Leanna Taylor is CEO of the Arizona Pet Project, an organization that keeps pets with the people who love them through any kind of hardship. Leanna came to this work after a previous career in professional sports, moved by what she saw and experienced in her own Phoenix neighborhood and the need for solutions that address the human crises and animal crises that are so inextricably intertwined.
Today, the Arizona Pet Project is at the forefront of recognizing and honoring the H in HASS—the human part of animal welfare. And we're so excited to share this wide-ranging, supremely galvanizing chat between Diaz and Leanna that goes deep and brings home the hows and whys of keeping families together, working with partners to support the whole family, and why all families should, we're quoting Leanna here, "have access to the joy and healing benefits of pet ownership."
Find Human Animal Support Services Online:
Leanna Taylor is CEO of the Arizona Pet Project, an organization that keeps pets with the people who love them through any kind of hardship. Leanna came to this work after a previous career in professional sports, moved by what she saw and experienced in her own Phoenix neighborhood and the need for solutions that address the human crises and animal crises that are so inextricably intertwined.
Today, the Arizona Pet Project is at the forefront of recognizing and honoring the H in HASS—the human part of animal welfare. And we're so excited to share this wide-ranging, supremely galvanizing chat between Diaz and Leanna that goes deep and brings home the hows and whys of keeping families together, working with partners to support the whole family, and why all families should, we're quoting Leanna here, "have access to the joy and healing benefits of pet ownership."
Find Human Animal Support Services Online:
Welcome to the second installment of People, Pets, and Purpose, our brand new interview series on human animal bond, and talking about things that really matter. And there are tennis solutions that are mixed up in this one, we're talking about helping people who are struggling with all types of afflictions, Z's mental health. And of course, there's always issues in the animal industry that we are working on and trying to get pets adopted and keeping them with their families. We explore a lot of these things. We'll talk inside and outside the industry. And today, I couldn't be more thrilled to speak with you today. So I'm Diaz Dixon, and I am the Maddie's Advisor for External Affairs and Partnerships for the Human Animal Support Services project. And today, I've got superstar Leanna Taylor, with me, man is the director of the Arizona pet project, a nonprofit that keeps people and pets together through all kinds of challenges in all kinds of ways. Brianna, thank you so much for being here with me today.
Leanna Taylor:I am so excited to be here. And thanks for inviting me.
Diaz Dixon:Well, it's always a pleasure. When we've got heroes, you're one of those heroes, it's behind the scenes that a lot of people don't even know about and things that you're doing down there in Arizona. It's spreading, like big. And I know, as a part of Haas, we look up to the great things that you're doing. We want to emulate a number of those things. We have a ton of stuff to talk about today. I'm hoping you can start by telling me a little bit about the Arizona Pet Project. How do you keep the work going of keeping people and pets together?
Leanna Taylor:I mean, that's such a layered question. So we are an organization like you said that that works to keep families together with their animals, we work with low income families and families in crisis. The vast majority of our clients fall into disproportionately affected or vulnerable groups. Those would include our chronically under resourced communities or communities of color. veterans, seniors, people with mental health challenges, substance use disorders unhoused. I mean, you name it, we are intersecting with pretty much every demographic in our community who have pets.
Diaz Dixon:It's pretty amazing, because you don't see a lot of industries focusing on marginalized population. And really looking at that, that that bond that the human beings who are struggling also have what does that look like on a day to day basis? Great, or year to year?
Leanna Taylor:Yeah, I mean, the reality is that there are plenty of organizations that have been working with these disproportionately impacted communities, though they've historically been human service agencies. So you know, we know in our industry that 70% of households have animals, which means that 70% of households that are disproportionately impacted also have animals because we know that those statistics are consistent across every socio economic divide every racial divide every ethnic divide, it is consistent 70% That's the number. So for an organization like ours that works really at that intersection of people and animals. We've got a lot of great organizations that we can look to, for roadmaps in how to how to work with with these varying groups of people and their individual and unique needs.
Diaz Dixon:That's awesome. Well, when you think about 70%, that's a huge number. I was reading something just the other day that more people have pets and have kids write that out, which is just incredible. I think another really big thing that you're doing now know too if you're doing work, to destigmatize pet owners, who also need the support. I was moved by something that you said about pets of people who are unhoused here let me let me quote you on this.
Leanna Taylor:My words coming back to me, Diaz.
Diaz Dixon:Oh, no, no, no. Great words. They're absolutely great words. And you said when I drive by an unsheltered person i with a pet, I think one lucky dog. And I'm so glad that person has an unconditional love from that pet. See one thing a dog wants more than anything in this world? Yes, even more than food is their person. And the one thing we as people want more than anything, is someone who looks at us and sees the world as it was really cool. Tell me a little bit about that. Um,
Leanna Taylor:you know, I think that so I got into this into straight about 10 years ago, and this was really before, a lot of these conversations around owned animals and in sort of shelter prevention and keeping people and pets together. One of the things I was really struck by was the amount of judgment that I saw being directed toward pet owners that maybe it didn't look like our industry, which if we're being really honest, is predominantly white, is predominantly middle to upper income. And it was surprising and it was disappointing because again, we know that animals exist in every corners of our community. And my personal belief is that if you need and enjoy the companionship of animals, that you should have the ability to experience that. And as I got further into this work, what I found to be so clear, is that often the people who struggle to care for their pets the most are also the ones that need their animals the most. And so we really, as an organization decided to take a very active role in confronting some of those judgments and prejudices that exist in our industry, and making sure that we're real advocates for people who are struggling with their day to day existence, but who loved their pets. And that quote that you quoted was from an article that we wrote specific to our unhoused community, which here in Maricopa County is very large in growing by the day. I think, you know, our unsheltered population is a perfect example of that relationship between humans and animals. That, you know, their needs are often the animals needs placed before the people. So how is how do we, as an organization advocate for those individuals? How do we encourage our industry to begin advocating for those individuals and their animals? I don't know if that answered your question, Diaz, that was a long rambling answer.
Diaz Dixon:No, that was not a really, that was really good. You got to be like, getting up early in the morning is thinking deep already. Because you're the first thing you touched on was that judgment piece of how often we think we know what the perfect person looks like, who should own an animal?
Leanna Taylor:And shockingly, right, that looks often like we do. It's a reflection in the mirror. Yeah.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah, those implicit biases come into into play. And I know, when I was reading the magazine, there was, there was a lot of that that would go on, were sitting behind the counter, the staff sitting behind the counter, we were making determinations on who should and who shouldn't own a pet. And if you think about it, we probably all have preconceived notions about what the perfect pet owner looks like. And really, we are looking at helping people we need to meet people where they're at. And understand that it's a it's a valuable tool, or a wonderful privilege for people to have a pet to be there. I love it. I love everything that you said about that. That's pretty cool. Well, that explains why you are a 40 under 40. recipient. Oh, boy. Yeah, you know, you know, my team does a great job of doing all their research. And so they pulled up a picture that was, if any of you guys have a chance to go and look at the annotators 40 to 40 pictures, you'll see why she's a rock star.
Leanna Taylor:Oh, man. Yeah, that was what I didn't just oppose with a guitar for no reason every year, the 40 under 40 assigns a theme and that year it was rock stars. So we got to choose our instrument of choice. And I've never played the guitar a day in my life. So it feels a little fraudulent. But there it is for everybody.
Diaz Dixon:Looking at the looking at the picture, it feels really authentic to me because you are a rockstar. I too was a 40 under 40 recipient but we're not going to go what year or decade that was. So tell me Leanna Tell me a little bit about how did you actually come into this work? This line this this field?
Leanna Taylor:I fell into it. I think like so many people, you know, I I moved into a new neighborhood and Mayor in Phoenix in the greater Phoenix area which lies within Maricopa County and for those who don't know, Maricopa County is the largest geographic county in the country. It encompasses nearly 8000 square miles so you can drive for about three hours uninterrupted corner to corner of our county we're Laurie sure that many states in the United States did not know that. Yeah, it's, it's a behemoth of a county. And so I had moved into Central Phoenix in a very mixed income neighborhood. From a suburb, I'm a city girl, I was born and raised in Vancouver. So it really felt like coming home. Why? First couple of weeks in living in my new house, I found a dog running down the street, and I opened my car door, that dog jumped in, I brought him home. And I hopped online. And I like to think of myself, Dias is a pretty connected person, you know, aware of what's going on around me, right? It wasn't until I started researching what to do with this dog that the issue of pet overpopulation and pet homelessness in our community was brought to my awareness, which is something that I think I'd like to touch on at some point, which is really our industries, toxic trade of only talking to each other, and thinking that we are doing a great and effective job of communicating outside our industry when we're not so you know, like myself, so many people out there just have no idea. So I'm looking at what to do with this dog. And I realized that our county shelter at the time, this would have been 2013 was bringing in nearly 70,000 animals a year and we were euthanizing over 30,000. At our peak, it was 105,000 animals coming through our shelters, and 70,000 animals euthanized each year really baffling statistics. So in that moment, my eyes were really open to the issue. And I knew that I needed to get involved in some way. I have a sales background, I have an operation spectrograph background, I love data. I was going to sit on a board. And so I found the organization that I'm currently working with to join their board. And the CEO position was open. And they offered it to me. So here I am. 10 years later, a little less, a little a little more worn, a little more aged, I think this industry can age you in dog years.
Diaz Dixon:But you got a lot more wisdom. And what a great story, you know, who would have known that a dog that was running in the streets was going to have an impact on saving hundreds of 1000s of lives? Do you look at that domino effect, just this little guy jumps in your car, and is the domino effect of working with jumping in with someone who was involved in professional sports, and makes the shift over to the animal welfare world. And you are a wonderful connector continue to do that. So pretty cool. That's a really cool story. And I did, Matt,
Leanna Taylor:thank you. You know, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna backtrack even from there. I mean, I've always always loved animals, they've been a big part of my life. And you know, my first pet that I owned as an adult was a cat that we found as a stray that cat was with me for 20 years and traverses the country alongside of me. But I also like to tell people that my first dog that I ever owned, came from a pet store, I bought it, because I didn't know better. And I'm so grateful that, you know, the first people that I met in this world didn't take that information, that bit of information. And, you know, blast me in the face with all of this again, judgment and vitriol because it. I didn't know what I didn't know. And again, look at where I am today and what I'm doing. So I think it's an important reminder to, to approach to every everybody with the lack of judgment and understanding that they maybe just don't have all the information. But when we give it to them in a way that's digestible, they might go on to do really great things.
Diaz Dixon:Absolutely, absolutely. We could be missing out on a lot of opportunities, due to the lack of grace, that can be shown in different situations. I know. Similarly, when I was a kid, growing up in the projects, every other weekend, we were walking over to the tennis courts to watch the dog bites as entertainment. I didn't know any different, you know, so it's, it's really, really important to for us to be to working with people to set those judgments to the side. Give people an opportunity to learn, grow and change. That's pretty awesome. Thank you for sharing that. What was that puppy's name
Leanna Taylor:haChinuch he was a husky. I adopted him five months old. They really suckered me in because he was at that age where the pet stores if they don't sell them, send them back for I don't know where they go from there quite to be quite honest with you, but I was a sucker.
Diaz Dixon:Tell me about your current pets. So I know you. I know you have birds, right?
Leanna Taylor:I have one bird. It's my son's bird. I have one bearded dragon, also my son's bearded dragon. And then we share our home with two dogs, both foster failures. Those two dogs have also been foster siblings to at least 100 different foster dogs we brought through, brought through our homes. And interestingly enough, both of our dogs that we fostered were owner surrenders, which if our organization was doing what it currently does today, at the time, our dogs would have been reunified with their owners one came from an unhealthy woman who needed to enter a substance use treatment center. Court ordered the other visited a woman fleeing domestic violence who moved in with her daughter and couldn't bring her dogs, both perfect examples of programs that when they are in place, and working with the community, those dogs could have stayed with their families.
Diaz Dixon:Wow. Wow. Well, could they have you will? Tell me a little bit more about that. What what's changed in the 10 years since you first came into Arizona Pet Project.
Leanna Taylor:So organizations transition has been pretty, pretty interesting. So we originally started as friends of Animal Care and Control supporting the Maricopa County Animal Shelter. And since 2005, the main program they funded was the free spay and neuter program in the community, which was an extremely effective tool in bringing down our number of homeless animals from 105,000, to where it sits today, around 50,000. In 2015, we started asking some deeper questions around shelter data, we needed to understand that if it wasn't all of these litters of homeless puppies and kittens entering our shelters anymore, because it wasn't. And we still had 50,000 animals coming through the door, who are those animals? And why are they entering and really, in our community, nobody had looked at that data. The prevailing belief at the time was that if owners were there to surrender their animals, it was too late. That bond was broken, take the animals in adopt them out, that was the method. So we started doing some deep dives into the owner surrender data to look at the reasons why. And overwhelmingly it was financial crisis. urgently, or emergent medical need that the family couldn't pay for, the family was experiencing eviction or moving, right, we look at moving and we place a lot of ideas around what that looks like, like, Oh, you're going somewhere that doesn't take animals? Well, if you're a family with first and last month's rent, that pet deposit could be the thing that puts you over the edge or breed restrictions or size restrictions. And what we found overwhelmingly was that if those individuals had been offered services or resources to keep their pets, they would have. And so that was really the impetus behind us. In addition to funding spay and neuter moving into shelter intervention is one of the first organizations in the country to do that, certainly the first in our community. And here we are, all these years later. And simultaneously, we rebranded to the Arizona Pet Project supporting our entire community.
Diaz Dixon:Okay, so there's a couple of things that that I absolutely love. And, you know, use the term before, keep pulling all the puppies out of the river, and we're pulling them and pulling them in for them. At some point in time, we have to stop and take time to walk up the bank, and figure out why they're falling in. That is so great for you to say, let's take a look at this data that is painting a picture. Let's see what it means and understand it so that we can do a better job at servicing it. And then I love the community piece. Because what the animal pet project does, is you guys involve a lot of partnerships. I know you're talking about the community stuff, I'm really interested in how you have put together groups that really focus on working with people. But human part of that, not just focusing just on that the animal.
Leanna Taylor:The move into shelter intervention for us was not the final piece of our journey. It was really the beginning. That was phase one of probably 100 and we're probably at Step nine right now with a long way to go and figuring out how to continue moving forward. In that time, you know, over the past seven years of doing this work It really became so obvious to us that the animals that are in our shelter are very important, right, we've done an incredible job as an industry and animal welfare of elevating the status of homeless animals and shining a light on the homeless animals in our shelters. But when we look at the total number of animals in our community, animals in animal shelters make up a teeny tiny fraction of those animals. And my belief through this work is that if we're talking about animal welfare, we have to stop thinking about that just in the confines of the animal shelter, and start thinking about it more in the context of our entire community. So, you know, we, we started meeting these families, and it's like a little thread of a sweater, right? You just keep pulling it and pulling it pulling it and you realize that the issue is so much deeper. It's not just about crisis. It's about systemic inequities. It's about systemic disparities. And it's about our lack of support for the humans in our community that then has an impact on animals. So we just keep pulling that thread. And so now, when we talk about animals and animal welfare, we're not just talking about shelter animals, we're talking about the hidden animals, and hidden families in our community who are suffering, who need some assistance as well. That to me is really the foundation of what the Arizona Pet Project looks like today, and why we have been successful in building coalitions and partnerships. And I'll stop there, because I think there's, I see you, that's your wheels.
Diaz Dixon:That is amazing. No, no, no, I should be sitting here. I need to be taking notes. But fortunately, this is recorded. So I can go back and watch it as many times as I want. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about those partnerships, like, give me a couple that are really meaningful for you.
Leanna Taylor:Yeah, I mean, I think it's, it's hard for me to necessarily like to point out just a couple of partnerships, because, really, it's it's making sure that we are in the room with every human service agency and coalition working on the human side. And it goes back to what I was saying before with animal welfare folks really doing a great job of talking to other animal welfare folks, we don't do such a great job as an industry and getting outside of our bubble in talking to other people. I recognized I'm in a very fortunate position, we're not an animal shelter, everything that we do is providing services for owned animals. So that's a big luxury, right? I don't have to worry about 1000s of dogs and cats that need my attention today. I get to focus on these partnerships. But it's really being in the room with our you know, Association of Governments or Department of Housing or coalition's around housing and homeless services, being a part of our veterans working groups and making sure that we have a seat at the table, when they are talking about services for their clients, but also how we create systemic change within those different groups that include animals, in that conversation, making sure that we have that voice at the table representing the 70% of their clients who have pets.
Diaz Dixon:I love it. And for those of you guys who are listening, as as Leanna is preaching from the pulpit right now, we cannot be seen if we're not present. And so you know, the fact that you're out there, you're present. And we do have a history in the animal welfare industry have just staying inside our walls. And oftentimes, we will hire people that say, Well, I don't like people, I only want to work with animals. Well, in order to help the pets and help the animals, we have to be able to have those relationships. So it's great that you're out in the community, and you're and you don't look at yourself, you don't put yourself in a box as saying that you are an animal organization, you're a community organization. And that community centric approach is pretty awesome.
Leanna Taylor:I love it. I mean, I think it's it's what's kept me going for 10 years because things can get a little stagnant in if you're just doing the same thing year after year, for us to be able to look at all of these very complicated and complex issues and recognize that we have a role in addressing and solving some of it. It's really actually fun for me, I love it. I was gonna say that. With that, I think to again I am so grateful I don't want this to be a critique of animal welfare. But we can't do better if we don't learn from the mistakes that we've made. And I think that in animal welfare, we, we often are advocating so hard for the pets that we forget about the people. And that occasionally can create some conflict between animal welfare organizations and Human Services. And what we're saying is, when we're in those spaces, let's talk about the people first, in the animals second. And that's actually okay, because at the end of the day, it positively benefits the animals. So does it matter if we are in their raw writing for the animals and pets first at all costs? Or at the, you know, at the expense of not being taken seriously? Or not getting that seat at the table? Or is it okay for us to go in? Talk about people, people, people, by the way, also animals? And then watch those positive benefits? To our shelters and to our community?
Diaz Dixon:Absolutely, absolutely. Do we want to dig our heels in and be right? Or do we want to be effective, I think we want to be effective. We talk about the ancient Haas, the human part of the animal support services, where the meaning and the purpose for humans is in this work and ingrained in this work in the food and leads this work. That's how we're going to address real challenges and how we're going to be able to get support from the outside world of animal welfare, and for them to recognize this as an important resource for things that they need. How does your staff face the real challenges in this work? And just keep it going? On a daily basis? Um,
Leanna Taylor:it's a good question. I mean, I think if you were to talk to my staff, the thing that keeps them going each and every day is their ability to make a difference. They are not out there saying no to people, they're not out there gatekeeping the community from accessing resources, they're out there to say, yes. How do we say yes to as many people as possible in a way that is meaningful to all of the different members in our community. They have a heavy lift. But at the end of it, you know, again, providing solutions to the community is really inspiring. It's really powerful. It's not the type of job where they're spinning their wheels and feeling like they're not getting anywhere, every day, we're impacting dozens and dozens of families who otherwise would have had nowhere else to turn.
Diaz Dixon:You're truly inspirational. I love it. So tell me, what are you inspired by
Leanna Taylor:our community, I mean, without a doubt, I am inspired by our clients and their resilience, in grace under pressure that they bring to the world every day. You know, we're not meeting people. We're not meeting people at a joyous moment in their life, often we're meeting them on their worst day, individuals that are fleeing domestic violence, and oh, by the way, just got evicted from the first place that they relocated to, on their path to stability, because oh, by the way, they were diagnosed with cancer and couldn't pay rent because of their medical bills. We're meeting people with so many co occurring conditions and situations that that I think most of us would be crushed by. And yet they show up every day in this world, often because of their animals because of that companionship and the unconditional love of their animals. So So those are the people that keep me inspired. That keeps me you know, that keeps me going. In nonprofits, we place so much value on our funders and we lavish them with attention and gratitude, which they deserve. And we also need to make sure that we are really celebrating the joy in our communities and in our clients and the love that they have for their animals.
Diaz Dixon:Absolutely. All those years I ran step two, I always call the women that went through the program are heroes, because the things that they're dealing with, with crush, the average human being, and so on their journey, we can be a part of that and providing some support. It's great to be there and let's celebrate as we work our way through Leanna it's been absolutely awesome having you on here this morning. Tell me one more thing. How can we find you and learn more about Arizona Pet Project?
Leanna Taylor:Yeah, come find us. You can find us in Phoenix, Arizona. You can find And it said our Community Resource Center in South Phoenix. You can find us in our staff on site at human service agencies and animal shelters across the valley. And you can find us online at the Arizona it's AZ pet project.org on social media at the Arizona Pet Project. Look for us on Instagram, Facebook Connect. Anybody has any questions reach out to us any questions on how to really refine human animal centered programs and any interest in learning how to write human centered grants, we're here to help
Diaz Dixon:awesome awesome awesome awesome I'm gonna come down and find you. I'm gonna come down and take a tour. So be ready for me to come on down.
Leanna Taylor:We're ready anytime
Diaz Dixon:awesome I want to say recommend
Leanna Taylor:avoiding the summer although urine urine in Nevada so so you've got your own heat to deal with.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah, yeah, we're not too bad. I grew up in Vegas Vegas is really bad Reno's not too bad in here so but it was always got some some sometimes it's great to escape the cold and get down there right about now's a good time of year
Leanna Taylor:now is a great time anytime between October through probably April, you're safe. Start getting into May. Might as well just turn that hairdryer you have at home on your face.
Diaz Dixon:All right, let's does you know when to get down to when the time is right. So get down and visit pay attention. Go to them on the website. And if you're looking to donate, donate as well. She's welcome that always welcome to have new donors come
Leanna Taylor:we love money.
Diaz Dixon:Well, we loved hearing from you this morning. Thank you for joining us. It's been a true treat. And for those of you guys out there, thank you for listening. This is really about paying attention to the fact that we need more human kindness in this world. And that is what's going to keep us moving forward and doing what we need to do to take care of the pets, the human bond and solving a lot of the issues that we have. Thank you for joining us, and we will see you on our next episode. In the meantime, be safe, be well, and lead with love.
Leanna Taylor:Thanks, everybody.