Interview: Candi Crawford

In case you haven't noticed by now I am trying to mix it up a bit and share posts between BFAS Los Angeles and BFAS in Utah. I thought that a good way to introduce my readers to BFAS Los Angeles would be to share an interview I did with the amazing and always kind Candi Crawford, Outreach Manager for BFAS Los Angeles.

1) How long have you been working for Best Friends Animal Society and what does your job entail?

I've been working for Best Friends Animal Society since January 2011. I started as an Events Specialist and now work as the Outreach Manager. I currently manager a variety of programs that run out of our Los Angeles location: Pup My Ride, Foster Care, Neonatal Nursery, Events, and Community Animal Assistance. I'm blessed to work with a very wonderful group of people that are dedicated to the mission of saving animals and making LA a no-kill city.

2) Where does Best Friends Animal Society-Los Angeles get their adoptable dogs and cats from?

Our animals come from the six LA Animal Services shelters: East Valley, West Valley, West LA, South LA, North Central, and Harbor

3)What would you say is the biggest problem that shelters in Los Angeles, as well as Best Friends, face in the struggle to make Los Angeles a completely "No Kill" city?

Turning LA into a no-kill facility is a community effort. Along with Best Friends Animal Society, many organizations are working in LA to help promote adoption, spay/neuter, and to prevent animals from going into the shelter in the first place through intervention programs. Unfortunately the majority of animals killed in LA shelters each year are neonate kittens. Of the 13,000 killed last year, more than 6,000 were baby kittens. That's a startling statistic and we are working hard to address this, but need the community's support.

4)How is Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles working to overcome these problems and what successes have you attained thus far?

We're working on a variety of programs here in LA that help to save more animals. We have our no-kill adoption center in Mission Hills, where we pull as many adoptable animals from LA city shelters as we can to adopt out. Pup My Ride transports help alleviate the over-population of small dogs in the LA area, by sending them to organizations in other areas that do not currently have small dogs available for adoption. Our neonatal nursery and foster care team are helping to save more than 1,800 kittens from LA Animal Services this year alone (we just passed our 1,000th kitten mark in fact). Our events help bring the community together, and showcase adoptable animals from both Best Friends Animal Society and the NKLA Coalition.

5)Given the high number of dogs and cats coming and going at your facility, I am sure there are many needs that need to be met. For someone interested in helping out with the dogs and cats at Best Friends Animal Society-Los Angeles, how may one volunteer to do so?

We LOVE volunteers! Whether you can physically come to our facility or not, we can use the help. For on-site/event volunteers, it's best to go through an orientation and you can get signed up through volunteerLA@bestfriends.org to start. Our NKLA Coalition also loves the help, for more info click here .

6)Aside from achieving a "No Kill" status in Los Angeles, what would you say is another significant change that Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles wishes to imprint upon the city, and perhaps even all of southern California?

Pets are valued members of our society, and for many of us, they are family members. They deserve to be treated with love and respect, and that's why we are doing our best to help ensure a day of No More Homeless Pets.

7) What are some of the big events that Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles puts on each year in an effort to adopt out as many dogs and cats as possible? Are there any coming up that the public may wish to attend?

Best Friends hosts numerous events throughout the LA area regularly. In May, our NKLA Adoption Weekend saw more than 411 animals get adopted to forever homes. Our upcoming Strut Your Mutt event helps raise more than $250,000 for local non-profit animal organizations. We are hoping to host a second NKLA Adoption Weekend event in November, date and location TBD.

8) On a more personal note, what has been your absolute favorite moment while working for Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles?

There are SO many! I have cried so many happy tears for animals that have been adopted.. some were with us for quite some time before going to forever homes, and some weren't around long enough for me to get to know them before they were adopted. I work with an exceptional group of people, so my favorite memories involve watching those people go out of their way to give love and help to an animal in need. Last year when we started our kitten program, it was so much work, but so rewarding. All of those individual faces will be with me forever.. knowing that each of their lives were saved because of our work, is so memorable. Many of them are in adoptive homes with folks that keep in touch with us regularly -- knowing that joy that they bring to their adopters, and that they are also lucky to be alive -- that's why I started saving animals in the first place.. I wanted to help animals AND people and realize now that I can do so at the same time! :)