I’m excited to share a dynamic interview with Susanne Kogut, the President of Petco Love. Susanne spent the early part of her career in corporate law before deciding to dedicate her life to animal rescue and welfare. She made such an impact as the Executive Director of an SPCA because she ran the shelter like a business. So there’s a lot for everyone to learn here!

I can’t believe how much we were able to fit into this conversation! We talk about Susanne’s career trajectory, and the work she now does with Petco Love including lost pet programs and disaster relief efforts. Plus we talk about the impact that fostering has on the rescue community.

Susanne told me that If 1 million people would foster we could essentially end euthanasia due to overcrowding. That fact is so compelling that after recording, I told Susanne that I would make it my goal to foster a dog before the end of the year! So you heard it here! I’ll be adding foster dog mom to my resume before the end of 2022.

If that’s too much for you to commit to, Susanne has another, even easier call to action for pet parents… register your pet in the Petco Love Lost nationwide lost pet network so that if they do get lost one day, you’ll be able to reunite with them more easily.

Petco Love Lost and Other Programs to Help Shelter Pets

As President of Petco Love, a nonprofit changing lives, Susanne Kogut leads a team dedicated to making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. In 2005, Susanne took her decade of corporate law experience and her passion for animals and served as Executive Director of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, where she transformed the open-admission SPCA into an award-winning, nationally recognized lifesaving model.

Since joining Petco Love in 2013, Susanne’s thought leadership in the animal welfare field has helped raise the bar and set a new standard for animal sheltering. She champions foster care and supports organizations that are the most productive and effective at saving lives. She’s also the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute and has been recognized by Pet Age as a “Woman of Influence” for her contributions to the pet industry. She’s based in San Antonio and enjoys spending time with her pack of dogs and various foster pets.

OVERVIEW OF THIS EPISODE:

• Susanne’s crazy path from working in corporate law to directing an animal shelter
• The biggest change Susanne made to lower euthanasia rates
• Why fostering is such an important factor in avoiding euthanasia
• Petco Love’s approach to encouraging fostering
• How Petco Love’s grant program works
• How the Petco Love Lost program helps lost pets find their way home
• Ways that Petco Love helps with disaster relief
• What Susanne is most proud of in her shelter work

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Petco Love Lost

WHERE TO FIND SUSANNE:

• Website: petcolove.org
• Instagram: @petcolove
• Facebook: @PetcoLove
• Twitter: @petcolove

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