
They're in a highly difficultsituation.
Like you said, they havenothing, they don't have a home,
they don't have their own bed,their own space to feel safe in,
necessarily, and having ananimal in that situation could
just be profoundly helpful.
Lori Kalef (20:04):
It reminds them of Shuling for sure and obviously
when they come into the programthey're animal lovers or they
become animal lovers veryquickly and they see such
horrible things on deploymentand they see a lot of cruelty to
animals which is really toughon them.
And I think it's also importantto note that the service members
are risking their position inthe military a lot of the time
(20:27):
because sadly it's still againstthe military's policy to be
able to rescue a dog or a cat ondeployment.
There's an order called GeneralOrder One which prohibits the
feeding or lifting after of adog or a cat while on deployment
.
So a lot of the time we'renavigating through not just the
(20:48):
hoops and the red tape to beable to get the animal into our
care and back home but to keepthe animal safe and hidden at
some occasions before we can dothat.
But I will say there also hasbeen a shift in the most recent
years where commanders areseeing how much it means to
these service members while ondeployment and how much it
(21:09):
boosts their morale and givesthem energy and they are really
turning away and saying yes,let's do this, and they let them
have them and then they knowthat we have a contract that we
will bring them into our care.
So it's not forever thatthey're going to be with animal
on deployment.
Julie Marty-Pearson (21:27):
And I think that's so important.
Just like everything, we learnthrough experience and I'm sure
they're seeing more often thannot how helpful the animals can
be.
My dad was a World War IIveteran so obviously I wasn't
around when he was in theservice, but having him as my
dad always gave me a much betterappreciation of what they go
through and what they see andthe long-term impacts like for
(21:48):
him he had long-term impactshealth-wise from his time in the
service.
We have to realize that itisn't just, like you said, about
saving the animal.
It is about the mental andoftentimes physical health of
the servicemen or women and whenthey get back, that's that
support that they get.
Lori Kalef (22:06):
that helps them even more in the long-term and
that's really important, yeahabsolutely A lot of the dogs
that we rescued from our programhave become certified service
animals.
One particular case and I don'tmean to only shed some sad
stories here, but there was asoldier who was in Syria and
(22:27):
there was a big explosion and helost three of his limbs and his
eyesight.
He had rescued this dogbeforehand and we had already
brought the dog into our care.
It's hard to describe and storywithout getting a little choked
up, but we helped him get thedog registered.
(22:48):
We brought the dog into SpecialX training for him so that he
can be a seeing eye dog and atherapy dog.
Yeah, and it's still goingquite well today.
Julie Marty-Pearson (22:58):
I think service animals are just a hero
in their own way.
Heroes come in all differentshapes, sizes and breeds and
they don't even have to doanything but sit with someone to
be a hero, to be helpful.
My husband as a child actuallyhelped raise puppies for guide
dogs for the blind.
I actually got to go with himto the school where they train
(23:21):
them and then the people come inand get matched with their dog
and they get to be trained toget to know each other.
It was just such an incredibleplace to be to really see what's
going on in the power of whatthose dogs do for their person,
whatever type of therapy dog orguide dog it might be.
I can imagine in thesescenarios, when they actually
(23:42):
come back from havingexperienced the war with them
and now are back home and arehelping them through different
transitions, that it's that muchmore important and much more
deep of a connection thatthey've made.
Yeah, it's their combat buddies.
Lori Kalef (23:57):
They know they've lived and breathed whatever
they've been through together.
I think we know, and probablyeverybody listening to this
podcast right now knows, thatevery dog is a therapy dog.
They're just not given thatlabel.
Julie Marty-Pearson (24:11):
Yes, they don't deserve dog good.
They give us without anything,any kind of training or need
they just know.
I can imagine with Patriot Petthey develop that connection
even more deeply when they'rereally saving each other and
then they're able to come homeand be together.
Wasn't that a greatconversation?
Now, remember, that's just partone of a two-part interview
(24:34):
with Lori talking about her workwith SVCA International and all
of their incredible programs.
The next episode of the podcast, which will be out in two days,
will be part two of myconversation, where you'll hear
about the Apollo 8 program, aswell as others, and what those
programs are doing to helpanimals in need, both here in
(24:55):
the US and abroad.
Please don't forget to follow,rate and review the podcast and
whatever podcast platform or appyou are listening to, and help
spread the news so that morepeople listen and are educated
about the important programs,rescues and organizations
working to help animals in needall over the globe.
(25:16):
Until next time, my friends.
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers
, welcome to another episode ofthe story of my pet podcast.
I'm your host, julie MartyPearson, as always, and I'm very
excited to bring you a brandnew not one, but two episodes.
This week I had an incredibleinterview with Lori Califf, who
works with SPCA International,and we talked about so much
(00:29):
important information andseveral of their programs that
I've split it into two parts tomake sure that you listen to all
of this important information.
I'm very excited to bepartnering with SPCA
International with these podcastepisodes and I really hope you
enjoy listening to ourconversation and will follow and
(00:50):
support their very importantinternational programs helping
animals around the globe.
Before we get started, thankyou for listening.
I appreciate all of you.
If you want to help support thepodcast, please click, follow
and rate and review wherever youare listening to the podcast,
on whichever platform or app,and all of that will help more
(01:12):
people see the podcast andlisten to all of this important
information so we can help moreanimals in need.
Here is part one of my interviewwith Lori Califf from SPCA
International.
My friends and fellow animallovers, I'm excited for the
(01:33):
conversation I'm about to have.
I'm really excited to have aguest from SPCA International
and organizations I've followedfor a year and just love all the
work they do, so I'm very proudto have them on the podcast and
I want to introduce to you LoriCaliff.
Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Lori Kalef (01:52):
Oh, it's such an honor, so excited to be able to
talk to you.
Thank you for having me on.
Julie Marty-Pearson (01:57):
So you are coming to us from where?
Lori Kalef (02:00):
I reside in Victoria , british Columbia, so on the
west coast of Canada.
Our headquarters, though, forSPCA International is located in
New York City, so hence theterm international.
We have.
Many of us lives abroad, and weall work together remotely, so
we're pretty lucky, in portions,to be able to do that.
That's great.
Julie Marty-Pearson (02:20):
So have you always been an animal lover?
Is it something you grew upwith?
Do you want the long story orthe short story, or the medium.
We'll go medium.
Okay, we'll go medium.
Lori Kalef (02:35):
It's a funny story.
This is when I'm asked thisquestion.
It always brings me back towhen I like to think.
I was two years old and mymother brought me to a
department store called theHudson Bay in Canada and she
said you get to pick out a bathtoy.
And so I picked out this pinkwhale and I've tried to find it
since, but I can't.
And the whale was missing a fin.
(02:56):
And she said don't take thatone, it's broken.
And I said, no, it's not broken, it's perfect.
And so, when tears, she boughtthat for me, and I grew up in
the 70s I just revealed my agein the days where doors were
left open and neighborhoods wereso safe and friendly and my
(03:16):
mother would often catch mecrawling across the street to go
visit the neighbor's dog andshe always knew that she would
find me somewhere sitting with adog or a cat.
So it started at a very youngage.
Julie Marty-Pearson (03:27):
That's great, I understand.
I was always that child.
We would go to someone's houseand all the girls wanted to play
with the baby.
I'm like, where are your pets?
Lori Kalef (03:37):
That's right.
I just saw something onInstagram actually.
That said, when you go to aparty, don't you feel like the
best person when the dog picksyou to sit next to you?
Julie Marty-Pearson (03:47):
Exactly, you've been working in animal
rescue, animal welfare for along time, so how did that as
your profession, working in thatfield, how did that evolve?
Lori Kalef (03:59):
Yes, I think I often get that, asked that question
how did you get into animalwelfare as a profession?
And I think back in the day Inever thought that what you are
truly passionate about, what youlive, breathe, eat and what you
care about most, can actuallywork for and advocate for
animals and the people who helpanimals.
I've always volunteered at thelocal animal shelters.
(04:21):
When I was young Again, thiswas like back in the day when
there was no age limit.
I come from a big family ofanimal lovers as well, so I do
remember the day that I gotinvolved.
I think I was about 11 or 12 andmy mother had read something in
the local newspaper that thelocal SBCA was in dire need of
volunteers because they got in alarge number of cats, and so
(04:42):
she picked me up from school andwe went and fed all the cats
it's laying the cages and myfather came after work and he
would walk the dogs that nobodywanted to walk, and so I got
grandfathered in that waybecause the local SBCA the
director at the time, always hada vision of starting an
international chapter, and manyyears later he did, and by this
(05:04):
time I graduated university.
I didn't take any studies thathave to do with animal welfare.
I don't even think they wereavailable at the time.
I graduated in sociology andpsychology which does help and
then went on a trip once toFlorida and read about the
situation where people wereadopting dogs and cats that they
didn't want in the Everglades,and it was just traumatic to
(05:28):
hear.
So I reached out to the founderat the time and he put me in
touch with his assistant and Itold him about the story and she
asked me to write for them, andso I did and I volunteered for
about a year writing grants andjust forming relationships with
partners all over the world, andeventually they invited me into
attend staff meetings and longbe cool that got hired a year
(05:53):
later.
So I've been with SBCInternational as a staff since
2012.
Julie Marty-Pearson (06:00):
Wow, so you've been with them for a long
time Over a decade, I'm tryingto remember.
Yeah, amazing.
And as all of the people I'vemet on the last year and a half
in creating this podcast andgetting more involved myself in
the animal rescue, beyond justfollowing and supporting on
social media.
(06:20):
I hear the story a lot wherepeople either as a teenager, got
involved as a volunteer orfostering, or their family was
involved, or you werevolunteering and it grew into
working with an organization,which I think is so important,
because you're not just comingin and seeing it as a job,
you're coming in seeing it asyour passion, like you said.
Really, you have to have thepassion for it in this field
(06:42):
because it's so difficult andcan be so overwhelming that you
have to have a taste of itbefore you walk into helping an
organization grow.
Lori Kalef (06:50):
I think you just hit the nail on the head that most
people and rightfully so getinvolved because they love
animals.
But I think the part about itthat you really have to
understand is that you have tolove people too, and you're
dealing with a lot of people whoare on the front line day after
day.
We are a strictly program-basedorganization.
(07:11):
We don't have our own shelterlike an SPCA would.
So, just aside, spca stands forSociety for Prevention and
Affirilty to Animals, and sowe're not affiliated with any
other SPCA, but we would helpthem if they needed to through
various programs.
But really you have tounderstand people.
You have to understand, for,especially in my position
(07:34):
because we work locally, youhave to understand different
cultures and what the setbacksare, and you can't go into any
situation imposing what you knowand what you learned and what
your beliefs are on that cultureor especially that government
who has different regulationsand different ideologies about
animals.
So there's always manychallenges to face and many ways
(07:56):
to navigate how you can helpanimals.
It's not just a black and whitesort of occupation.
Julie Marty-Pearson (08:02):
Absolutely, and I think that's what's
important for people tounderstand is we realize that
not everyone can volunteerphysically or not everyone can
foster, but there are so manyways you can impact animals and
help organizations do the workthey're doing.
Because it is complexespecially I know, even having
volunteered and worked at mylocal shelter just the
(08:23):
complexity of it's a countyshelter, it's run by the county,
it has to follow certain rules.
So I can't even imagine thecomplexities for you guys when
you're dealing with differentcountries and dealing with
political structures and lawsand regulations.
And even just thetransportation of animals across
borders can be so difficult,let alone all of the what
(08:43):
happens behind the scenes tomake it happen.
Lori Kalef (08:45):
That's right.
And first I just wanna say Iapplaud you for volunteering at
your local shelter, because Iknow that's not easy.
I know what it's like to walkinto shelters and see the eyes
of these animals, that all ofthem my mother animals are
speaking to.
Julie Marty-Pearson (09:03):
They're saying yes.
And it's hard and there's avery high burnout rate.
Lori Kalef (09:08):
So it's really important to look after yourself
and not just constantly lookingafter the animals and the
people.
But you've just shown somethingreally important about one of
our programs abouttransportation, one of our
programs.
It's called Petriot Tets.
It's formerly known asOperation Baghdad Pups Worldwide
, and that's a program that webegan in 2008 when a soldier who
(09:30):
was on deployment to Baghdad,iraq, contacted us and a dog
wandered onto their face and oneof the soldiers says I can't
leave this dog behind.
He has bumped up the morale andthe rest of the platoon.
She has essentially saved mylife and mental health.
And so there's one thing aboutus where there's a will, there's
(09:51):
a way.
My mother always taught me that, and I was in part of the
organization at the time, but webrought that dog home and since
then we've brought home over1300 dogs and cats and one doggy
for US service members who areon active deployment or who are
veterans working as contractorsoverseas in court-torn zones.
The red tape to be able tobring a dog or a cat home to the
(10:15):
United States and that's wherewe bring them to is very complex
.
Like you said, we often getthis question why can't you just
put the dog on an airplane withyou and there are so many
regulations and red tape tofollow and we really strictly
adhere to the exporting andimporting governing laws of both
(10:35):
countries.
And it can take up to sixmonths, especially with the new
CDC regulations for dogs thatare deemed coming from high-risk
rabies countries.
So there's about 113 of them.
Julie Marty-Pearson (10:49):
Wow, I can't even imagine because I
know from just learning frompeople in rescue that being in
the shelter just the regulationsfor the medical aspect, because
when dogs are confined or heldin places together disease
spreads so fast.
So I can imagine how difficult,how regulated it is.
We're protecting that animalbut you're protecting the only
(11:11):
other animals that are intransit or near them, or
protecting the animals in thecountry that they're coming to.
I'm sure that must be a verydifficult part of the process.
Lori Kalef (11:20):
Yeah, it is, and it's not just an animal issue,
but we look at it as a publichealth issue as well, and that's
a very helpful approach whenwe're working with governments
who their main way ofcontrolling and overpopulation
of animals is to sadly go on.
They call them or they put themin municipal shelters and they
don't stand a chance, they'recity pounds or whatnot.
(11:42):
Our other program whichactually started our entire
organization back in 2006, iscalled the Shelter Support
Program and one of our biggestmissions is to be able to chaff,
neuter, vaccinate and release.
So we want to maintain thehealth of the public and, of
course, maintain the health ofthe current population of
(12:02):
animals so that both can livesimultaneously and harmoniously.
So this program one of theaspects in that we send out
grants, that's, a grant givingprogram and we help.
I think we're over 300 partnersnow.
I think this year it'llprobably go up about 100.
(12:23):
And so we sent funding andveterinary supplies to be able
to help with spain neuterprograms and vaccination
programs.
It's World Ravies Day at theend of September, and so we're
running a big campaigndistributing over $30,000 of
homes, funding and resources forWorld Ravies Day so that we can
people from all over thecountries, establish
(12:44):
organizations and shelters, willbe able to do more vaccines.
Julie Marty-Pearson (12:50):
That's amazing because vaccines are
crucial and even in the US we'veseen such an issue with all the
animals who were adopted duringCOVID and didn't get vaccinated
, and that's a lot of the healthissues that are now faced by
shelters, because now they're inthere, they haven't been
vaccinated, they're getting sickand it's spreading.
So I can imagine in anothercountry where they don't even
(13:11):
have access to getting vaccines,or spain neuter, that it's
critical for them in terms oftheir overwhelming pet
population, especially ifthey're on the streets and it's
easy for them to spread disease.
Lori Kalef (13:23):
Very easy.
Yeah, sadly, we've seen theworst of the worst, but we've
also seen the best of the best,and I think that there is.
There has been a paradigm shiftover the last decade on the
approach to managingoverpopulation of animals and
keeping them healthy and safe,and I think one of the biggest
contributors to that is socialmedia, and younger populations
(13:45):
are seeing this and seeing whatcan happen and the cruelty.
And then, of course, if we'regoing back to how some
governments around the worldmanage their population by
killing young children areseeing this on the streets and
the effect that it has on themas well is pretty profound.
So I think there really is anice shift happening.
(14:06):
Of course, social media alsobrings up the worst, and we see
a lot of atrocities around theworld, but there… it's
definitely more good than bad.
That's what I can tell you.
Julie Marty-Pearson (14:20):
I can't imagine what animal rescue was
like 10 years ago when youdidn't have the power of social
media to spread awareness, toeducate, to fundraise even.
I see so many local, smallerrescues fundraise quickly for a
dog that needs out of a shelterthat they would have never had
access to, and I think it alsoinspires people to act and to
(14:45):
get involved.
Lori Kalef (14:46):
Absolutely.
It enables people to be invoice.
You said something, you touchedupon something before, about
how a lot of people might getinvolved and whether it's a lot
of obviously non-profitorganizations.
They rely strictly, solely onkind donors and with the
introduction of social media andfundraising, even if you can't
(15:07):
donate, you can share stories,you can share even the
atrocities and you can be avoice and people who have
followers also understand and itleads to such a wonderful
ripple effect that gains moreand more support.
So anytime somebody asks, Iwould say this anytime somebody
asks me how can I help?
They're already helping becausethey're a voice and they're
(15:29):
sharing and they want to knowmore about situations.
Julie Marty-Pearson (15:33):
Yeah, I think that's critical and it's
one of the reasons I started thepodcast.
But I've this is motivated tokeep me going is just sharing a
story.
You never know who might see it.
Even if it's not a like or acomment, People see stuff and it
makes them stop and mayberealize, wow, I need to know
more about this, I want to beinvolved.
But simply reposting, resharingis.
(15:54):
It's a huge thing because itkeeps the momentum of whatever
that story is or the need ismoving forward.
Yes, Absolutely.
Lori Kalef (16:02):
And you probably know this too, that there's a
fine line with what you share.
If you're constantly, alwayssharing the horrible stories,
you're probably going to lose alot of followers, because
there's compassion fatigue andit's just hard to watch that.
All the time we really try tohighlight a lot of our successes
and the reunions, especiallydogs and cats coming home to
their veterans and activesoldiers and contractors, even
(16:26):
embassy workers.
So it's important to remindpeople that it's not all bad,
that there is a lot of good andthere are a lot of incredible
people and organizations aroundthe US, around Canada and around
the rest of the world who aredoing such great things.
Julie Marty-Pearson (16:42):
Absolutely Speaking of that with Patriot
Pets, is there a story maybe youwant to share about a reunion
or one of the trips you were onbringing the pets home that you
think would really inspirepeople to learn more about the
program?
Lori Kalef (16:56):
Oh, yes, this is a great question.
Now I have to choose which one.
I don't think.
When a soldier service memberis on deployment and they
contact us, they need to gothrough a vetting process to
make sure that they're not justbeing reactive and they're going
to take this dog and not beable to look after it when they
(17:16):
get home.
We really form strongrelationships with these
individuals and they become partof our family and for many
years I always say that once youcome into the program, you're
part of our family forever.
You got to deal with that, andso they keep in touch and they
tell us how these dogs or catshave changed their lives.
There's one particular dog,there's many, but there's one
(17:39):
particular dog and I won'tmention the soldier's name
because I want to respect hisprivacy but it was during a
pretty rough political time inthe Middle East and he had a dog
that he fell in love with andhe later confided to me that he
was on suicide ideation and hewas thinking about taking his
(18:01):
own life while on his deployment.
You're so far away from yourfamily.
You don't have the luxuries,even a bed or the ability to
sometimes wake up when you wantto wake up or have a nice sleep,
because you're always on watch24 hours a day and this dog
saved his life.
And the dog is still alive.
(18:22):
The soldier's still alive andwe keep in touch and he always
reminds me we're checking witheach other periodically how
integrating back intocivilization was such a key part
for him as well when hereturned to the United States,
and he has since left themilitary.
But this dog helped himreintegrate back into civilian
(18:42):
life.
And I think that's one of thekey aspects about this program
is that we don't always realizethat we're not just saving not
we, but everybody doesn't alwaysrealize that we're not just
saving the dog or the cat, butwe're saving people's lives as
well.
Julie Marty-Pearson (19:00):
That's really powerful.
But I would say so true.
I know personally.
I've been through differentstruggles in my life mental
health wise, physical healthwise and I've always had pets as
my crutch not that they didanything special other than just
letting me pet them or sleepwith me or whatever it may be.
So I can imagine someone goingthrough something so difficult
(19:21):
being in the armed forces, beingin such high alert, dealing
with difficult mental healthissues, having the dog there
with him at the time and thatbond they had really developed.
That's just so powerful andit's amazing that he was able to
keep that and grow with it andhelp them with reintegrating.
But I also think it's animportant story.
(19:43):
We don't really realize day today what our armed forces go
through, especially when they'reoverseas.
They're away from theirfamilies.
They're in a highly difficultsituation.
Like you said, they havenothing, they don't have a home,
they don't have their own bed,their own space to feel safe in,
necessarily, and having ananimal in that situation could
just be profoundly helpful.
Lori Kalef (20:04):
It reminds them of Shuling for sure and obviously
when they come into the programthey're animal lovers or they
become animal lovers veryquickly and they see such
horrible things on deploymentand they see a lot of cruelty to
animals which is really toughon them.
And I think it's also importantto note that the service members
are risking their position inthe military a lot of the time
(20:27):
because sadly it's still againstthe military's policy to be
able to rescue a dog or a cat ondeployment.
There's an order called GeneralOrder One which prohibits the
feeding or lifting after of adog or a cat while on deployment
.
So a lot of the time we'renavigating through not just the
(20:48):
hoops and the red tape to beable to get the animal into our
care and back home but to keepthe animal safe and hidden at
some occasions before we can dothat.
But I will say there also hasbeen a shift in the most recent
years where commanders areseeing how much it means to
these service members while ondeployment and how much it
(21:09):
boosts their morale and givesthem energy and they are really
turning away and saying yes,let's do this, and they let them
have them and then they knowthat we have a contract that we
will bring them into our care.
So it's not forever thatthey're going to be with animal
on deployment.
Julie Marty-Pearson (21:27):
And I think that's so important.
Just like everything, we learnthrough experience and I'm sure
they're seeing more often thannot how helpful the animals can
be.
My dad was a World War IIveteran so obviously I wasn't
around when he was in theservice, but having him as my
dad always gave me a much betterappreciation of what they go
through and what they see andthe long-term impacts like for
(21:48):
him he had long-term impactshealth-wise from his time in the
service.
We have to realize that itisn't just, like you said, about
saving the animal.
It is about the mental andoftentimes physical health of
the servicemen or women and whenthey get back, that's that
support that they get.
Lori Kalef (22:06):
that helps them even more in the long-term and
that's really important, yeahabsolutely A lot of the dogs
that we rescued from our programhave become certified service
animals.
One particular case and I don'tmean to only shed some sad
stories here, but there was asoldier who was in Syria and
(22:27):
there was a big explosion and helost three of his limbs and his
eyesight.
He had rescued this dogbeforehand and we had already
brought the dog into our care.
It's hard to describe and storywithout getting a little choked
up, but we helped him get thedog registered.
(22:48):
We brought the dog into SpecialX training for him so that he
can be a seeing eye dog and atherapy dog.
Yeah, and it's still goingquite well today.
Julie Marty-Pearson (22:58):
I think service animals are just a hero
in their own way.
Heroes come in all differentshapes, sizes and breeds and
they don't even have to doanything but sit with someone to
be a hero, to be helpful.
My husband as a child actuallyhelped raise puppies for guide
dogs for the blind.
I actually got to go with himto the school where they train
(23:21):
them and then the people come inand get matched with their dog
and they get to be trained toget to know each other.
It was just such an incredibleplace to be to really see what's
going on in the power of whatthose dogs do for their person,
whatever type of therapy dog orguide dog it might be.
I can imagine in thesescenarios, when they actually
(23:42):
come back from havingexperienced the war with them
and now are back home and arehelping them through different
transitions, that it's that muchmore important and much more
deep of a connection thatthey've made.
Yeah, it's their combat buddies.
Lori Kalef (23:57):
They know they've lived and breathed whatever
they've been through together.
I think we know, and probablyeverybody listening to this
podcast right now knows, thatevery dog is a therapy dog.
They're just not given thatlabel.
Julie Marty-Pearson (24:11):
Yes, they don't deserve dog good.
They give us without anything,any kind of training or need
they just know.
I can imagine with Patriot Petthey develop that connection
even more deeply when they'rereally saving each other and
then they're able to come homeand be together.
Wasn't that a greatconversation?
Now, remember, that's just partone of a two-part interview
(24:34):
with Lori talking about her workwith SVCA International and all
of their incredible programs.
The next episode of the podcast, which will be out in two days,
will be part two of myconversation, where you'll hear
about the Apollo 8 program, aswell as others, and what those
programs are doing to helpanimals in need, both here in
(24:55):
the US and abroad.
Please don't forget to follow,rate and review the podcast and
whatever podcast platform or appyou are listening to, and help
spread the news so that morepeople listen and are educated
about the important programs,rescues and organizations
working to help animals in needall over the globe.
(25:16):
Until next time, my friends.
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