Category: Member Spotlights

If you suggest to Karen Patterson of the Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) that volunteers are the backbone of any pet-oriented organization, you’ll have no argumentfrom her. In an organization with more than 2,000 active volunteers, one would think that must be the case. But, according to Patterson, vice president of volunteers and humane… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Humane Society of Huron Valley

Mystie Beckwith was an only child who spent her days in the woods with books and nature or just down the road at her grandparents’ farm, riding horses and caring for animals. Then and there, in that childhood, Mystie’s love of living beings grew strong. Her desire to help animals in need began to sprout.… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Karma Kat Cafe

In southeast Michigan, there’s an organization that every rescue and TNR team knows. It’s All About Animals Rescue (AAAR), headquartered in Warren, with additional locations in Flint, Auburn Hills and Detroit. With a clear vision to end pet homelessness, suffering and unnecessary euthanasia, All About Animals launched in 2005 as a foster-based rescue in Macomb… Continue reading Member Spotlight: All About Animals

It always starts with a need, a passion and a drive to help homeless pets. Rescues are born from those ideals, and most strive to one day grow into a shelter. The dream of walls and a roof to provide a haven to animals in need, beyond the foster care network, is present day and… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue

Ideas are powerful. They can have significant impact. They can even be transformative, growing and spreading into something beautiful. In animal welfare, successes are built on ideas, but only after those ideas are explored, nurtured and shared. That’s what happened 18 years ago. A few friends spent a cold afternoon walking the track at a… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Shelter to Home

To build a successful animal welfare organization, you have to snap together a lot of parts. Learning to work together, advocating with one voice, is the common denominator we see most often in groups that create lasting change. MPA member Happy Feet Pet Rescue (HFPR) is one of those organizations that’s made the grade. How… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Happy Feet Pet Rescue

Along Bay Road in Kochville Township, you’ll find a shiny new 23,000-square-foot animal shelter and resource center, under newleadership, and bursting with passion and ideas for the future while embracing change for theanimals of Saginaw County. In fall 2023, Saginaw County Animal Care & Control (SCACC) moved to its current location, more than doubling the… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Saginaw County Animal Care & Control

In 2016, two outstanding animal welfare organizations, Dog Aide and Bark Nation, embarked on a collaborative effort called Project Grace, which offers free spay/neuter surgery for the dogs of Detroit through a voucher system. In addition to spay/neuter surgery, Project Grace dogs get free pain and antibiotic medications, nail trimming, needed vaccinations and microchipping. “A… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Jen Clarkson

Julie Duke was in her late 40s before she adopted her first pet, a toy poodle she named Mardi because the puppy was born on Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday. Because her mom didn’t want animals in the house when Julie was growing up, she didn’t know what to expect. “I found out, much to my… Continue reading Member Spotlight: Julie Duke

Instituting the Fear Free program helped move the shelter toward an enviable average length of stay of just five days for both dogs and cats and earned one of MPA’s 2021 Out of the Box Awards, plus a $1,500 cash award.

Some organizations live up to their guiding philosophy. Some fall short. Count Little Traverse Bay Humane Society among the ones that make their words work.

The Harbor Springs shelter was established in 1951 from what they term “humble beginnings” and now boasts a number of affiliated for-profit services, such as veterinarian services, boarding, grooming, day care and training that feed their bottom line.

At Adopt-A-Pet in Fenton, enrichment and learning are such key activities for the dogs and cats there, training sessions are as regular an activity in their lives as eating and sleeping. Every dog is given a training session every day. Adopt-A-Pet’s spacious eight-acre grounds include wading pools, four fenced play yards and an agility course. This summer, Maddock is planning an outdoor “Zen Den” with different smells and textures to provide even more enrichment.

Tool & die shop owner George Fox was an animal lover who had a dream to someday build a shelter where homeless pets would be cared for and safe. In 1955, he and a group of like-minded friends bought seven-and-a-half acres of land in Shelby Township and began to raise money to fulfill that dream.

In Gogebic County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, H.O.P.E. stands for Help Orphaned Pets Everywhere. That’s been the mission of the H.O.P.E. Animal Shelter since its inception in 1992.

No Kill was the philosophy of the original H.O.P.E. founders, who wrote it into the organization’s charter. The shelter has maintained a save rate of between 95 and 99% since then, making it one of the first No Kill shelters in Michigan. In 2011, the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance recognized the people of Gogebic County as one of 10 Michigan No Kill communities saving homeless cats and dogs through life-affirming programs.

Little did Scott MacKenzie know that attending a going-away party for the retiring executive director of the Charlevoix Area Humane Society (CAHS) would dramatically change his life. MacKenzie was serving on the search committee to hire a new executive director for CAHS and also looking for someone to chair the marketing committee.