Helen Woodward Animal Center Partners with UK-Shelter Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
to Provide Unparalleled Dual-Country Animal Welfare Training
Rancho Santa Fe, CA (Jun. 17, 2019) – Through The Business of Saving Lives (TBOSL), Helen Woodward Animal Center has demonstrated its dedication to saving the lives of orphan pets, not only within its San Diego-based facility, but within shelters and rescues across the globe. Tomorrow, the Center celebrates this international connection with a very special TBOSL Conference, combining the Center’s ground-breaking, business-minded training with the world-class animal care-training of legendary UK-based Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Academy. The Three-Day United in Saving Lives conference takes place June 19th through June 21st, 2019 and provides animal welfare groups an unparalleled educational experience. Attendees have traveled from as far away as Japan, Puerto Rico, and Romania. The media is invited to meet these very special international animal welfare advocates, Thursday, June 20th between 8:00am and 9:00am at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe – 15150 San Dieguito Rd, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067.
The Business of Saving Lives began at Helen Woodward Animal Center in 2002 as quarterly workshops, taught by Center management team members on the Rancho Santa Fe, California grounds. Business practices such as marketing, social media and customer service take on an equal importance to non-profit goals such as fundraising, volunteer-building and humane animal care, leading to more pets placed in lifelong homes, expanded reach into communities and more generated funds to carry on programs. Over the years, shelters from throughout the United States and as far away as Argentina, Ethiopia, India, Ireland, Kenya and Romania have traveled to Helen Woodward Animal Center to take part in the free training. Over the last 4 years, the program has expanded its reach to groups unable to afford the trip to California with Center team members traveling as far as New York, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and Australia to facilities-in-need to provide on-site, life-saving training at absolutely no cost to the rescue groups.
The idea to develop a dual-country approach to shelter education arose during a trip to Poland earlier this year. Center President and CEO Mike Arms and VP of Development Renee Resko traveled to Krakow for the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference hosted by Dogs Trust. Arms was an invited speaker at the global summit focused on improving humane treatment of animals and on sharing these ideas with industry leaders world-wide.
In attendance were members from legendary Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, a world-class animal refuge located in the United Kingdom. Established in 1860, the organization is the oldest animal welfare group in the UK, caring for more than 7,000 animals-in-need yearly and, like Helen Woodward Animal Center, has established a training program to share its respected practices with other organizations through its Battersea Academy.
“Battersea’s curriculum is truly wonderful and is very focused on hands-on animal-care,” explained Resko. “Helen Woodward’s curriculum is wonderful too and very focused on running rescue organizations with a business approach to keep these groups up and running. When we started discussing our programs, we realized how beautifully they complement each other.”
The United in Saving Lives conference begins tomorrow and attendees include a guest from Japan who seeks to bring more humane education to the country, a guest from Puerto Rico who is seeking assistance in dealing with the strong prejudice against cats in her country, and a guest from Romania who reached out due to a whole host of overwhelming animal mistreatment issues and a lack of resources in her own country. Helen Woodward Animal Center is sponsoring this Romanian guest (including airfare and hotel stay) at no cost.
“As animal-lovers we have a very strong passion that unites us,” Arms explained. “This special union with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home truly exemplifies what the Business of Saving Lives program is all about. Together, we are strengthening our curriculum to make an even bigger impact and save even more lives throughout the world.”
The media is invited to meet our extraordinary guests from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, as well as our United in Saving Lives attendees. Please join us, THURSDAY, June 20 at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe.