How a Bombshell ‘Truth in Rescue’ Document—Distributed at BFAS’ Own Conference—Ignited an Awakening to Decades of Mismanagement, Misplaced Priorities, and Municipal Betrayal
Please tell me the name of the woman from the Galapagos who was instrumental in the spay/neuter clinics. I need to contact her before I go to the Galapagos.
Thanks so much! I'm in the process of planning a trip to the Galapagos and I would love to meet up with her and discuss the process of bringing her business model to the Coachella Valley and put her in touch with my friend, Shakira Jameson, DVM. She has her own practice after working with a corporate animal clinic. Now she has Paws and Claws Pet Care and gets down on the floor and gives the babies cuddles and they don't even know she's examining them! She's the best!
Sue, Emma is in LA. She is working with Riverside County and several other CA communities. Your best bet is to reach out to her through Animal Balance.
"No kill by 2025"? You've got to be kidding. The puppet master continues to view the American public as STUPID!! 2025 has come and gone, and guess what? The shelters are still full and they're still euthanizing an awful lot of animals.
On a still sadder note, I had to euthanize my dear, sweet Harvey, a 17 YO Corgi/Jack Russell mix. He was already on his way when I took him in to my dear vet, Shakira Jameson, DVM, at Paws and Claws in Palm Desert. I absolutely love her. And so did Harvey. H is a testament to the love and care that we share with our animal friends. H is now getting belly rubs from his Papa Bob in Heaven...
Sue, thank you for this thoughtful note. You’re right to call out the emptiness of that promise, and I’m so very sorry about Harvey; 17 years is a beautiful life, and your words about him and Papa Bob are deeply touching.
Having worked for BFAS and having been fired by them, it gives me hope reading this. People are waking up to the corruption within the organization. Julie Castle is horribly unethical and her actions and leadership show that they only care about getting donations and looking good. It is clear that their policies are not addressing the actual realities of the pet overpopulation problem. Many people who work and volunteer with them are good people doing their best to do good work…unfortunately those people’s efforts are thwarted by incompetent and egotistical leadership. It is an open secret how toxic the work culture if of the organization. I’m not a journalist or investigator who can do much to combat Best Friends marketing propaganda but maybe if enough of us speak up and share our experience people will stop buying the BF bs.
I would love to work in animal welfare again but it seems like every organization out there is toxic and ineffective. I believe in the idea of No-kill in that we should try to get the stray animal population to a manageable level through humane efforts like TNR and low cost spay/neuter programs. Best Friends is playing a numbers game and ignoring what those numbers actually mean. I mean a coworker once shared that one of the founders lamented to them the fact that sanctuary dogs were dying of old age in a sanctuary calling it embarrassing!!! I would think it is a positive thing that they get to live their full life and not get killed for space especially since this is a sanctuary where many of the dogs would have been euthanized for their behavior issues and could not safely live in a typical home. They just recently adopted out an older dog who I know has bite history and I am just floored by the cavalier attitude they have about public safety and the real risk these dogs present.
Kylie, thank you for sharing your experience and perspective! Your honesty and compassion come through so clearly. I know it isn’t easy to speak out, especially after being inside the organization, but voices like yours add weight and credibility to this broader conversation. I completely agree that many good, dedicated people work within these systems, often frustrated by leadership that prioritizes image over impact. The more we shine light on these issues, the closer we get to meaningful reform in animal welfare. Please stay engaged; your insight matters.
Why is there no link to the "Truth in Rescue" document? It's frustrating when you write a whole substack article, but don't provide a link so people can read it for themselves.
Ed, you likely already knew this but I just took a closer review of BF's 2022 tax return and Julie Castle's spouse, Greg Castle is on the payroll for being a board member for $220,000 a year. Yikes! Her salary as of 2022 was $527,705. Plus they each get an additional compensation package of just under 10k.
Hi Cathy, great catch! Yes, Gregory Castle retired as CEO of Best Friends in 2018 but continues to serve on the Board of Directors as CEO Emeritus. According to BFAS’ 2022 tax filings, Julie Castle’s reported salary was $527,705, with additional compensation of $9,732. Gregory Castle, despite his retirement, was listed as a board member receiving $220,000 in compensation plus an additional $9,732. It certainly raises questions about financial priorities within the organization. Thanks for taking a closer look and bringing this to the discussion!
Agree! They have had a strong hold on the animal world for 10 years. They have gotten richer and richer while the animal world spirals downward. They have caused the largest crisis in US history and accountability is coming!
Hi Tracy, I couldn’t agree more! The impact of their policies has been devastating, and the growing calls for accountability are long overdue. The more people speak out, the harder it will be for them to hide behind their marketing machine. Change is coming—thanks for being part of the movement!
I do not understand why folks are afraid to speak up? I do understand why city workers cannot speak up but as a private rescue who witnessed their CON first hand, I have been screaming it from a mountain top ever since. They are the cause of the largest animal crisis in US history along with their wingman…. Dr Ellen Jefferson who created the HASS program and founder of Austin Pets Alive. In my opinion, they should all be arrested on charges of fraud, misappropriation of funds, animal abandonment, animal abuse, animal neglect and racketeering. It’s organized crime in the animal world. They have increased their wealth year after year while the problem continues to spiral out of control. They have no desire to fix the root because they would be out of a job. Sickening group of money grubbing con artists obsessed with money, power and GREED. I cannot wait until they are held accountable. It’s coming!
Hi Tracy, I hear your frustration, and you’re not alone. The fear of speaking out is real, especially for those who risk retaliation, but voices like yours are making a difference. The more people expose the reality behind their policies, the harder it will be for them to continue unchecked. Accountability is coming, and thanks to dedicated advocates like you, the truth is finally breaking through!
I would also question if taxpayer funding of UCDavis Koret so called "shelter medicine" developing kidney transplants offered in specialty clinics for the Uber Elite who wish to subject their dog to grueling transplant and immune suppressant for minimal life extension while disposing of donor dogs or selling patents to big pharma for exorbitantly priced medications offered in Private Equity Specialty Clinics using disposable laboratory dogs and cats.
Dr. Jeff Rocky Mt Vet series has mentioned a dominant trend of veterinary specialties like human specialties including kidney transplants.
Arizona Humane Society catering to Phoenix Scottsdale elite with exorbitantly paid execs (CEO 400K+++) boasts of a vet program for fundraising. But where are the vets going?? Not noticeably to shelters or accessible volume s/n . More taxpayer and donor grift.
Maricopa County shelters (Phoenix) is chronically in overcapacity crisis with high euth rate. Around 12 dogs are scheduled for euth this morning. The huge stray population in broiling summer summer heat where their pads burn on concrete and asphalt is heart wrenching. Did Julie Castle reference AZ being a "No Kill by 2025" success story at the national conference? She must be from the planet "lie to your face".
Hi Carmen, you bring up some incredibly important concerns. The growing divide between high-dollar veterinary advancements for the elite and the lack of accessible care for shelter animals is deeply troubling. The focus should be on real solutions—like spay/neuter and effective shelter management—not on misleading success stories or fundraising tactics that don’t actually address the crisis. Thanks for shining a light on this—it’s a conversation that needs to be had!
PS Maddies Fund was originated by Duffield software billionaire and now multiple businesses associated with pet overpopulation and shelter crisis involve new software including Best Friends' Shelter Pet Data Alliance networking national shelter database enabling control of animal welfare narrative and gov policies. Shelter Luv is a software Best Friends has it's partner shelters install.
Julie Castle's bizarre fraudulent statistics recently presented at Best Friends National Conference is an example of the strategy that if they control the data, they can present any narrative even if their disastrous results are evident everywhere.
UCDavis Koret Shelter Medicine.....where are the trained vets going?? Apparently not to where 60% of public can afford like shelters or free/lo-cost programs but to Private Equity owned clinics and specialty providers offering human interventions like kidney transplants or for patenting exorbitantly priced pharmaceuticals.
The level of grift and fraud that is producing this crisis is monumental. Thank you Animal Politics for this valuable coverage. It's only a matter of time before this becomes a documentary produced by Netflix or other major platform.
Hi Carmen, your insights are spot on. The push to control shelter data and the broader animal welfare narrative through software like Shelter Pet Data Alliance is deeply concerning—especially when the reality on the ground tells a completely different story. The disconnect between where veterinary talent is going and where it's actually needed is another critical issue that needs more attention. The scale of this crisis is undeniable, and as more people wake up to the fraud and mismanagement, accountability will be inevitable. And you’re right—this story is big enough for a major documentary. Thanks for your thoughtful contributions to this conversation!
As a local Tucsonan location of Best Friends/Maddies Fund Pima Animal Care Center where Monica Dangler and Kristen Hassen (now of Outcomes Consulting exploiting Riverside County for a 2.5 million contract) were past directors, I can attest that ignoring the importance of spay/neuter was deliberate to be in alignment with Best Friends/Maddies ideology.
Friends of PACC even donated a million dollar mobile van for outlying areas and zip codes where most of the intake animals and hoarding cases were were coming from, that Monica Dangler (then director) resisted deploying. A credible account of someone in Pima County government asking Dangler why the van wasn't deployed adequately and Dangler responded "what good is it to s/n 8,000 dogs?" to which the Pima County gov employee emphatically replied "because very soon 8,000 dogs become 50,000 dogs!!"
Look at all the businesses the national animal welfare grifters are connected with, based on pet overpopulation and shelter crisis....developing software and data bases to control animal welfare narrative and circumvent shelters.... shifting responsibility to communities that simply cannot foster, adopt or rescue to absorb overpopulation. Further emphasis on free-roaming "at large" community animals and TRANSPORTING where animals simply disappear for exporting shelters to maintain 90% no kill status.
Best Friend's motto "save them all" is grotesquely fraudulent and duplicitous as the business model is clearly perpetuating mass population to feed a massive business structure, while grifting donors and taxpayers responding to shelter and stray crisis.
If the "consortium" dedicated meaningful resources to spay/neuter, grants for vet training with shelter /lo-cost or free clinic work commitment, lobbying for commercial breeding restrictions, the overpopulation/shelter crisis would be quickly reduced and then stabilized to minimal levels.
But meaningful s/n is obvious immediate necessity, we all know how 8,000 unaltered animals quickly becomes 50,000 animals etc etc.
Hi Carmen, thank you for sharing your firsthand experience. It’s disturbing—but not surprising—to hear that spay/neuter efforts were deliberately sidelined to align with Best Friends/Maddie’s Fund ideology. The refusal to deploy a donated mobile clinic speaks volumes about where their priorities really lie. The increasing focus on data control, transport schemes, and shifting responsibility onto overwhelmed communities is a glaring red flag. “Save them all” becomes meaningless when the system is designed to keep the crisis going. Appreciate your insight and for helping expose the bigger picture!
This is not only happening with large orginizations like BF, the shut up don't question things, don't offer suggestions has been going on for years at the small humane society where I volunteer here in Minnesota. It is very easy to be labled a trouble maker or a know it all or what ever when the director and board are all in bed together. So it's a problem all over large and small orginizations.
I hear you, Dee Ann, that is why it is important to insist on transparency and accountability and to expose the bullying tactics of of managers and board directors.
Julie Castle's alleged remark "we haven't yet figured out how to monetize spay/neuter" is perfectly clarifying. I've evaluated business structures professionally and it's plainly obvious their business model and that of partner orgs/merchants is based on overpopulation and shelter crisis.
Clearly, Best Friends and Consortium's goal is monetizing the national shelter system and animal welfare landscape building out a network of associated business based on pet overpopulation and special software DATA BASES, like control of nation's shelter system with "Shelter Pet Data Alliance" shelter software. They are building a pet overpopulation commercial-industrial complex.
This elephant in the room is everywhere, there is no meaningful policy for s/n and therefore overpopulation and shelter crisis is perpetual as BF calls for more "community engagement"--rescues, adoptions and fosters as overpopulation remedy, cruel for animals and exhausted helpers, fosters, rescuers that care about them.
Carmen, you lay out a compelling and troubling perspective on the structural incentives that seem to perpetuate, rather than solve, the shelter crisis. The lack of a meaningful national spay/neuter policy while BFAS pushes "community engagement" as the solution raises serious questions. If true, the alleged remark from Julie Castle would only reinforce what many have long suspected. Thank you for adding your expertise to this conversation—this is exactly the kind of critical thinking needed to challenge the status quo.
A donor wanting to claw back their dollars doesn't sound right to me. As a trustee for Georgia E. Hofmann Trust, I have overseen gifts from beneficiaries' accounts to veterinary schools and an endowed center for equine science. Terms for use of gift funds often collide with income taxes benefit for the donor and/or recipient.
I don't think misconduct of Best Friends, by itself, prevented "no kill" from being achieved. Ed's series on BFAS has been disheartening. I think malfeasance must be exposed but I am mindful of the Asilomar Accords and the likely universal decline in public and political support due to our in-fighting: animal rights vs. welfare; evolutionists vs. absolutists; vegan vs. plant-based.
Spay/neuter is a vital service which the pet-owning public increasingly expects to be subsidized. Or, they just won't do it.
Supporting politicians who rip away regulations has invited private equity investors to purchase veterinary practices and demand financial performance at odds with caring about animals and their clients --the mission, I thought.
We can't adopt our way out of the homeless animal population crisis.
We can't spay/neuter our way out of indifference to the wellbeing of others or our collective whole.
Either we want to share our abundance and share it freely-- accepting we have no control over the recipient's use--or keep it all for ourselves.
Leslie, I appreciate your thoughtful perspective. You raise important points about the complexities of philanthropy, policy, and the broader challenges in animal welfare. While no single factor prevented "no kill" from being truly achieved, the issues surrounding BFAS highlight how misplaced priorities can undermine real solutions. Spay/neuter remains critical, but as you note, it's only part of a much larger equation. I always value your insight—these are exactly the kinds of conversations we need to keep having to push for meaningful reform.
Thank you, Ed! I will be booking my trip to the Galapagos Islands next year with my travel partner and will look forward to meeting her!
Ed:
Please tell me the name of the woman from the Galapagos who was instrumental in the spay/neuter clinics. I need to contact her before I go to the Galapagos.
Emma Clifford with Animal Balance
Ed,
Thanks so much! I'm in the process of planning a trip to the Galapagos and I would love to meet up with her and discuss the process of bringing her business model to the Coachella Valley and put her in touch with my friend, Shakira Jameson, DVM. She has her own practice after working with a corporate animal clinic. Now she has Paws and Claws Pet Care and gets down on the floor and gives the babies cuddles and they don't even know she's examining them! She's the best!
Thanks so much, Ed!
Sue Marie
Sue, Emma is in LA. She is working with Riverside County and several other CA communities. Your best bet is to reach out to her through Animal Balance.
"No kill by 2025"? You've got to be kidding. The puppet master continues to view the American public as STUPID!! 2025 has come and gone, and guess what? The shelters are still full and they're still euthanizing an awful lot of animals.
On a still sadder note, I had to euthanize my dear, sweet Harvey, a 17 YO Corgi/Jack Russell mix. He was already on his way when I took him in to my dear vet, Shakira Jameson, DVM, at Paws and Claws in Palm Desert. I absolutely love her. And so did Harvey. H is a testament to the love and care that we share with our animal friends. H is now getting belly rubs from his Papa Bob in Heaven...
Sue, thank you for this thoughtful note. You’re right to call out the emptiness of that promise, and I’m so very sorry about Harvey; 17 years is a beautiful life, and your words about him and Papa Bob are deeply touching.
Having worked for BFAS and having been fired by them, it gives me hope reading this. People are waking up to the corruption within the organization. Julie Castle is horribly unethical and her actions and leadership show that they only care about getting donations and looking good. It is clear that their policies are not addressing the actual realities of the pet overpopulation problem. Many people who work and volunteer with them are good people doing their best to do good work…unfortunately those people’s efforts are thwarted by incompetent and egotistical leadership. It is an open secret how toxic the work culture if of the organization. I’m not a journalist or investigator who can do much to combat Best Friends marketing propaganda but maybe if enough of us speak up and share our experience people will stop buying the BF bs.
I would love to work in animal welfare again but it seems like every organization out there is toxic and ineffective. I believe in the idea of No-kill in that we should try to get the stray animal population to a manageable level through humane efforts like TNR and low cost spay/neuter programs. Best Friends is playing a numbers game and ignoring what those numbers actually mean. I mean a coworker once shared that one of the founders lamented to them the fact that sanctuary dogs were dying of old age in a sanctuary calling it embarrassing!!! I would think it is a positive thing that they get to live their full life and not get killed for space especially since this is a sanctuary where many of the dogs would have been euthanized for their behavior issues and could not safely live in a typical home. They just recently adopted out an older dog who I know has bite history and I am just floored by the cavalier attitude they have about public safety and the real risk these dogs present.
Kylie, thank you for sharing your experience and perspective! Your honesty and compassion come through so clearly. I know it isn’t easy to speak out, especially after being inside the organization, but voices like yours add weight and credibility to this broader conversation. I completely agree that many good, dedicated people work within these systems, often frustrated by leadership that prioritizes image over impact. The more we shine light on these issues, the closer we get to meaningful reform in animal welfare. Please stay engaged; your insight matters.
Is a copy of the document that was distributed available?
It was made available in the comments.
So they became hoarders!?!!? That's terrible!
Why is there no link to the "Truth in Rescue" document? It's frustrating when you write a whole substack article, but don't provide a link so people can read it for themselves.
Ed, you likely already knew this but I just took a closer review of BF's 2022 tax return and Julie Castle's spouse, Greg Castle is on the payroll for being a board member for $220,000 a year. Yikes! Her salary as of 2022 was $527,705. Plus they each get an additional compensation package of just under 10k.
Hi Cathy, great catch! Yes, Gregory Castle retired as CEO of Best Friends in 2018 but continues to serve on the Board of Directors as CEO Emeritus. According to BFAS’ 2022 tax filings, Julie Castle’s reported salary was $527,705, with additional compensation of $9,732. Gregory Castle, despite his retirement, was listed as a board member receiving $220,000 in compensation plus an additional $9,732. It certainly raises questions about financial priorities within the organization. Thanks for taking a closer look and bringing this to the discussion!
Agree! They have had a strong hold on the animal world for 10 years. They have gotten richer and richer while the animal world spirals downward. They have caused the largest crisis in US history and accountability is coming!
Hi Tracy, I couldn’t agree more! The impact of their policies has been devastating, and the growing calls for accountability are long overdue. The more people speak out, the harder it will be for them to hide behind their marketing machine. Change is coming—thanks for being part of the movement!
I do not understand why folks are afraid to speak up? I do understand why city workers cannot speak up but as a private rescue who witnessed their CON first hand, I have been screaming it from a mountain top ever since. They are the cause of the largest animal crisis in US history along with their wingman…. Dr Ellen Jefferson who created the HASS program and founder of Austin Pets Alive. In my opinion, they should all be arrested on charges of fraud, misappropriation of funds, animal abandonment, animal abuse, animal neglect and racketeering. It’s organized crime in the animal world. They have increased their wealth year after year while the problem continues to spiral out of control. They have no desire to fix the root because they would be out of a job. Sickening group of money grubbing con artists obsessed with money, power and GREED. I cannot wait until they are held accountable. It’s coming!
Hi Tracy, I hear your frustration, and you’re not alone. The fear of speaking out is real, especially for those who risk retaliation, but voices like yours are making a difference. The more people expose the reality behind their policies, the harder it will be for them to continue unchecked. Accountability is coming, and thanks to dedicated advocates like you, the truth is finally breaking through!
I would also question if taxpayer funding of UCDavis Koret so called "shelter medicine" developing kidney transplants offered in specialty clinics for the Uber Elite who wish to subject their dog to grueling transplant and immune suppressant for minimal life extension while disposing of donor dogs or selling patents to big pharma for exorbitantly priced medications offered in Private Equity Specialty Clinics using disposable laboratory dogs and cats.
Dr. Jeff Rocky Mt Vet series has mentioned a dominant trend of veterinary specialties like human specialties including kidney transplants.
Arizona Humane Society catering to Phoenix Scottsdale elite with exorbitantly paid execs (CEO 400K+++) boasts of a vet program for fundraising. But where are the vets going?? Not noticeably to shelters or accessible volume s/n . More taxpayer and donor grift.
Maricopa County shelters (Phoenix) is chronically in overcapacity crisis with high euth rate. Around 12 dogs are scheduled for euth this morning. The huge stray population in broiling summer summer heat where their pads burn on concrete and asphalt is heart wrenching. Did Julie Castle reference AZ being a "No Kill by 2025" success story at the national conference? She must be from the planet "lie to your face".
Hi Carmen, you bring up some incredibly important concerns. The growing divide between high-dollar veterinary advancements for the elite and the lack of accessible care for shelter animals is deeply troubling. The focus should be on real solutions—like spay/neuter and effective shelter management—not on misleading success stories or fundraising tactics that don’t actually address the crisis. Thanks for shining a light on this—it’s a conversation that needs to be had!
PS Maddies Fund was originated by Duffield software billionaire and now multiple businesses associated with pet overpopulation and shelter crisis involve new software including Best Friends' Shelter Pet Data Alliance networking national shelter database enabling control of animal welfare narrative and gov policies. Shelter Luv is a software Best Friends has it's partner shelters install.
Julie Castle's bizarre fraudulent statistics recently presented at Best Friends National Conference is an example of the strategy that if they control the data, they can present any narrative even if their disastrous results are evident everywhere.
UCDavis Koret Shelter Medicine.....where are the trained vets going?? Apparently not to where 60% of public can afford like shelters or free/lo-cost programs but to Private Equity owned clinics and specialty providers offering human interventions like kidney transplants or for patenting exorbitantly priced pharmaceuticals.
The level of grift and fraud that is producing this crisis is monumental. Thank you Animal Politics for this valuable coverage. It's only a matter of time before this becomes a documentary produced by Netflix or other major platform.
Hi Carmen, your insights are spot on. The push to control shelter data and the broader animal welfare narrative through software like Shelter Pet Data Alliance is deeply concerning—especially when the reality on the ground tells a completely different story. The disconnect between where veterinary talent is going and where it's actually needed is another critical issue that needs more attention. The scale of this crisis is undeniable, and as more people wake up to the fraud and mismanagement, accountability will be inevitable. And you’re right—this story is big enough for a major documentary. Thanks for your thoughtful contributions to this conversation!
As a local Tucsonan location of Best Friends/Maddies Fund Pima Animal Care Center where Monica Dangler and Kristen Hassen (now of Outcomes Consulting exploiting Riverside County for a 2.5 million contract) were past directors, I can attest that ignoring the importance of spay/neuter was deliberate to be in alignment with Best Friends/Maddies ideology.
Friends of PACC even donated a million dollar mobile van for outlying areas and zip codes where most of the intake animals and hoarding cases were were coming from, that Monica Dangler (then director) resisted deploying. A credible account of someone in Pima County government asking Dangler why the van wasn't deployed adequately and Dangler responded "what good is it to s/n 8,000 dogs?" to which the Pima County gov employee emphatically replied "because very soon 8,000 dogs become 50,000 dogs!!"
Look at all the businesses the national animal welfare grifters are connected with, based on pet overpopulation and shelter crisis....developing software and data bases to control animal welfare narrative and circumvent shelters.... shifting responsibility to communities that simply cannot foster, adopt or rescue to absorb overpopulation. Further emphasis on free-roaming "at large" community animals and TRANSPORTING where animals simply disappear for exporting shelters to maintain 90% no kill status.
Best Friend's motto "save them all" is grotesquely fraudulent and duplicitous as the business model is clearly perpetuating mass population to feed a massive business structure, while grifting donors and taxpayers responding to shelter and stray crisis.
If the "consortium" dedicated meaningful resources to spay/neuter, grants for vet training with shelter /lo-cost or free clinic work commitment, lobbying for commercial breeding restrictions, the overpopulation/shelter crisis would be quickly reduced and then stabilized to minimal levels.
But meaningful s/n is obvious immediate necessity, we all know how 8,000 unaltered animals quickly becomes 50,000 animals etc etc.
Carmen. I'm the author of the truth in rescue document. Please reach out to me - we are forming a revolution. Deniseyuliano@gmail.com
Hi Carmen, thank you for sharing your firsthand experience. It’s disturbing—but not surprising—to hear that spay/neuter efforts were deliberately sidelined to align with Best Friends/Maddie’s Fund ideology. The refusal to deploy a donated mobile clinic speaks volumes about where their priorities really lie. The increasing focus on data control, transport schemes, and shifting responsibility onto overwhelmed communities is a glaring red flag. “Save them all” becomes meaningless when the system is designed to keep the crisis going. Appreciate your insight and for helping expose the bigger picture!
This is not only happening with large orginizations like BF, the shut up don't question things, don't offer suggestions has been going on for years at the small humane society where I volunteer here in Minnesota. It is very easy to be labled a trouble maker or a know it all or what ever when the director and board are all in bed together. So it's a problem all over large and small orginizations.
I hear you, Dee Ann, that is why it is important to insist on transparency and accountability and to expose the bullying tactics of of managers and board directors.
Julie Castle's alleged remark "we haven't yet figured out how to monetize spay/neuter" is perfectly clarifying. I've evaluated business structures professionally and it's plainly obvious their business model and that of partner orgs/merchants is based on overpopulation and shelter crisis.
Clearly, Best Friends and Consortium's goal is monetizing the national shelter system and animal welfare landscape building out a network of associated business based on pet overpopulation and special software DATA BASES, like control of nation's shelter system with "Shelter Pet Data Alliance" shelter software. They are building a pet overpopulation commercial-industrial complex.
This elephant in the room is everywhere, there is no meaningful policy for s/n and therefore overpopulation and shelter crisis is perpetual as BF calls for more "community engagement"--rescues, adoptions and fosters as overpopulation remedy, cruel for animals and exhausted helpers, fosters, rescuers that care about them.
Carmen, you lay out a compelling and troubling perspective on the structural incentives that seem to perpetuate, rather than solve, the shelter crisis. The lack of a meaningful national spay/neuter policy while BFAS pushes "community engagement" as the solution raises serious questions. If true, the alleged remark from Julie Castle would only reinforce what many have long suspected. Thank you for adding your expertise to this conversation—this is exactly the kind of critical thinking needed to challenge the status quo.
A donor wanting to claw back their dollars doesn't sound right to me. As a trustee for Georgia E. Hofmann Trust, I have overseen gifts from beneficiaries' accounts to veterinary schools and an endowed center for equine science. Terms for use of gift funds often collide with income taxes benefit for the donor and/or recipient.
I don't think misconduct of Best Friends, by itself, prevented "no kill" from being achieved. Ed's series on BFAS has been disheartening. I think malfeasance must be exposed but I am mindful of the Asilomar Accords and the likely universal decline in public and political support due to our in-fighting: animal rights vs. welfare; evolutionists vs. absolutists; vegan vs. plant-based.
Spay/neuter is a vital service which the pet-owning public increasingly expects to be subsidized. Or, they just won't do it.
Supporting politicians who rip away regulations has invited private equity investors to purchase veterinary practices and demand financial performance at odds with caring about animals and their clients --the mission, I thought.
We can't adopt our way out of the homeless animal population crisis.
We can't spay/neuter our way out of indifference to the wellbeing of others or our collective whole.
Either we want to share our abundance and share it freely-- accepting we have no control over the recipient's use--or keep it all for ourselves.
Leslie, I appreciate your thoughtful perspective. You raise important points about the complexities of philanthropy, policy, and the broader challenges in animal welfare. While no single factor prevented "no kill" from being truly achieved, the issues surrounding BFAS highlight how misplaced priorities can undermine real solutions. Spay/neuter remains critical, but as you note, it's only part of a much larger equation. I always value your insight—these are exactly the kinds of conversations we need to keep having to push for meaningful reform.