We Know How to Turn Off the Faucet. We Just Don’t.
Part 2: What readers reveal about the pressures a shelter study can’t measure
Animal Politics with Ed Boks
Independent investigations, policy analysis, and accountability reporting on animal welfare. Paid members get deeper analysis, early access, and exclusive member briefings that support records-based reporting.
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Shelter Overcrowding: What a New Study Shows, and What Our Incentives Hide
Part 1: Mavrovouniotis-Hassen study finds intake fills the tub and adoptions drain it; incentives push outcome decisions toward downstream efforts while leaving prevention at the faucet behind.
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The Canyon and the Kennel
Best Friends asks shelters to do more. It should first explain what it is doing to prevent animals from arriving.
Tawny Hammond Said the Quiet Part Out Loud
Best Friends makes clear that reducing shelter dependency is not its goal.
Shannon Miranda Breaks His Silence. The Records Matter More Than His Statement.
The investigation will determine criminality. The records will determine accountability.
When Training Theory Meets Shelter Reality
Robert Cabral on high-risk dogs, practical judgment, and the limits of one-size-fits-all methods
What Does It Mean to Be a Best Friends Partner?
How does an organization come to be publicly identified as a BFAS partner, and what happens if that organization disputes the designation?
When a Best Friends Partner Demands Answers
Rebecca Corry challenges BFAS over Los Angeles' "No Kill" claims and whether partners can question the narrative.
Best Friends Animal Society: Flying Blind?
How chasing a 90% live release rate led Best Friends off course
The Incentive Trap
How New World Screwworm Reveals an Animal Welfare System Built on Downstream Incentives
Why Has Dog Training Been Slow to Catch Up With Modern Science? – AMA #56
What modern canine behavior research reveals about positive reinforcement, dominance theory, and relationship-based training.
Harm Laundering: How Redefining One Word Could Erase Habitat Destruction From the Endangered Species Act
Federal agencies have finalized a rule that will remove the decades-old definition that treated certain habitat destruction as “harm” to endangered wildlife.
The Measure of No-Kill
Why save rates alone cannot define the success of the no-kill movement
Do Dogs Have Friends?
What Research Reveals About Dog Joy, Belonging, and Friendship – AMA #55
When Does Shelter Medicine Become Shelter Management?
The unanswered questions surrounding “transitional medication” in America’s animal shelters.
When Charity Becomes Public Policy
Los Angeles celebrated a $14 million grant for LA Animal Services. The agreement raises larger questions about what happens when philanthropy begins replacing public investment.
Are We Solving the Wrong Problem? - AMA #54
The Difference Between Shelter Capacity and Pet Overpopulation
The Milkweed Principle
The monarch butterfly reminds us that lasting compassion restores the conditions that allow life to flourish.
The Hero Incentive
What Ridglan Farms Reveals About Rescue, Commerce, and the Price of Being the Hero