Thank you to our fabulous sponsors:

[email protected]

www.michiganpetfund.org

1-877-387-7257

The 2014 Getting to the Goal No Kill conference was a great success.

Ever-popular national advocate Nathan Winograd from the No Kill Advocacy Center was the top draw for animal advocates from throughout the state, who attended his sessions as well as others on No Kill basics and economics, community cats, fundraising, customer service, legislation, advocacy, leadership, behavior assessments, community outreach, shelter enrichment, and more. There was truly something for everyone.

The Shelter Awards banquet recognized the top-performing and most improved shelters in the state based on the 2013 annual reports that each licensed shelter is required to submit to the Michigan

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Report details are here.

The following shelters were recognized with awards.

Outstanding Open Admission Shelters with the Best Save Rate:

Copper Country Humane Society, Small Shelter (< 1000 annual intake) Houghton County: 96% save rate in 2013.

Humane Society of Midland County, Medium Shelter (> than 1000 but < 5000) Midland County: 100% save rate in 2013.

Humane Society of Huron Valley, Large Shelter (> 5000) Washtenaw County: 86% save rate in 2013.

Most Improved Open Admission Shelter:

Barry County Animal Shelter: 70.11% in 2013, up from 34.11% in 2012.

Outstanding Limited Admission Shelter with the greatest number of adoptions (limited admission shelter with at least a 90% save rate and with the greatest number of adoptions):

Cascades Humane Society (Jackson County): 96% save rate in 2013 with 798 adoptions.

Most Improved Limited Admission Shelter:

Humane Society & Animal Rescue of Muskegon County: 94.44% save rate in 2013, up from 46.51% in 2012.

(L-R): Amber Sitko, All About Animals Rescue; Neil Wackerle, Humane Society of Midland County; Tanya Hilgendorf, Humane Society of Huron Valley; County Executive Mark Hackel, Macomb County; Carmela Lazarus, Cascades Humane Society; Sue Chambers, Cascades Humane Society; Dr. Diana Newman, Barry County Animal Shelter; Heidi Yates, Humane Society and Animal Rescue of Muskegon County

Other awards given include:

The Best Friend Award, which recognizes a person, agency, or organization that has gone above and beyond to save, care for, home or advocate for Michigan's homeless cats and dogs, was given to Amber Sitko, President of All About Animals Rescue. See further information here.

Amber Sitko, All About Animals Rescue

The Elected Official's Homeless Animals Friend Award, which recognizes an elected official who has either introduced and shepherded legislation to benefit and improve the life of homeless cats and dogs in Michigan, or made a transformational change for the homeless animals within their jurisdiction, was given to Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.

See further information here.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel

Are you wondering what you missed, or need to refresh your memory if you attended? The full conference program, including session descriptions, speakers bios, and exhibitor contact info is available here.

See a list of all award winners here and a local press release here.