0234: Laura Baker from the Nashville Humane Association

Executive Director of the Nashville Humane Association, Laura Baker, discusses how they are continuously evolving to serve their community.

Nashville Humane Association online:
NashvilleHumane.org
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From the Dog Words archives:
0232: Pinups for Pitbulls with Deirdre Darling & PinupsforPitbulls.org
0230: Melissa's Second Chances with Kaitlin Thompson

Celebrate 5 years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate at RosieFund.org or through our Facebook page. You can contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Also check out our page on BarkYours, the online mall with gifts for people who love their dogs.

Music for this episode is provided by alternative string duo, The Wires. Visit them at TheWires.info. Learn fiddle and cello-fiddle online — even if you've never played before — from Laurel Morgan Parks and Sascha Groshang at FiddleLife.com. Join The Wires as they explore new music on their show Sound Currents.

The transcript for this episode is available on the Dog Words Buzzsprout page: Buzzsprout.com/840565.

Make a donation at RosieFund.org or through our Facebook page. You can contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Also check out our page on BarkYours, the online mall with gifts for people who love their dogs.

Rosie Fund online:
RosieFund.org
Facebook.com/rosiefund
Instagram.com/rosiefund
YouTube.com/rosiefund

Transcript

LAURA  0:04 
My thought of what a shelter was was totally wrong. And so once I started volunteering I just kind of fell in love with it, not necessarily the animals but the people that are making the difference.

PHIL   0:19 
Hatterman and this is Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund.

Today, Executive Director of the Nashville Humane Association, Laura Baker, discusses how they are continuously evolving to serve their community.

If you're new to Dog Words, in each episode, we explore the world of dog care and companionship. "We save each other," is the motto of Rosie Fund, which simply means the more we do for dogs, the more they do for us, and they already do a lot. If you love dogs, you'll love Dog Words. We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions. Go to the podcast page at RosieFund.org to share your thoughts. Please download, follow, rate, and most importantly, share Dog Words.

Celebrate five years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website, buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com or buying our note cards and shirts on BarkYours.com. Links are in the description. Your donations and purchases help fund the Rosie Life Starter Kits that make sure these senior and harder-to-adopt dogs have some of the items they'll need in their forever home.

Please follow Rosie Fund on social media. Subscribe to the free Rosie Fund YouTube channel that offers great videos of Rosie, Peaches, and shelter dogs, including some exclusive content like the sweet KC Pet Project dog featured in our latest post.

Next time on Dog Words, The Grooming Project's Chief Operating Officer Jarrod Sanderson updates us on how they're empowering the parent to empower the child with a little help from dogs.

The mission of Rosie Fund is to provide humans with the resources and education they need to give senior and harder-to-adopt dogs a better life. We thank you for joining our mission.

Joining us from Nashville, Tennessee is executive director of Nashville Humane Association, Laura Baker. Laura, welcome to Dog Words.

LAURA  2:16 
Thank you. Hi, Phil.

PHIL   2:18 
Hello. We were introduced to you by Pinups for Pitbulls. I want to know more about Nashville Humane Association. But what's your connection with Pinups for Pitbulls?

LAURA  2:30 
Great question. So Dierdre, who started Pinups for Pitbulls, is a dear friend of mine. We met about 10 years ago. And I started working in animal sheltering and just really loved her message of advocating for all breeds and that all dogs are individuals. They did a calendar search one year. They do a calendar as a fundraiser and so they choose 12 different women to advocate and I was chosen for one year. So I think that was 2014. I was able to actually meet Deirdre who was like a lifelong, you know, she just is a trailblazer. And so I met her in 2014 and just have been friends ever since. So I'm a volunteer and advocate for Pinups for Pitbulls. I work events, and just help to spread the message that every dog is an individual.

PHIL   3:19 
Anyone who wants to know more about Pinups for Pitbulls, I will link to both their website in the description for this episode, but also the interview that I did with Deirdre, which was a lot of fun. As I'm sure Laura can attest it would have to be. You are executive director of Nashville Humane Association. Have you always worked in animal welfare? Or is it not for profit and you just happen to end up with animal welfare? What's your background?

LAURA  3:47 
I went to college at The Ohio State University. And I majored in biology.

PHIL   3:52 
I'm a Nebraska Cornhusker, so yes, I'm familiar with THE Ohio State.

LAURA  3:57 
THE. Make sure you get the THE in there. I grew up thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian. And so I went to college and really found out that that was not for me. Blood and guts just really wasn't what I wanted to do. So I started volunteering at my local shelter in Columbus, Ohio,. Shout out to Franklin County Dog Shelter. And I took photos, I walked dogs, I just really loved it and saw that there was nobody my age involved. It was all older people. And so I didn't know it was a career. This was before Animal Cops. That's like 2006, 2007. And I got a degree in biology. Had no clue what I was gonna do with it. And just figured that I volunteer at the shelter so why not try to work there. So, got my first job as an animal care tech in Florida. Lee County Domestic Animal Services in Fort Myers, Florida. And then just worked my way up. I've essentially worked in every department at a shelter. I've been a volunteer. I've worked in animal care. I've worked in vet services. I've worked in adoptions. It's just really what I love doing, what I've always done as a career since 2008. So a long time. 13 years.

PHIL   5:09 
What is it that you love about it?

LAURA  5:11 
Every day is different. I go back to Forrest Gump that life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. And that is what working at an animal shelter is. You work with some of the most compassionate, selfless people that aren't here for the money. And we're working toward one mission. So it's really nice to work around like-minded people, and toward a mission that's just so selfless. And you get paid in puppy kisses and kitten head boops. I mean, how could it be any better than that? It can't.

PHIL   5:43 
As you describe your journey to where you are now, there was some purpose to it. That you found something you'd like to do. But it also seems like you kind of fell into it. You weren't chasing the money or the glamour.

LAURA  5:58 
No, no. And I actually thought it was—when I thought of a shelter, I thought of working at a dog pound. You know, that was what I was raised. I grew up in Ohio where it was very rural. And so my thought of what a shelter was was totally wrong. And so once I started volunteering, I just kind of fell in love with it, not necessarily the animals, but the people that are making the difference. And all of the behind the scenes work. Blood, sweat and tears that goes into it that people don't see is really what attracted me to it. And I've worked in government animal control for 11 years. And then now I just came over to the nonprofit side, which is a totally different animal. But definitely a very fun experience coming to the nonprofit side. .

PHIL   6:43 
With Nashville Humane I was looking at your website, and it looks like you have lots of great programs. One in particular that stood out to me was the rehoming program. We talk about all the time on this show how hard it is to have empathy for someone who just dumps their dog at the shelter. But that's not everyone's story. Some people, it's like giving up a child. It's like a Dickens novel that, "I have these children that I love. But I have to turn one over to the workhouse because we can't afford to feed all of these mouths." And it breaks their heart because people are making a choice between paying for my child's meds or feeding this dog. Or this dog has medical needs that I can't cover. And they could just abandon the dog, neglect the dog, put it out on the streets. The fact that they're trying to figure out some way to give this dog their best life is commendable. And we need to have empathy for those people. So tell us how the rehoming program works with Nashville humane?

LAURA  7:54 
Sure. So there are a multitude of processes. And what you said is absolutely correct. It's such a mind shift for our staff to shift from "I have to protect this animal and make sure it goes to the best home and I am judging the human at the other end of the leash." And what you said is absolutely right. We have to start thinking of the human. And sometimes when they come to us, it's because they are at the end of the rope and they're trying to do the best they can. So we have a safety net program at Nashville Humane. It's actually ran by one person. She's an angel. Her name is Alexandra. And she fields every phone call, every email, from anybody wanting to rehome their animals or having to get rid of it for one reason or another. They're moving, you know, COVID is happening. Such a plethora of reasons there. And she works with the person to try to meet them where they are, and say, "What kind of resources do you need?" If you want to keep this animal, which sometimes there's folks that do and sometimes there's folks that don't for whatever reason, and she tries to...

PHIL   8:57 
And they may not even know that keeping it is an option.

LAURA  8:59 
Is an option. Correct.

PHIL   9:00 
So, yeah, if you can find a solution that this is a temporary setback. If we can get you through the next month, are you back on track with having this dog be in its forever home with you? And most people would say, "Oh, yeah, absolutely. Get me through the next month. Get me through the next three months, whatever it is, we should be good to go."

LAURA  9:19 
Right. And that temporary care program, like you said, is new. And some people don't even know it's out there because it is so new. And it is to help support those humans that love their animals and keep them in that loving home. So our program ranges from training, free training, if you have behavior issues with your animal. We have low cost vet care. It could just be quality of life. It could be vaccines. It could be, there's just so many things that we try to plug into. Because ultimately, we want you to keep your animal if you want to keep it. We want to support you and really retain that human animal bond. And so that safety net program is probably two years old. So we started in 2019, the year before Covid. And thank God, because that program was our leading program over the past two years. It's really kept a lot of animals out of the shelter and kept them in their home.

PHIL   10:11 
Yes, it's not just keeping an animal with someone it knows and giving a family peace of mind. It's a wise investment of resources, because it's not taking up one of your kennels, and your staff and your dog food and your care, and everything that is involved with, whether it's a dog or a cat or any number of other pets that are important to families.

LAURA  10:35 
Exactly. Yeah, you know, we don't ever talk about the business side of it, because you're dealing with living beings. But when you're an executive director, you do have to think of the resources and keeping that cage open for the next animal that's coming in. If I can keep this animal in their home where they're loved, how many more animals will that impact? And how many more times will that owner tell other people like, "Hey, there's a program out here that can help you."

PHIL   10:57 
Oh, they're your best ambassadors.

LAURA  10:59 
Absolutely. Absolutely. So that program has really paid off in spades, both with retaining the human animal bond and saving our resources so that we can apply it toward other programming in the community.

PHIL   11:10 
And speaking of them being your best ambassadors and telling others about it. There are populations that are underserved, whether it's getting education about animal welfare, or access to government programs, any number of things that go through that underserved population, whether it's a neighborhood, or an ethnic community, a socioeconomic group. If there's one family that needs this service, there are other families. And that's how the word gets out. Because putting out flyers and PSAs have minimal impact.

LAURA  11:51 
Right.

PHIL   11:52 
You look at advertising or marketing anything. I can see all the billboards in the world for the best barbecue grill to buy. But if my neighbor tells me, "I love my grill," that's the grill I'm gonna buy, regardless of how many billboards I've seen for other barbeque grills.

LAURA  12:09 
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, they're the best advocates for the program. And we found that, like you said, the program's so new that folks don't know about it. And so word of mouth and really building that trust, because these systems that have been in place in animal welfare and just everywhere, have been set up for those folks not to trust the system. And so having a person that is in the same situation that they're in or that they know and trust really helps to make an impact and have people take advantage of our program.

PHIL   12:38 
Yeah, a truck shows up with government tags, hide the dog.

LAURA  12:42 
Exactly. Exactly.

PHIL   12:44 
And so earning their trust is huge.

LAURA  12:47 
Yeah, and letting them know, like you said, there's other options out there, we don't want your animal we want to support you as a human. And we want to support the animal as well.

PHIL   12:56 
It also appears that Nashville Humane Association is sort of a directory or clearinghouse for other resources. I'm sure there are citizens not only of Nashville, but for Humane Associations around the country that just think of, here's where shelter dogs end up. So if you want to get a shelter dog, or you find a stray, Humane Association, have no idea of any of the other services that you both offer and collaborate with.

LAURA  13:25 
Yeah, it's amazing how much our programs have shifted just in two years. And we are really proud of that directory online. We've seen that in our working with Salvation Army or Red Cross, human based programs, that our services are overlapping. They're seeing issues that we can easily connect and have a resolution. So we found that having a directory that not only has animal resources, but also human has been helpful, and to have a bigger impact beyond that animal.

PHIL   13:58 
Yeah, you talk about adjusting and pivoting. Your history that's detailed on the website. Nashville Humane is the descendant of a program that started in the 19th century to protect the welfare of working children and draft horses.

LAURA  14:17 
Correct. You have done your research. Yeah, I mean, talk about being Madonna and constantly changing yourself to meet the community's needs. And I think that's what's important. Our community is ever changing. Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

PHIL   14:33 
You probably have weeks that go by where you don't get a draft horse anymore. Maybe a month.

LAURA  14:37 
Yeah. Yeah, months. But it's funny that you touched on the kid portion of that because now we are going back to supporting that human so it's coming full circle. And going beyond the animal. It's very interesting.

PHIL   14:51 
Yeah, it was evolving to the point where, okay, these are the animals that we need to help not draft horses so much anymore.

LAURA  14:58 
Right.

PHIL   14:59 
And there are labor laws that really have eliminated the need for this child welfare that prompted us to start this program. But as our perspectives have changed, as our knowledge has changed, we realize that child labor is not the only threat to a child's welfare. Not only there are other threats, but as you indicated, it's this overlapping tapestry of issues, that you can't fix all of them. And if you had that approach, you would be overwhelmed. It's like, "How can we fix everything for this community, or even just this one person?" instead of, "Well, maybe if we fix one thing that will get them on track for addressing these other issues." Which benefits that person and will ultimately benefit that community and we'll get more people involved in working towards a better Nashville.

LAURA  16:00 
It's a win-win-win for everybody.

Yeah, what's the downside?

Yeah, none. Nothing.

PHIL   16:08 
Just listening to your enthusiasm talking about what you do and what Nashville Humane Association offers, I'm sure there's people listening across the country who want to get involved as well. First of all, what does someone in Nashville do who wants to help Nashville Humane Association?

LAURA  16:25 
We'll take anything and everything. Volunteers. We always need volunteers. We have over 1000. But during COVID, obviously, we also need folks to volunteer from home. So if you're interested in volunteering, that could be of your time, of your skills, of your knowledge, that's always something that we need. Fostering is a huge thing. We're seeing a lot of our intake be large dogs. Sometimes with behavioral issues or medical issues, we pride ourselves in helping local shelters that may not have the resources that we have. So we tend to take in the broken, the mutants. So if you're willing to open up your heart and your home to an animal, we always need to foster. So volunteering, fostering, donating, we have a wish list on our website.

PHIL   17:10 
So that's something you can do regardless of where you're at around the world.

LAURA  17:14 
Correct.

PHIL   17:14 
You can be a part of the great work that is being done in Nashville.

LAURA  17:18 
Yes, we have a wish list on our website and on Amazon. You can advocate for us, not only for us, but the shelter that's in your own backyard. If you have not visited your own shelter, please go visit them. See what's going on, how you can help. If you are in Nashville, we provide tours. We have an open door policy to anybody that wants to come in and see the work that we're doing, the good, the bad, the ugly, the front of house, the back of house, the dishes, the laundry. We'll show you. We just really want our community to be proud of their local shelter. And there's always something you can do to help make a difference whether it's sharing a post, checking out our website, all of that helps us.

PHIL   17:55 
What a great tour for a scout troop or a homeschooling group or any sort of organization. I'm focusing primarily on children. Obviously, a group of adults, Soroptimist Club or Elks or something that'd be great, too.

LAURA  18:13 
Rotary!

PHIL   18:14 
But I think especially to let the youth know, here are opportunities to be of service. Here are career opportunities. We had Kaitlin Thompson, the marketing and public relations manager for Melissa's Second Chances, which is a rescue group here in the greater Kansas City area, had her on a few weeks ago, talking about volunteer opportunities. They need someone to mow their lawn.

You don't think about that!

So even if you're someone who's like, "Yeah, I I couldn't work with the animals because my heart would just break for every animal and it would just be so emotionally draining. I couldn't do that." There's probably some maintenance or house cleaning or any number of things that can be done that would not impinge on your sensitivity, which we love that people are sensitive but still want to help. Yeah, we can find something for you to do.

LAURA  19:10 
That's a great point. Yeah, I hear every day, "I don't know how you do your job." And I get that because I couldn't work in a nursing home where I couldn't work with kids 'cause I just couldn't do it. But I think that's a great point. There are ways to get involved without that emotional component. We have folks making snuffle mats from home from just rags strips, you know. We have folks that file stuff for us. We have folks that do graphic design. So if you have a skill and if you have the time please reach out to your shelter or to us. We will utilize you because it is very hard right now to hire folks, especially in the animal care world. So getting volunteers and folks that'll do it at no cost is very helpful.

PHIL   19:47 
My mother turns 86 in a couple of weeks and she sews cat hammocks for KC Pet Project that we deliver. Another volunteer gave us the pattern to share with her and she has all kinds of material scraps and will go to the fabric store where they have sort of the extras for where they've sold a bolt of fabric and then here's a foot and a half or a yard leftover that they can't sell. You get this box cheap. And they never have too many cat hammocks.

LAURA  20:18 
You can't have too many cat hammocks! Send them home to foster, you know. That's amazing that your mom does all that. And not many people sew!

PHIL   20:25 
Yeah, she never has to go to KC Pet Project yet is such a great contributor to what they're needing. And I'm sure there's many other things like that that I am not even aware of that you can do from home. And there's probably another volunteer who's already going to Joanne Fabrics. They don't even have to make the trip that they could, they would be glad to drop off, "Here are the supplies if you're willing to do the sewing." Or any number of other things like the snuffle mats.

Yes. Sewing what you mentioned is a great thing because that's such a lost art form. Cat hammocks, man, those are like gold. So bless your mom for all the work she does.

Just a personal aside, a little story about my—I'm going to brag on my niece, Sally, who recently graduated from the University of Kentucky. My sister-in-law, her mother, owns a fabric store in Kentucky. And they do a lot of upholstery repair and custom order drapes and things like that. And so Sally for years has worked hands on with sewing machines, and needles of all kinds. Because there's fabrics where you got to punch it through, you know, heavy weave or leather or something and rivet. So when she went into the interior design program at the University of Kentucky, everybody wanted her in their group, because...

LAURA  21:45 
Absolutely! That skill!

PHIL   21:46 
...everyone else had grown up on a mobile device, and not actually used their hands to do sewing and cutting and measuring and problem solving that, "Okay, this fabric, we've already cut it, it doesn't quite stretch. So where could we hide the seam? Oh, I never thought about hiding the seam." And to have those skills. So that's not something that I think she would have bragged about before she went to college. Because she wasn't aware of how special it was. So there are people out there who have skills that you take for granted. If you just go to Nashville Humane Association, or Melissa's Second Chances or KC Pet Project are whatever you have in your area and say, "I want to be a service. Here's what I can do. What do you need?" Or they tell you, "Here's what we need." And you realize, "Really, you don't have someone who can sew? I thought everyone can sew. Yes, by all means I will sew." Or whatever your gift is. Share it with the world. Don't hide it under a bushel.

LAURA  21:46 
Right? We have a volunteer that loves to organize. And so, man, we use her. Because she'll take stuff home and organize it. She'll come in and organize it. And that's that's an art form.

PHIL   22:37 
Yes! Oh, KC Pet Project they have a couple of different satellite locations. And the one at the Zona Rosa shopping center is a little storefront adoption center with dogs and cats. And there are people who every month or two, just organize stuff because you get donations dropped off. And you get a pallet of different kinds of pet foods. Some dog, some cat, some puppy, some senior, some mobility dog food. Canned. Bagged. And just to have it sorted. And the staff has enough to do already. They're trying to help get adopters matched up with pets. And tomorrow I will get to this pallet of dog food. Well, the day after tomorrow, I'll get to this pallet of food. Just so an organizer who can move that around or is just good at lifting stuff.

LAURA  23:46 
Yeah. Yeah. Heavy. Muscles. You know, we always need those folks.

PHIL   23:50 
Move the filing cabinet.

LAURA  23:51 
Yes. Usually folks that work in animal welfare, we tend to hoard things because we want to make our resources last. And so organization is just one of those things that's always needed.

PHIL   24:02 
As soon as you decide, "Well, we'll never need that." The next day after you toss it out is when you realize, "That's exactly what we need."

LAURA  24:10 
Gosh, darn it. We had it for years. Yeah, exactly.

PHIL   24:13 
It's sitting there gathering dust.

LAURA  24:15 
Yeah.

PHIL   24:15 
I'm so excited to let people know what Nashville Humane Association is doing. People can get involved personally by volunteering, whether at the shelter or at home. They can volunteer online by donating, accessing your wish list. Or this might inspire you to do something in your local community, even if it's not for animal welfare, figuring out "Hey, I have this skill I can offer Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity" or any number of other organizations that ultimately benefit your community. Get involved at whatever level...

LAURA  24:49 
Plug in where you can plug in.

PHIL   24:50 
Yeah, and I'm sure you don't remember the last time you only put in a 40 hour week.

LAURA  24:56 
Yeah, I don't...

PHIL   24:57 
That people don't have to make that kind of commitment.

LAURA  25:00 
No, it's easy peasy and volunteering, you know, you control your hours and you control how involved you are. And there's something simple that I've been seeing happening a lot. You mentioned programs towards kids, is kids having birthday parties and instead of having a birthday party, they've gathered donations for a shelter or for Red Cross. And that is just so inspiring. Because as a child, I was so selfish I would have never done that. But like the fact that this new generation, the parents are instilling in them, and these kids want to do that. It's just inspiring. And then those kids come in, they bring the donations, they bring their friends, we give them a tour, it just snowballs into this party of goodness. And we end up giving them a present anyway. So it's just a fun experience for everybody.

PHIL   25:41 
What I want parents to really think about, especially people my age, I'm in my 50s. When I was a kid, birthdays and Christmas were special, not just because it was that day of the year, but because you would get something that you would not otherwise get. There wasn't Amazon where, "I want something, I will have it tomorrow." The economy didn't even work that way. And I grew up in rural Nebraska. So there might be something I wanted that's not in my local grocery store, or even in the big city of Norfolk, 25 miles away with a population of 20,000.

LAURA  26:21 
I'm going to town!

PHIL   26:22 
Yeah, go to Sunset Plaza to go shopping for clothes. And that's where the JC Penney's was.

LAURA  26:29 
Ooh, big department store.

PHIL   26:31 
But now, when you get to anyone's birthday, whether it's a kid or adult, what do you buy them? Because if somebody wants something, they have it. And if you're not in a position to buy them something that's out of their capability of buying, they probably don't need it. They don't need something that expensive. So most of our children would benefit psychologically, emotionally, just the life lessons of doing this. And then you don't have to figure out, "What do I need to buy for my kid who has everything?"

LAURA  27:05 
And then throw away a month later.

PHIL   27:07 
Yeah. And find room for it.

LAURA  27:08 
You know, this is an experience that lasts. Yeah, yeah. And then organize, gotta find someone to organize it. Yeah, I think that's a great point that the kids are definitely raised differently. And you're seeing it pay off in spades, because these folks are getting involved at such a young age where if I had that opportunity, I would have known for sure what I wanted to do, you know, from the jump. Yes.

PHIL   27:29 
Yeah. And how exciting would it be for you as a parent to do that. And then the next week, have your kids say, "I want to go back."

LAURA  27:37 
Right, I want to give back to my community. I want to go see the animals.

PHIL   27:39 
I want to keep doing this!

LAURA  27:41 
Right! On their own! Amazing. It's a gift for you. On your birthday.

PHIL   27:45 
Yes. I want to set down my gaming system and go to the shelter to volunteer. Give your child the opportunity to make that choice. And raise them so that they make that choice. I usually try to avoid being judgmental on this podcast. But I'm going to judge you. You're you're a better parent if your kid makes that right choice, and you give them the that choice.

LAURA  28:12 
Parent of the year.

PHIL   28:14 
So here's your chance to be parent of the year. That's our gift to you.

LAURA  28:17 
Right. And you can get photos and content of your kids and they can look back on it and think, "Wow, I had a really cool birthday doing something selfless."

PHIL   28:26 
Yeah. And what was your best birthday or anniversary or any celebration? Was it a gift? Or was it an experience?

LAURA  28:34 
Exactly.

PHIL   28:35 
Was it that trip you took or that place you visited or that party where you got to have so much fun with your friends? Give an experience. That lasts so much longer and it's so much more meaningful.

LAURA  28:46 
I need you to record the tagline for that program.

PHIL   28:50 
We can make that happen. I think we could probably figure that out. Well, Laura, I know you've got so much work that you need to do there in Nashville so I'll let you get back to it. I just want to remind our listeners there's links for different things that we've mentioned in this discussion, but particularly NashvilleHumane.org. Find out how you can contribute either in Nashville or in your community. Laura, thank you so much for joining us today.

LAURA  29:17 
Thank you, Phil.

PHIL   29:26 
I'm Phil Hatterman and you've been listening to Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund.

Thank you to Nashville Humane Association Executive Director Laura Baker for joining us today. Links to their website and all of their social media are in the description.

There are also links to the Dog Words episodes we referenced in today's interview. If you find an old episode you'd like, be sure to share it with your friends.

Next time on Dog Words, we get an update from The Grooming Project.

A big thank you to alternative string duo The Wires featuring cellist Sascha Groshang and violinist Laurel Morgan Parks for playing the wonderful music you've heard on today's and previous episodes of Dog Words. Supporting The Wires supports our mission. Now you can join Laurel and Sasha as they explore new music and delve into the inspiration behind each work as hosts of Sound Currents on 91.9 Classical KC. Click on the Sound Currents link in the description for more information. Learn more about The Wires at TheWires.info and download their music on iTunes. Check out FiddleLife.com and learn to play fiddle and cello-fiddle online from Laurel and Sasha even if you've never played before.

Celebrate five years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the website store, buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com, or putting some of our merch in your cart when you shop at BarkYours. Links are in the description. Your donations help fund the Rosie Life Starter Kits that make sure the senior and harder-to-adopt dogs have some of the items they'll need in their forever home.

As always, please download, follow, rate, and share Dog Words. This helps us with sponsorships then Rosie Fund can help more dogs. Support Rosie Fund by following us on social media and please subscribe to the free Rosie Fund YouTube channel. Our latest post features a sweet KC Pet Project dog looking for a forever home. Send us your comments, questions and suggestions at Rosie fund.org. And let us know if you would like to be a sponsor or guests of the Dog Words podcast.

Thank you for listening and remember, we save each other.

DISCLAIMER: This document is a transcription obtained through a third party. There is no claim to accuracy on the content provided in this document and divergence from the audio file is to be expected. Some content may be omitted, particularly when there is crosstalk.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai