October 11, 2023 • 29 mins
Hear inspiring stories of rescued pets and insights into global animal welfare efforts. Lori Kalef, from SPCA International, joins us in part two of our interview, to discuss Apollo's Aid program, an initiative that has been a beacon of hope for military members relocating with their pets, and animals in war-torn regions.
Navigating through heartwarming rescue tales, we explore the myriad challenges faced by these champions of animal welfare. Lori amplifies on the conundrum of finding forever homes for rescued pets and the distressing reality of euthanizing healthy, friendly animals due to overcrowding in shelters. As we unravel the horrifying extent of animal cruelty and abandonment in the US, Lori emphasizes the critical role of rescue & adoption in mitigating this crisis.
In this engaging dialogue, we delve into the potential of education and advocacy in solving these issues. Lori highlights the power of social media in animal rescue, but also acknowledges the emotional burden it places on those on the front lines. We talk about the importance of volunteering and understanding different cultures when advocating for animals. Listeners will gain insight into the challenges and complexity of animal rescue and how they can make a difference, even if they can't physically volunteer.
Our discussion with this inspiring advocate for animal welfare wraps up with the empowering reminder - everyone can make a difference. Whether it's through volunteering, fostering, sharing, or speaking out - every effort counts. So tune in as we uncover the complexities of animal rescue and welfare, and learn how you can join this noble cause.
Learn more about SPCA International on their Website, Follow SPCAI on Instagram and Facebook.
Support the Podcast by buying cute merch! Check out the Your Story Matters Official Store with items supporting both The Story of My Pet Podcast. & Podcast Your Story Now.
Shop our affiliate sponsors:
Learn more & shop Nuvita CBD Use code Julie10 for 10% for you & pets!
Learn more & shop Little Words Project Use code FURMOM for 15% for you & gifts for friends and family!
The Story of My Pet Podcast and Blog- Website - Instagram - Twitter
Contact your host via Email- julie@thestoryofmypetpodcast.com
Connect with your host, Julie Marty-Pearson – Website - YouTube - Instagram - Facebook - LinkedIn - ...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie Marty-Pearson (00:07):
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers
, welcome to another new episodeof the story of my pet podcast.
I am your host, as always,julie Marty Pearson, and I am
happy to have you back for a newepisode.
That is part two of myinterview with Lori Kayla from
SPCA International.
We talked a lot about Patriotpets and dogs and cats that are
(00:30):
rescued by military while ondeployment and bringing them to
the US to be reunited with theservicemen and women who rescued
them and the really incrediblestories that Lori shared in the
last episode.
So if you haven't heard that,go back in episode and please
listen.
In this episode today we'regoing to talk about the Apollo's
(00:53):
aid program that SPCAInternational has.
There's several parts to itthat do different things from
helping cover moving costs formilitary either in the United
States or abroad so that they'reable to bring their pets with
them.
They have grant programs forthat as well as for helping to
support them when there are vetbills or there's medical that
(01:16):
the pets need and the servicemenand women aren't able to cover.
That program is able to help.
But we also talk a lot abouthelping animals in war and torn
areas.
We specifically talk about someexperience Lori has had with
those programs, as well as whathappened and continues to happen
in Ukraine, and I think this isalso a very timely episode
considering what's currentlyhappening in Israel and
(01:38):
Palestine.
Obviously, it's devastating tosee and hear what's happening to
the people in those places, butI also know what I know that
there's also probably animals atrisk and being hurt and dying
in the areas, places where thereis violence.
So I think this information iseven more important.
I appreciate you all being hereto listen, remember, follow,
(02:00):
rate and review wherever you arelistening to the podcast.
Help spread the word so morepeople can see the podcast,
listen and learn about all theimportant programs that we
talked about on the episodes.
Now listen to part two of myinterview with Lori Kayla from
SPCA International, anotherprogram called Apollo's Aid.
(02:23):
Can you talk a little bit about?
Lori Kalef (02:25):
that?
Yeah, thank you for askingabout that.
It's a relatively new programand it encompasses three
different parts.
One of them is called Apollo'sAid PCS and that is for soldiers
who are not necessarily onedeployment but are being
relocated with their familiesand their pets.
And what we've seen over theyears is that in US bases and
(02:45):
other bases, us military basesthat are around the world, we've
seen that because it costs somuch money to bring your dog or
cat with you and the militarydidn't help with any funding for
animals at the time that isshifting in January I might say
that a lot of the dogs or catsended up in shelters around the
bases, and so we saw such anincrease in numbers that we
(03:07):
started a program where it'sanother grant-driven program for
service members who are PCS andwho can't afford the high cost
transporting their dogs or catswith them.
So that's one part, one aspectof the program.
Another one which we juststarted this year is called the
Apollo's Aid Refugee PortionProgram, and this was inspired
(03:28):
after last year, spcaInternational, a number of other
organizations collectively cametogether to bring in 286 dogs
and cats on a Russian militaryaircraft right before the
Russian war started fromAfghanistan, after NATO and the
US military took out in Augustof 2021.
(03:50):
So what happened then was justI think we're still looking back
on this and still see all theeffects but one of the most
devastating times in US historyand world history, and a lot of
people lost their lives, a lotof animals lost their lives and
a lot were left behind.
So we had an organization thatwe worked with that stayed there
(04:13):
, stayed open and kept theirdoors open and rescued as many
dogs and cats as they possiblycould that were left behind, and
we tried to get them out duringthe crisis, during the initial
pull-out of NATO and US military, but unfortunately it didn't
come out.
It didn't happen and a lot ofthe dogs died because of it.
They were brought to theairport and there was no way to
(04:34):
get them out and they werereleased onto the tarmac, and so
we made it into our mission tosave and wring home all those
that we could and we had accessto, and it was a huge world
effort.
I would say it's called MissionPossible, and so many people
(04:54):
from around the world keeptogether to hold pants to make
this possible, and a lot of thedogs and cats belong to US
embassy workers or foreignembassy workers or refugee
families that were able to fleeAfghanistan and so far get out.
And there was one particularfamily of her name and I'm
(05:16):
allowed to tell the name becausethere's many stories about her.
Her name is Fretchda Siddiqi.
She lives in the banks of theriver, you see right now, and
she had a dog named Lucky thatshe saved from the streets.
It was getting beaten up bychildren and she saved the dog,
and she also saved a cat namedWooyah, and the night before our
plane was about to leave, shedropped off her cat and dog, not
(05:38):
knowing if she was ever goingto see them again, and she had
to go into hiding because thenew government that came in, the
Taliban, was after her family,because she is a woman's rights
activist and her father was aprominent figure in the
community and she lost familymembers and Lucky the dog.
She taught him how to opendoors, unlock doors, and so they
(06:01):
went from home to home all thetime and he would alert the
family if the Taliban was coming, and they left this dog all the
time, and so we knew that whatwe would do would ever return to
one day reunite them.
And it took over a year,because she was stepping in
(06:22):
other countries for a long while.
Of course, she got her Romanianresidency and in October of last
year we got to reunite Luckyand Fretchda together and it was
absolutely overwhelming and soincredible and so we thought
there's going to be a lot ofmore people like this,
especially with the Ukraine warhappening, and so we developed
the refugee portion of thisprogram and he was actively
(06:45):
helping other refugee familiesas well now in Sudan and in
Ukraine.
And the last aspect of it whichis not the last it's a
wonderful program as well it'sthe medical portion of it.
So we felt quite high costs foremergency situations especially
or if there is cancer andsomething that could be helped
(07:06):
and needs open to the melancholyand veterans and if they can't
afford it.
It's another grant-givingprogram where we thought was up
to 50% of the costs.
Julie Marty-Pearson (07:16):
That's really wonderful because I think
that's a huge piece of thecurrent overcrowding shelter
problem is when people tryeverything they can but they
can't afford the pet, especiallymedical costs, and I'm sure
that's even more difficult forveterans to have to deal with.
That program makes a reallyimportant impact, not just for
their family but for not thoseanimals not ending up in the
(07:38):
shelter that are alreadyovercrowded.
Lori Kalef (07:41):
Yeah, or use the Nines because they can't help
them with their medical problem.
Julie Marty-Pearson (07:45):
You talked about the refugee program sounds
really important and critical.
I actually had a friend of afriend on the podcast last year
who she knew her locally becauseshe had been a foreign exchange
student here a few years agoand she's in Ukraine and she's
in the middle of the war and shespoke a lot about what her and
(08:07):
her family were doing to notonly protect their pets but
saving pets that had been leftbehind when people left or they
were found injured from.
There were points at which thewar was literally in her town
and she was finding dogs thathad been shot and things like
that.
So I can imagine the importanceof your refugee portion of that
program because obviouslythat's still ongoing, as well as
(08:29):
other places too that they needhelp because people can't do it
.
They have to save themselvesand they can't always save their
pets and they're left behind insituations where they're not
cared for or they could beinjured.
Lori Kalef (08:41):
I know a pal of her name that's searched.
Right now People are thinkinglike I would never leave my dog
or cat or pet behind, and nobodywanted to do that Right, and a
lot of people who were evacuatedthought that they can come back
for their dogs or pets or otheranimals.
And so we work withorganizations on the ground and
(09:03):
we're talking about Ukraine.
We have partners there.
We actually just partnered upwith Worldwide Vets and the
Street Dog Coalition and werepurposed an old trailer unit
to be a mobile veterinary clinicand they're partially funding
this mobile clinic for a year togo around and help all the dogs
and cats and horses and cowsthat have been injured through
(09:25):
the war and a lot of the timetoo, or that ripple effect where
they find this dog and there'sa microchip and they know that
it has an odor and they can bebrought to a shelter or whatnot.
Find a way to bring them backtogether.
But yeah, to be in a situationwhere you have maybe 10 minutes
to not even 10 minutes, a fewminutes to pack up all of your
(09:47):
life's belongings and know thatyou can't bring your beloved pet
with you is just catastrophic.
Julie Marty-Pearson (09:53):
Yeah, it's something I can't even imagine,
and we often want to blamepeople and there are a lot of
people to blame, unfortunately,in terms of animals that end up
at shelters, but there are somany that we don't know the
story of what the decision theyhad to come to.
Or in a situation like that, oreven like what we've seen with
the fire in Maui more recently,people literally had split
(10:14):
seconds, minutes to make thedecision of how to leave and a
lot of them were evacuated fromtheir workplace or they couldn't
even go home to get to theirpets, and those are situations
where we want to do anything wecan to reunite that, but it
obviously takes its own army todo that type of reunification.
It sounds like that's reallywhat you all have built with the
(10:36):
Apollo's aid programs invarious capacities.
Lori Kalef (10:40):
Yeah, and the only way.
I think you're the only waythat we're able to do this, and
that's what the mandate of SBCInternational is to build
relationships, trustingrelationships with other people
around the world.
We're a very tiny team, youknow.
We have the eye acronym at theend of the international portion
, but the way that we're able todo our work and help more
(11:01):
people and help animals is byforming relationships and
partnerships around the world.
So we're all in it together.
Julie Marty-Pearson (11:09):
And someone listening to this podcast is
very inspired by one of the manyprograms doing incredible work
that you've mentioned.
They say what would make themost impact for them to get
involved to help you.
What would you say to them?
Lori Kalef (11:23):
I would have to say because we are a gone profit.
In order to do the work that wedo, we need to continue to
raise funds, and we have anamazing fundraising team who
work around the clock to be ableto continue to keep our
programs alive.
Donations, of course.
They're always needed.
If you can't donate, you knowthat we're coming into our own
(11:43):
economic crisis right now.
Sharing, like we talked abouton social media, talking about
being a voice, volunteering inyour local shoppers Our Patriot
programs is often looking forflight volunteers, flight
experts for doffs and cats inparts of the world, but let me
just put a little bit of anasterisk on that.
(12:04):
These are parts of the worldwhere you don't tell your
parents about until you get home.
So there's that, and it's justbeing a voice and being able to
talk about it and share in anintelligence and caring way.
Julie Marty-Pearson (12:18):
So important.
So if you're listening andyou're inspired by this, please
share the podcast with otherpeople so that they will listen
to and also be creating a blogpost, so hopefully that will
generate more traffic for peopleto read about it and want to
learn more about your programsin the way that they can support
.
So we've talked a lot aboutSPCA International and you
(12:39):
talked a little bit about yourown experience with animals in
the beginning, but I know youcurrently have three rescue dogs
that you've rescued fromvarious places around the world,
so I'm sure that everyonelistening would love to hear a
little bit about your ownstories and the dogs that are in
your life and important You'vejust asked me to speak upon my
favorite topic in the world.
Lori Kalef (13:02):
I do have three dogs .
They're all from differentparts of the world.
I would say that we generallydon't adopt dogs and bring them
back, or cats and bring themback, because we manage our own
overpopulation in North America.
Julie Marty-Pearson (13:15):
I have one dog who's from a high-kill
shelter in California, so I callthat not imposing on Canada
because we're neighbors and alot of the animals in our
high-kill shelters do end up inCanada, because you don't have
the overpopulation issues wehave, which is what's great when
we have rescue partners whotransport North for us.
So I can't really get that.
Lori Kalef (13:35):
We mentioned Marley's Muts and we teamed up
with Marley's Muts through PetRescue Pilots and at the
beginning of COVID we had peoplelooking and looking for rescue
dogs and we didn't have enough.
So we had a program where wewere bringing dogs and cats from
high-kill shelters inCalifornia, bringing them to
Victoria BC where we had ourpartners here at Grinkels Dog
Rescue Society, and finding themloving homes and in Calvary as
(13:59):
well.
Yes, there is that need.
Fortunately, things haveshifted post-COVID.
Yes, we've got my dog, that'sTodd, he's from California, and
I have another dog.
His name is Duffy.
And see, I was working inRomania with our partners back
in 2015 and with Dog RescueRomania.
They have over $2,000 in theircare and we were supporting
(14:21):
their Span Nudur efforts andworking with the local
government people to change theideology about controlling the
overpopulation.
And my colleague and I weredriving it's a funny story and
we were driving and I pulledover in the rental car at a gas
station just to get some waterand somebody there was kicking a
little puppy that was justshivering, and so we picked up
(14:42):
the puppy.
We spoke to the gas stationattendant and she said take this
away, or there is somebody'sgoing to do something bad to it.
And so we did.
And then, while we were gettingthe car ready, in the field
right behind the gas stationthere was like a flash of white
and this dog barking and barking, which I'm sure everybody heard
before earlier on in thepodcast.
(15:02):
His chasing was squirrel.
He probably read our jacketsthat.
We just jumped right into ourcar and he was leading out of
his eyes.
He was attacked by somethingand he just looked at me and
said let's go.
So we brought him home.
I brought both dogs home withme here and I was going to find
both of them at home.
I found the puppy at home, butI guess I found Duffy at home
(15:25):
too.
Julie Marty-Pearson (15:27):
That's amazing, and it's always amazing
to me how Our pets find us ohyes.
The pets we're supposed to havefind us.
Whatever that connection is,Sometimes it's just seeing a
video of them on social mediaand I think that's my dog or
they literally show up for us.
Lori Kalef (15:44):
Absolutely.
And that's how my third dogcame to be.
His name is Bojangles and he'sfrom Afghanistan Mission and we
built a temporary shelter at theSouth Terminal Airport in Bank
of the Hrpc and I was basicallyliving there and not at the
shelter, but I had both of mydogs in the office and this one
dog, big Anatolian shepherd,next to him Softest eyes in the
(16:08):
world kept looking by at theoffice at my two dogs sleeping,
and then eventually he justrolled on his back and put his
paw up at the window and I'mlike, oh, shay, come on in.
And she came in.
My dogs didn't even raise theirheads.
He went next to them, fellasleep.
I'm like, okay, that's the hugething too.
Julie Marty-Pearson (16:28):
I love that .
Yeah, they really do choose us.
My most recent have three catsright now and she was one of six
that I fostered in the fall andthere was something about her,
from the moment I brought thosesix home, that she was just like
I see you and she's now ours.
She is our pumpkin and I couldhave easily kept all of them.
(16:50):
I bottle fed them for six weeksso I was very connected to them
and loved them and in the end Ialmost kept two of my husbands
come on.
Luckily at the time thereweren't a lot of kids.
They all found amazing homes.
But there's a connection that wemake with the animals we're
supposed to be with, who aresupposed to be a part of our
lives, and we're supposed to bea part of their lives, no matter
how long or how short that maybe.
(17:12):
And I know even when I wasworking doing the offsite
adoption event, there were dogsthat we would take out multiple
times because we were trying ourhardest and I would be very
connected to them and it wasvery difficult to watch them get
adopted and returned or not getadopted.
And we try and try because youreally just see the incredible
soul that is within them, and soI'm sure that so much too.
(17:35):
When you're actually in theseother countries on the front
line seeing the animals beingrescued, that must be also very
difficult too, because you wantto save them all and that
doesn't always work, but you'remaking a big impact.
So talk a little bit about whatis maybe the hardest part for
the work that you do to make itpeople understand a little bit
of what's going on in the worldand how difficult the animal
(17:56):
welfare arena really is.
Lori Kalef (17:59):
Yeah, thank you, and I just want to say thank you to
you for fostering.
It's another aspect of how youcan help too, and I didn't
mention that before when youpose that question is fostering.
Fostering opens up another cageand already overpopulated
shelter, and we're in a crisismode right now in North America
(18:20):
Well, I'm going to speak to onein the United States especially
but the euthanasia rate hasdramatically increased for
healthy dogs, for friendly dogs,for healthy cats or friendly
cats, and it's absolutelytremendous what's happening
right now.
And so fostering saved my life.
It opens up another space to beable to bring another animal in
(18:41):
.
So touching upon that, to know Ithink that's one question that
I used to be asked when I firststarted at SBCM International is
how do you do it?
How do you look at all theseanimals that need homes?
For that you need to look afteror help, whether it's metaphor,
wise, or finding them a home oreven vaccinating them, and you
(19:02):
know that you can't save themall, and I think at the
beginning, if you can finallycurl up underneath my desk in a
little ball, just wailingbecause not to be able to help
every single animal is just, isstill absolutely hurt rating.
But you push through and youhave to be able to.
You can't stop, because I wouldsay that's once we can never
(19:23):
not know and you save as manylives as you can.
And that's why it's soimportant to keep spreading the
awareness and what's happeningin the world.
I spoke a lot about what'shappening external of the United
States, but in our own backyardthis is happening.
This aside from all the crueltyand abandonment on the streets
(19:44):
I know that you walk into ashelter.
It must be absolutelyheartbreaking to know that
animal has been there over acertain amount of time.
Their fate is not a good one,and rescuers is the most
rewarding thing that you can do,not for just for the animal,
but for yourself as well.
And One of the pieces of how hecan do this recipe work is
(20:09):
education, Because I've beenapproached over the years that
people want to go to readers.
I know that there's a lot ofreputable readers, but at this
time, I feel that until we cansolve and manage the
overpopulation crisis, we haveto be able to manage the amount
of animals coming in, becausethe amount of animals coming in
(20:33):
is the ratio going out to homes.
It's dramatically different.
Julie Marty-Pearson (20:39):
It is.
It's unfortunately, where I livein California and Kern County.
It's awful and not getting anybetter, unfortunately, and every
time I'm on social media I seevideo after video of especially
large dogs in shelters, sweetdogs, even young dogs, puppies,
pregnant dogs just over and needa foster and need a rescue
(21:02):
adoption.
I know for myself.
I actually had to take a stepback after I had done adoption
events for about six months,because it is overwhelming,
because every day you get twoout and you show up and there's
six kennels full with new ones.
Or you hear oh, we just got 30in from another issue, which it
doesn't stop, but if we don'thelp then it's just going to get
(21:24):
you to get worse and everyanimal we save makes a
difference.
And that's just what I'vealways had to tell myself.
And it isn't easy andcompassion fatigue is real and
from every aspect, fromvolunteers, from the shelter
staff, the rescue staff to theveterinarians all of them people
working in nonprofitorganizations like you, whether
they're on the front lines ornot you see it day after day and
(21:46):
it doesn't end.
But it can only get better withmore people helping, with more
education and more peoplespeaking out and saying I can
help just by sharing, just byvolunteering one day a week,
whatever it may be.
Lori Kalef (22:00):
Absolutely, or by fostering, like you said.
That is one of the keyinformants when I know a very
similar response to mynon-inferno challenge and it's
awful.
One of the things is that Iknow in social media it works in
the animal's favor and theoverpopulation of not particular
county or shelter but the restof the organizations that come
(22:22):
in are also just so overwhelmedand I think people are always
saying take this one more, andhaving to say no is traumatic
Absolutely.
Julie Marty-Pears (22:38):
Heartbreaking .
I know that all of that everyknow they've had to say, for
whatever reason, stays with themand people don't realize that
you realize you've saved somebut the ones you couldn't or
didn't even see, that's alwaysgoing to stay with them and I
know it motivates a lot ofpeople but it also makes it
what's hard for people to keepgoing.
More, absolutely, and I've seensome smaller rescues locally
(22:59):
have to step back and not do itfor a little while just because
there are no foresters or thereare no adopters, but just by
everybody listening to this andsharing and hearing your stories
.
Hopefully it will inspiresomeone to take action.
That will have a ripple effectand that's what we all want.
Lori Kalef (23:19):
My favorite terminology for that is we need
to continue to hold hands acrossthe world, and there are many
ways that we can step into, howwe can all be part of it.
I'll be part of the team.
It could be the people who areon the front line or who work
for an organization, whovolunteer.
Everybody can help.
Everybody can be at voice.
Julie Marty-Pearson (23:37):
Absolutely.
I think that's a great place toend, that we can all do our
part, whatever that part may befor us.
Where we live, what we haveaccess to, there is a part for
us all to play in order to makeit better.
I just want to thank you, lori,so much for being here.
It was a pleasure to meet you,to learn about your work, how
(23:59):
you and your own life and whereyou've come from and how you
were inspired into animal rescueand welfare, but also to learn
more specifically about the workthat SPCA International is
doing and how important it isand how we all need to support
it, because we're going to needit even more as we keep moving
forward in this crazy worldwe're living in.
Lori Kalef (24:22):
Thank you so much.
I appreciate your thoughtfulquestions and the opportunity to
speak with you about this alsocreates the awareness, so
hopefully everybody is stilllistening by this time and I
hope they can share this podcast, and I just really appreciate
the opportunity to be able tomeet with you at SCC
International.
Julie Marty-Pearson (24:40):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode.
I hope you enjoyed the secondpart of our conversation,
hearing more about theincredible programs that SPCA
International has and how theysupport our military women and
men, both here and abroad, aswell as help those in embattled
(25:03):
areas where active war and othertypes of violence are happening
, and they're helping to keepanimal safe and be able to be
reunited with their family.
I think there is so muchimportant information to be
heard in this episode, as wellas in the previous.
I hope you've learned some newthings.
If you want to follow thepodcast, you can follow SPCA
(25:24):
International and keep up on thedifferent programs that are
going on here and abroad.
You can do your part, whetherit's by sharing or donating,
volunteering your own time inyour local community.
Remember, fostering andadoption are needed so much
right now, so please help toadvocate and educate others in
(25:44):
those areas.
Keep sharing the podcast.
Wherever you are listening tothis right now, please follow so
you don't miss an episode rateand review so that the podcast
gets pushed out to more peopleand can hear this important
information.
As always, I appreciate you allso much my listeners, my
friends and my fellow animallovers for listening, supporting
(26:06):
, sharing and being here on thisjourney to help, to advocate
and educate as many as possibleand, ultimately, to help as many
animals in our own localcommunity and around the world
that we can.
Until next time, my friends,thank you again for being here.
Thank you.
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers
, welcome to another new episodeof the story of my pet podcast.
I am your host, as always,julie Marty Pearson, and I am
happy to have you back for a newepisode.
That is part two of myinterview with Lori Kayla from
SPCA International.
We talked a lot about Patriotpets and dogs and cats that are
(00:30):
rescued by military while ondeployment and bringing them to
the US to be reunited with theservicemen and women who rescued
them and the really incrediblestories that Lori shared in the
last episode.
So if you haven't heard that,go back in episode and please
listen.
In this episode today we'regoing to talk about the Apollo's
(00:53):
aid program that SPCAInternational has.
There's several parts to itthat do different things from
helping cover moving costs formilitary either in the United
States or abroad so that they'reable to bring their pets with
them.
They have grant programs forthat as well as for helping to
support them when there are vetbills or there's medical that
(01:16):
the pets need and the servicemenand women aren't able to cover.
That program is able to help.
But we also talk a lot abouthelping animals in war and torn
areas.
We specifically talk about someexperience Lori has had with
those programs, as well as whathappened and continues to happen
in Ukraine, and I think this isalso a very timely episode
considering what's currentlyhappening in Israel and
(01:38):
Palestine.
Obviously, it's devastating tosee and hear what's happening to
the people in those places, butI also know what I know that
there's also probably animals atrisk and being hurt and dying
in the areas, places where thereis violence.
So I think this information iseven more important.
I appreciate you all being hereto listen, remember, follow,
(02:00):
rate and review wherever you arelistening to the podcast.
Help spread the word so morepeople can see the podcast,
listen and learn about all theimportant programs that we
talked about on the episodes.
Now listen to part two of myinterview with Lori Kayla from
SPCA International, anotherprogram called Apollo's Aid.
(02:23):
Can you talk a little bit about?
Lori Kalef (02:25):
that?
Yeah, thank you for askingabout that.
It's a relatively new programand it encompasses three
different parts.
One of them is called Apollo'sAid PCS and that is for soldiers
who are not necessarily onedeployment but are being
relocated with their familiesand their pets.
And what we've seen over theyears is that in US bases and
(02:45):
other bases, us military basesthat are around the world, we've
seen that because it costs somuch money to bring your dog or
cat with you and the militarydidn't help with any funding for
animals at the time that isshifting in January I might say
that a lot of the dogs or catsended up in shelters around the
bases, and so we saw such anincrease in numbers that we
(03:07):
started a program where it'sanother grant-driven program for
service members who are PCS andwho can't afford the high cost
transporting their dogs or catswith them.
So that's one part, one aspectof the program.
Another one which we juststarted this year is called the
Apollo's Aid Refugee PortionProgram, and this was inspired
(03:28):
after last year, spcaInternational, a number of other
organizations collectively cametogether to bring in 286 dogs
and cats on a Russian militaryaircraft right before the
Russian war started fromAfghanistan, after NATO and the
US military took out in Augustof 2021.
(03:50):
So what happened then was justI think we're still looking back
on this and still see all theeffects but one of the most
devastating times in US historyand world history, and a lot of
people lost their lives, a lotof animals lost their lives and
a lot were left behind.
So we had an organization thatwe worked with that stayed there
(04:13):
, stayed open and kept theirdoors open and rescued as many
dogs and cats as they possiblycould that were left behind, and
we tried to get them out duringthe crisis, during the initial
pull-out of NATO and US military, but unfortunately it didn't
come out.
It didn't happen and a lot ofthe dogs died because of it.
They were brought to theairport and there was no way to
(04:34):
get them out and they werereleased onto the tarmac, and so
we made it into our mission tosave and wring home all those
that we could and we had accessto, and it was a huge world
effort.
I would say it's called MissionPossible, and so many people
(04:54):
from around the world keeptogether to hold pants to make
this possible, and a lot of thedogs and cats belong to US
embassy workers or foreignembassy workers or refugee
families that were able to fleeAfghanistan and so far get out.
And there was one particularfamily of her name and I'm
(05:16):
allowed to tell the name becausethere's many stories about her.
Her name is Fretchda Siddiqi.
She lives in the banks of theriver, you see right now, and
she had a dog named Lucky thatshe saved from the streets.
It was getting beaten up bychildren and she saved the dog,
and she also saved a cat namedWooyah, and the night before our
plane was about to leave, shedropped off her cat and dog, not
(05:38):
knowing if she was ever goingto see them again, and she had
to go into hiding because thenew government that came in, the
Taliban, was after her family,because she is a woman's rights
activist and her father was aprominent figure in the
community and she lost familymembers and Lucky the dog.
She taught him how to opendoors, unlock doors, and so they
(06:01):
went from home to home all thetime and he would alert the
family if the Taliban was coming, and they left this dog all the
time, and so we knew that whatwe would do would ever return to
one day reunite them.
And it took over a year,because she was stepping in
(06:22):
other countries for a long while.
Of course, she got her Romanianresidency and in October of last
year we got to reunite Luckyand Fretchda together and it was
absolutely overwhelming and soincredible and so we thought
there's going to be a lot ofmore people like this,
especially with the Ukraine warhappening, and so we developed
the refugee portion of thisprogram and he was actively
(06:45):
helping other refugee familiesas well now in Sudan and in
Ukraine.
And the last aspect of it whichis not the last it's a
wonderful program as well it'sthe medical portion of it.
So we felt quite high costs foremergency situations especially
or if there is cancer andsomething that could be helped
(07:06):
and needs open to the melancholyand veterans and if they can't
afford it.
It's another grant-givingprogram where we thought was up
to 50% of the costs.
Julie Marty-Pearson (07:16):
That's really wonderful because I think
that's a huge piece of thecurrent overcrowding shelter
problem is when people tryeverything they can but they
can't afford the pet, especiallymedical costs, and I'm sure
that's even more difficult forveterans to have to deal with.
That program makes a reallyimportant impact, not just for
their family but for not thoseanimals not ending up in the
(07:38):
shelter that are alreadyovercrowded.
Lori Kalef (07:41):
Yeah, or use the Nines because they can't help
them with their medical problem.
Julie Marty-Pearson (07:45):
You talked about the refugee program sounds
really important and critical.
I actually had a friend of afriend on the podcast last year
who she knew her locally becauseshe had been a foreign exchange
student here a few years agoand she's in Ukraine and she's
in the middle of the war and shespoke a lot about what her and
(08:07):
her family were doing to notonly protect their pets but
saving pets that had been leftbehind when people left or they
were found injured from.
There were points at which thewar was literally in her town
and she was finding dogs thathad been shot and things like
that.
So I can imagine the importanceof your refugee portion of that
program because obviouslythat's still ongoing, as well as
(08:29):
other places too that they needhelp because people can't do it
.
They have to save themselvesand they can't always save their
pets and they're left behind insituations where they're not
cared for or they could beinjured.
Lori Kalef (08:41):
I know a pal of her name that's searched.
Right now People are thinkinglike I would never leave my dog
or cat or pet behind, and nobodywanted to do that Right, and a
lot of people who were evacuatedthought that they can come back
for their dogs or pets or otheranimals.
And so we work withorganizations on the ground and
(09:03):
we're talking about Ukraine.
We have partners there.
We actually just partnered upwith Worldwide Vets and the
Street Dog Coalition and werepurposed an old trailer unit
to be a mobile veterinary clinicand they're partially funding
this mobile clinic for a year togo around and help all the dogs
and cats and horses and cowsthat have been injured through
(09:25):
the war and a lot of the timetoo, or that ripple effect where
they find this dog and there'sa microchip and they know that
it has an odor and they can bebrought to a shelter or whatnot.
Find a way to bring them backtogether.
But yeah, to be in a situationwhere you have maybe 10 minutes
to not even 10 minutes, a fewminutes to pack up all of your
(09:47):
life's belongings and know thatyou can't bring your beloved pet
with you is just catastrophic.
Julie Marty-Pearson (09:53):
Yeah, it's something I can't even imagine,
and we often want to blamepeople and there are a lot of
people to blame, unfortunately,in terms of animals that end up
at shelters, but there are somany that we don't know the
story of what the decision theyhad to come to.
Or in a situation like that, oreven like what we've seen with
the fire in Maui more recently,people literally had split
(10:14):
seconds, minutes to make thedecision of how to leave and a
lot of them were evacuated fromtheir workplace or they couldn't
even go home to get to theirpets, and those are situations
where we want to do anything wecan to reunite that, but it
obviously takes its own army todo that type of reunification.
It sounds like that's reallywhat you all have built with the
(10:36):
Apollo's aid programs invarious capacities.
Lori Kalef (10:40):
Yeah, and the only way.
I think you're the only waythat we're able to do this, and
that's what the mandate of SBCInternational is to build
relationships, trustingrelationships with other people
around the world.
We're a very tiny team, youknow.
We have the eye acronym at theend of the international portion
, but the way that we're able todo our work and help more
(11:01):
people and help animals is byforming relationships and
partnerships around the world.
So we're all in it together.
Julie Marty-Pearson (11:09):
And someone listening to this podcast is
very inspired by one of the manyprograms doing incredible work
that you've mentioned.
They say what would make themost impact for them to get
involved to help you.
What would you say to them?
Lori Kalef (11:23):
I would have to say because we are a gone profit.
In order to do the work that wedo, we need to continue to
raise funds, and we have anamazing fundraising team who
work around the clock to be ableto continue to keep our
programs alive.
Donations, of course.
They're always needed.
If you can't donate, you knowthat we're coming into our own
(11:43):
economic crisis right now.
Sharing, like we talked abouton social media, talking about
being a voice, volunteering inyour local shoppers Our Patriot
programs is often looking forflight volunteers, flight
experts for doffs and cats inparts of the world, but let me
just put a little bit of anasterisk on that.
(12:04):
These are parts of the worldwhere you don't tell your
parents about until you get home.
So there's that, and it's justbeing a voice and being able to
talk about it and share in anintelligence and caring way.
Julie Marty-Pearson (12:18):
So important.
So if you're listening andyou're inspired by this, please
share the podcast with otherpeople so that they will listen
to and also be creating a blogpost, so hopefully that will
generate more traffic for peopleto read about it and want to
learn more about your programsin the way that they can support
.
So we've talked a lot aboutSPCA International and you
(12:39):
talked a little bit about yourown experience with animals in
the beginning, but I know youcurrently have three rescue dogs
that you've rescued fromvarious places around the world,
so I'm sure that everyonelistening would love to hear a
little bit about your ownstories and the dogs that are in
your life and important You'vejust asked me to speak upon my
favorite topic in the world.
Lori Kalef (13:02):
I do have three dogs .
They're all from differentparts of the world.
I would say that we generallydon't adopt dogs and bring them
back, or cats and bring themback, because we manage our own
overpopulation in North America.
Julie Marty-Pearson (13:15):
I have one dog who's from a high-kill
shelter in California, so I callthat not imposing on Canada
because we're neighbors and alot of the animals in our
high-kill shelters do end up inCanada, because you don't have
the overpopulation issues wehave, which is what's great when
we have rescue partners whotransport North for us.
So I can't really get that.
Lori Kalef (13:35):
We mentioned Marley's Muts and we teamed up
with Marley's Muts through PetRescue Pilots and at the
beginning of COVID we had peoplelooking and looking for rescue
dogs and we didn't have enough.
So we had a program where wewere bringing dogs and cats from
high-kill shelters inCalifornia, bringing them to
Victoria BC where we had ourpartners here at Grinkels Dog
Rescue Society, and finding themloving homes and in Calvary as
(13:59):
well.
Yes, there is that need.
Fortunately, things haveshifted post-COVID.
Yes, we've got my dog, that'sTodd, he's from California, and
I have another dog.
His name is Duffy.
And see, I was working inRomania with our partners back
in 2015 and with Dog RescueRomania.
They have over $2,000 in theircare and we were supporting
(14:21):
their Span Nudur efforts andworking with the local
government people to change theideology about controlling the
overpopulation.
And my colleague and I weredriving it's a funny story and
we were driving and I pulledover in the rental car at a gas
station just to get some waterand somebody there was kicking a
little puppy that was justshivering, and so we picked up
(14:42):
the puppy.
We spoke to the gas stationattendant and she said take this
away, or there is somebody'sgoing to do something bad to it.
And so we did.
And then, while we were gettingthe car ready, in the field
right behind the gas stationthere was like a flash of white
and this dog barking and barking, which I'm sure everybody heard
before earlier on in thepodcast.
(15:02):
His chasing was squirrel.
He probably read our jacketsthat.
We just jumped right into ourcar and he was leading out of
his eyes.
He was attacked by somethingand he just looked at me and
said let's go.
So we brought him home.
I brought both dogs home withme here and I was going to find
both of them at home.
I found the puppy at home, butI guess I found Duffy at home
(15:25):
too.
Julie Marty-Pearson (15:27):
That's amazing, and it's always amazing
to me how Our pets find us ohyes.
The pets we're supposed to havefind us.
Whatever that connection is,Sometimes it's just seeing a
video of them on social mediaand I think that's my dog or
they literally show up for us.
Lori Kalef (15:44):
Absolutely.
And that's how my third dogcame to be.
His name is Bojangles and he'sfrom Afghanistan Mission and we
built a temporary shelter at theSouth Terminal Airport in Bank
of the Hrpc and I was basicallyliving there and not at the
shelter, but I had both of mydogs in the office and this one
dog, big Anatolian shepherd,next to him Softest eyes in the
(16:08):
world kept looking by at theoffice at my two dogs sleeping,
and then eventually he justrolled on his back and put his
paw up at the window and I'mlike, oh, shay, come on in.
And she came in.
My dogs didn't even raise theirheads.
He went next to them, fellasleep.
I'm like, okay, that's the hugething too.
Julie Marty-Pearson (16:28):
I love that .
Yeah, they really do choose us.
My most recent have three catsright now and she was one of six
that I fostered in the fall andthere was something about her,
from the moment I brought thosesix home, that she was just like
I see you and she's now ours.
She is our pumpkin and I couldhave easily kept all of them.
(16:50):
I bottle fed them for six weeksso I was very connected to them
and loved them and in the end Ialmost kept two of my husbands
come on.
Luckily at the time thereweren't a lot of kids.
They all found amazing homes.
But there's a connection that wemake with the animals we're
supposed to be with, who aresupposed to be a part of our
lives, and we're supposed to bea part of their lives, no matter
how long or how short that maybe.
(17:12):
And I know even when I wasworking doing the offsite
adoption event, there were dogsthat we would take out multiple
times because we were trying ourhardest and I would be very
connected to them and it wasvery difficult to watch them get
adopted and returned or not getadopted.
And we try and try because youreally just see the incredible
soul that is within them, and soI'm sure that so much too.
(17:35):
When you're actually in theseother countries on the front
line seeing the animals beingrescued, that must be also very
difficult too, because you wantto save them all and that
doesn't always work, but you'remaking a big impact.
So talk a little bit about whatis maybe the hardest part for
the work that you do to make itpeople understand a little bit
of what's going on in the worldand how difficult the animal
(17:56):
welfare arena really is.
Lori Kalef (17:59):
Yeah, thank you, and I just want to say thank you to
you for fostering.
It's another aspect of how youcan help too, and I didn't
mention that before when youpose that question is fostering.
Fostering opens up another cageand already overpopulated
shelter, and we're in a crisismode right now in North America
(18:20):
Well, I'm going to speak to onein the United States especially
but the euthanasia rate hasdramatically increased for
healthy dogs, for friendly dogs,for healthy cats or friendly
cats, and it's absolutelytremendous what's happening
right now.
And so fostering saved my life.
It opens up another space to beable to bring another animal in
(18:41):
.
So touching upon that, to know Ithink that's one question that
I used to be asked when I firststarted at SBCM International is
how do you do it?
How do you look at all theseanimals that need homes?
For that you need to look afteror help, whether it's metaphor,
wise, or finding them a home oreven vaccinating them, and you
(19:02):
know that you can't save themall, and I think at the
beginning, if you can finallycurl up underneath my desk in a
little ball, just wailingbecause not to be able to help
every single animal is just, isstill absolutely hurt rating.
But you push through and youhave to be able to.
You can't stop, because I wouldsay that's once we can never
(19:23):
not know and you save as manylives as you can.
And that's why it's soimportant to keep spreading the
awareness and what's happeningin the world.
I spoke a lot about what'shappening external of the United
States, but in our own backyardthis is happening.
This aside from all the crueltyand abandonment on the streets
(19:44):
I know that you walk into ashelter.
It must be absolutelyheartbreaking to know that
animal has been there over acertain amount of time.
Their fate is not a good one,and rescuers is the most
rewarding thing that you can do,not for just for the animal,
but for yourself as well.
And One of the pieces of how hecan do this recipe work is
(20:09):
education, Because I've beenapproached over the years that
people want to go to readers.
I know that there's a lot ofreputable readers, but at this
time, I feel that until we cansolve and manage the
overpopulation crisis, we haveto be able to manage the amount
of animals coming in, becausethe amount of animals coming in
(20:33):
is the ratio going out to homes.
It's dramatically different.
Julie Marty-Pearson (20:39):
It is.
It's unfortunately, where I livein California and Kern County.
It's awful and not getting anybetter, unfortunately, and every
time I'm on social media I seevideo after video of especially
large dogs in shelters, sweetdogs, even young dogs, puppies,
pregnant dogs just over and needa foster and need a rescue
(21:02):
adoption.
I know for myself.
I actually had to take a stepback after I had done adoption
events for about six months,because it is overwhelming,
because every day you get twoout and you show up and there's
six kennels full with new ones.
Or you hear oh, we just got 30in from another issue, which it
doesn't stop, but if we don'thelp then it's just going to get
(21:24):
you to get worse and everyanimal we save makes a
difference.
And that's just what I'vealways had to tell myself.
And it isn't easy andcompassion fatigue is real and
from every aspect, fromvolunteers, from the shelter
staff, the rescue staff to theveterinarians all of them people
working in nonprofitorganizations like you, whether
they're on the front lines ornot you see it day after day and
(21:46):
it doesn't end.
But it can only get better withmore people helping, with more
education and more peoplespeaking out and saying I can
help just by sharing, just byvolunteering one day a week,
whatever it may be.
Lori Kalef (22:00):
Absolutely, or by fostering, like you said.
That is one of the keyinformants when I know a very
similar response to mynon-inferno challenge and it's
awful.
One of the things is that Iknow in social media it works in
the animal's favor and theoverpopulation of not particular
county or shelter but the restof the organizations that come
(22:22):
in are also just so overwhelmedand I think people are always
saying take this one more, andhaving to say no is traumatic
Absolutely.
Julie Marty-Pears (22:38):
Heartbreaking .
I know that all of that everyknow they've had to say, for
whatever reason, stays with themand people don't realize that
you realize you've saved somebut the ones you couldn't or
didn't even see, that's alwaysgoing to stay with them and I
know it motivates a lot ofpeople but it also makes it
what's hard for people to keepgoing.
More, absolutely, and I've seensome smaller rescues locally
(22:59):
have to step back and not do itfor a little while just because
there are no foresters or thereare no adopters, but just by
everybody listening to this andsharing and hearing your stories
.
Hopefully it will inspiresomeone to take action.
That will have a ripple effectand that's what we all want.
Lori Kalef (23:19):
My favorite terminology for that is we need
to continue to hold hands acrossthe world, and there are many
ways that we can step into, howwe can all be part of it.
I'll be part of the team.
It could be the people who areon the front line or who work
for an organization, whovolunteer.
Everybody can help.
Everybody can be at voice.
Julie Marty-Pearson (23:37):
Absolutely.
I think that's a great place toend, that we can all do our
part, whatever that part may befor us.
Where we live, what we haveaccess to, there is a part for
us all to play in order to makeit better.
I just want to thank you, lori,so much for being here.
It was a pleasure to meet you,to learn about your work, how
(23:59):
you and your own life and whereyou've come from and how you
were inspired into animal rescueand welfare, but also to learn
more specifically about the workthat SPCA International is
doing and how important it isand how we all need to support
it, because we're going to needit even more as we keep moving
forward in this crazy worldwe're living in.
Lori Kalef (24:22):
Thank you so much.
I appreciate your thoughtfulquestions and the opportunity to
speak with you about this alsocreates the awareness, so
hopefully everybody is stilllistening by this time and I
hope they can share this podcast, and I just really appreciate
the opportunity to be able tomeet with you at SCC
International.
Julie Marty-Pearson (24:40):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode.
I hope you enjoyed the secondpart of our conversation,
hearing more about theincredible programs that SPCA
International has and how theysupport our military women and
men, both here and abroad, aswell as help those in embattled
(25:03):
areas where active war and othertypes of violence are happening
, and they're helping to keepanimal safe and be able to be
reunited with their family.
I think there is so muchimportant information to be
heard in this episode, as wellas in the previous.
I hope you've learned some newthings.
If you want to follow thepodcast, you can follow SPCA
(25:24):
International and keep up on thedifferent programs that are
going on here and abroad.
You can do your part, whetherit's by sharing or donating,
volunteering your own time inyour local community.
Remember, fostering andadoption are needed so much
right now, so please help toadvocate and educate others in
(25:44):
those areas.
Keep sharing the podcast.
Wherever you are listening tothis right now, please follow so
you don't miss an episode rateand review so that the podcast
gets pushed out to more peopleand can hear this important
information.
As always, I appreciate you allso much my listeners, my
friends and my fellow animallovers for listening, supporting
(26:06):
, sharing and being here on thisjourney to help, to advocate
and educate as many as possibleand, ultimately, to help as many
animals in our own localcommunity and around the world
that we can.
Until next time, my friends,thank you again for being here.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.