More Than Rescue: What Animals Teach Us About Being Human

What really happens after an animal comes through the shelter door?

Lisa Fuller has been rescuing animals since she was a kid growing up with a dad everyone called Dr. Doolittle. Today she chairs the board of the SPCA of Luzerne County and opens her home to senior and hospice dogs so their last chapter is a happy one. She has seven at home right now.

In this conversation, Liz and Michele go behind the scenes of animal rescue, and it is a lot more than adoptions. Lisa walks through hoarding and neglect cases, the humane officers most people don't know exist, and Purple Paws, a program that cares for pets so women can leave abusive homes without leaving their animals behind.

She clears up the biggest myths about euthanasia and funding, explains why shelters lose money on every adoption, and gives honest advice for anyone who wants a pet but isn't sure they have the bandwidth. (Michele, we're looking at you.)

In this episode:

• The stray named Crab Cake that pulled Lisa into the SPCA
• What happens in an animal's first days at the shelter
• Love Stays Home: Kibble Connection, the Angel Fund, and Purple Paws
• Why dogs sometimes live in the shelter's lunchroom, and go to summer camp
• Adopting vs. buying, and why "foster fail" is a compliment
• The difference between your local SPCA and the ASPCA
• Plans for a new 12-acre facility
• Find a way to help:

Resources From This Episode:

SPCA of Luzerne County: https://www.spcaluzernecounty.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPCAofLuzerneCounty/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spcaofluzernecounty/

Love Stays Home / Purple Paws: https://www.spcaluzernecounty.org/how-to-help/love-stays-home.html

Not in NEPA? Look up your local shelter. Most are community funded, just like this one.

If you or someone you know needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233.

Follow Spark Me on Instagram for weekly clips, and subscribe wherever you listen so you don't miss Lisa's part two when the new facility opens.