The human-animal bond transcends all, regardless of where someone lives, their race, or how much they have in their bank account - pet ownership is for everyone. It’s a concept that is gaining more and more acceptance across animal welfare, and it has brought new approaches to keep people and pets together to the forefront.
There have been shifts in animal services (called animal control or field services, depending on where you are). Historically, animal services departments have primarily focused on code enforcement, often leading to punishment-based consequences. We know that disproportionately affects people of color and lower-income pet owners and may lead to pets being impounded, taken from their families when there are often solutions available to keep those pets where they belong - at home.
To learn more about how communities across the country are moving to more support-based animal services, we spoke with Ashley Anderson Mutch, the senior program manager of enforcement and policy reform with the Humane Society of the United States’s Pets for life program.
Resources from this episode:


Punishment to Support: The Need to Align Animal Control Enforcement with the Human Social Justice Movement: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1902 (https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1902)
Best Friends: Humane Animal Control Manual (PDF download): https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Best-Friends-Humane-Animal-Control-Manual.pdf (https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Best-Friends-Humane-Animal-Control-Manual.pdf)
Best Friends Town Hall: The Human Connection: save more lives by building stronger relationships in communities: https://network.bestfriends.org/tools-and-information/best-friends-town-halls/human-connection (https://network.bestfriends.org/tools-and-information/best-friends-town-halls/human-connection)
Best Friends Editorial: Field Services: Identifying Data Worth Collecting: https://network.bestfriends.org/tools-and-information/editorials/field-services-identifying-data-worth-collecting (https://network.bestfriends.org/tools-and-information/editorials/field-services-identifying-data-worth-collecting)
Best Friends: Animal Care and Control Resources: https://network.bestfriends.org/lifesaving-library/animal-care-control (https://network.bestfriends.org/lifesaving-library/animal-care-control)