it's a good morning at 707 to Angela's speed. Angela is the vice president of the marketing
and communications for the Wisconsin Humane Society. And good morning, Angela.
Thank you so much for having me. Good morning and happy holidays.
Yes, thank you. You know what the best part about freezing cold weather is when you pick
up the poop in the backyard, it's frozen very easy to pick up.
I agree wholeheartedly having two dogs myself. Yeah, it's just easier to come down. It's
like little biscuits to pick them right up. And let's talk about the cold weather first
off because like hot weather, I mean, the extreme for animals, they don't like them.
Now, I mentioned before you get on the air or all the pets, obviously goldfish you don't
want outside in the freezing cold because that won't end well for them. Now dogs, they
can take some of the cold, but I was telling you before we got on the air, when it's
to walk my beagles, they used to lift their when it was freezing cold, have like 10 degrees
and not even below zero. I never walked in when it was extremely cold. But if it was
like moderately, you know, they want to get out. These start picking their paws up off
the sidewalk one of the time. And I know, uh, I'm to get out of here because they don't
like the cold on their paws when it's 10 degrees. And I guess all dogs are different.
Everybody thinks because they have fur, they never get cold. They get cold. Yeah.
Oh, absolutely. And those little pop pads are especially sensitive. When we do see dogs
come in with frostbite, it's typically at the ears, the tip of the ears, the tail, or
the pop pads because of their, from the most sensitive parts of their body that that
cold fastest. And you know, if you have a, a working dog, a great tyranny, they might
be more accustomed to the cold. But every dog is different, even even some of those
like arctic breeze. Some of them actually don't like the cold. So you really have to just
watch for those cues like your dog would give you that, hey, it's time to come inside
and looking at the forecast this week. The next thing they seem pretty warm and then we're
in for a pretty significant cold snap. And when it's 10 degrees out or below at the
Humane Society, we just take dogs outside for a quick patty break and then back inside
just to not risk frostbite or hypothermia. But definitely watch for your own dogs cues.
Some of them can tolerate the cold. Some of them will not go outside.
You know, when I had a pomeranian, she was tiny puffball. Whenever it's snow, she couldn't
wait to get outside. She used to jump and borrow through it. I mean, she used to go under
the snow. She couldn't see it. Her head would pop up. Then she'd go back down and borrow
some, but some dogs love the snow. So I like to call it in my pomeranian. It just love the
snush. Couldn't wait to get outside. It's a burrowing through it, rolling in it. And sometimes
you couldn't see her because she'd get under the snow. And then you call her name and her head
would pop up somewhere. That's not to go back down again. Some dogs don't like it though.
I know it's hard to believe, but you know, yeah. And the other thing to remember is,
never leave your pat in the car when it's cold. They can quickly become like a refrigerator.
And cats should always be inside. And watch for signs of frostbite. And typically,
that'll be pale or gray skin, pain or swelling. If you suspect frostbite, make sure to get
your animal slowly warmed up and then call your vet right away. And also anifree is this
time of year. It's really sweet and actually attracts animals and it's highly lethal if it's
ingested. So make sure you clean up any spills immediately or if you see a pool of anifree,
keep your animals far, far away. Now cats, I, I had a cat years ago, but we never let the cat
out of the house. We the cat was a cat. And that was it because I didn't want to take it a
chance as if we're getting in trouble or getting hit by a car. So she just stayed in the house.
She never went outside. And that was just the way we did it. We didn't have a fence in yard
where she can run around. Even with your fence in yard, they can climb. So my cat was pretty safe.
But a lot of people just open the door and let their cats out. How safe is that? I mean,
it just sounds dangerous. There are a lot of risks to a house cat being let outside and from
from vehicle accidents, getting lost, weather conditions, owls, a bit large predator birds.
There's a lot of dangers out there. So we do recommend that you always keep your cat inside.
And certainly there are some, there are some cats who are working cats like working at sparns or
stables. And there was our hearty cats, but they always have, you know, food, water, and shelter.
So if you have an indoor house cat, the safest place for them is always inside.
You know, talking about working dogs, I want to see all these cop shows on TV,
your live police shows. And when they bring a canine out, the sniff for drugs or guns,
how do they know that? They had a, they had a, and there was a date line the other day I was
watching. And they arrested a guy and he said, I don't have any guns. And they searched this car.
They couldn't find any guns in the car. And it just happened that there was a canine handler giving
a demonstration not far away. And they said, come over here. I want you to dog to just check out
this car. The dog went in the car, sniffed the console and sat down. They took apart the console
and there was the gun. Wow. That dog found the gun where, where six cops couldn't find it.
The dog found it right away. Isn't that something? It really is dogs are impressive. And I feel like
we're still learning how amazing of creatures they are. They're so smart. And people say,
well, you know, you're making them work. They like doing it. That's what they, they trained for.
They have a good time or even when they use them for tracking a bed person, they love it when they,
when they finally find the bed person, they're happy to dance and around because they did it.
I love, I love that. Okay. Let's talk about matching donations. It was
continued in society. I always give money every six months to a whole bunch of charities,
mostly animal charities. I also give to disabled vets and boys down in Nebraska. But my number one
thing is alley cats. They have, I have best friends, the guiding eyes charity. I always try to
get, and of course, what's got to do in many societies on it as well. So we just put cash in
an envelope every six months to all these charities. Actually, it's every four months to all these
charities and mostly animal ones because they put those pictures on the cover of the envelope.
So they said, all right. But I always check them out on charity navigator to make sure they're
on the level. And I've never run to a charity that wasn't. They give them ratings, you know,
how many stars and where the money goes. So so far so good. And also the equine people for horses,
I give to them too, for some reason. But yeah, give, you know, it's, it goes to such a good cause.
You know, so many good charities out there, at least make an animal charity one of yours.
And Wisconsin, you main society right here at home. And you have branches. How many branches
around the state? We have six shelters on the Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, Ozaki, Green Bay,
and Dark County. I want these videos on Facebook. And one of my favorites is they hold up a little
tiny sign. It says you've been adopted and they're walking down the shelter. And they come to the
canal and they lean over to the dog and they put the sign up. You've been adopted. And the dog
can't understand them. But starts going crazy because now they've been adopted for a new forever
home. But what makes me sad is they have to walk past all the other dogs to get to the one
they adopted. And they're all looking, they all have their faces against the cages, hoping it's
them. I, you know, I wish I could take them all home. I wish I could, if I could, if I had a
billion dollars, I'd buy a giant farm fence it in. You can run all day as much as you want.
I would do that. I just, because I love animals. All right, coming up at just a moment,
I'm going to take up my, my newest granddaughter. My wife and I try to figure out our relationship
with this dog. We'll talk about that. Plus we want to talk about fostering animals. That would
be tough for me because you, when you foster an animal, you got to give them up. And I wouldn't
give them up. I keep them. I mean, once you're looking to their eyes and they like you,
there's all dogs. I mean, eventually they'll warm up to you. These videos where they find dogs
along the roadside that are like all emaciated. They bring them home and over a course of a few weeks
that dog's running around the yard sitting on the new owner's lap. You know, so it's magical
moments that human animal bond. Okay. So we'll talk about fostering and also your food bank and the
vaccination clinic, all that stuff coming up with Angela speed, who is the vice president of the
marketing communications for the Wisconsin Humane Society. We're talking to Angela speed from
the Wisconsin Humane Society. Let's talk about fostering animals. And that's different than
owning the animals. Kind of a temporary thing. What'd you talk about that? Yeah. So at the Wisconsin
Humane Society, about, I would say like 60 to 70% of the animals actually come to us with some
sort of medical or behavior condition where they're not ready for adoption yet. And we know that
animals heal faster and do better in a home. And so we have these incredible foster parents
who will take them into their homes. So there's just a couple days. Other times it's literally
months to foster those animals. We had over 6,000 animals go to foster last year where they
grew up. Sometimes they're neonatal kittens. And then as soon as they're ready for adoption,
the foster parents can either adapt them out themselves or they can return to the shelter.
And it absolutely is huge to expand our life-saving care for animals. And we are always looking
for new foster parents. I've done it. It's a ton of fun. You get 70 get a puppy sex for a couple
weeks and then you can return them for adoption. And it's really easy to sign up and get started.
Once you're signed up, you get to see like the whole list of all the animals looking for foster
and you can kind of pick and choose. And if you're on the fence about adapting, it's a really great
way to see how another animal will do in your home and interact with your other animals.
Foster parents can, you know, they really range from single people, whole families. Just about
anybody can foster an animal and you don't need much space. Do you find many of the times that
the people foster the animal at the end don't want to give it up? Absolutely.
We welcome foster males who decide that, you know, they just can't return the animal. They just
fallen in love and it's a great fit and they adopt. And foster parents do get first dibs
on adapting. It's got happens. And we welcome that. That's a great placement.
Back in the 1968, I want a dog on the radio, a little puppy on the radio. They said it was a
cockroach spaniel, but it was this dog and everyone saw a cockroach spaniel. Anyway,
it was a puppy we got. Now, we already had a dog at the time. My mother said,
we're not going to have two dogs. So we're going to give this one up. So we have the dog and our
neighbors across the street had a couple of friends over that wanted to see the dog and they fell in
love with it. They said, we'll take the dog. So when they were done with their visit,
they came over to get the dog. My mother said, we changed our mind. And we had that and we had
that puppy for 14 years. My mother fell in love with it over the likes two days and I'm not
giving this dog up. So we had to be. So we had peanut. This dog wasn't a cockroach spaniel.
I don't know what they were talking about. I think they, you know, radio's lie about prizes all
the time. You know how that works. Okay. Let's talk. Let's talk about the food bank,
the vaccine clinic and other community services you guys offer.
Yeah. So I wanted to make sure to mention our low cost vaccine clinics. We know that that
care can be unattainable or unaffordable. And one of a great new year's resolution is to get
your cat or dog vaccinated if they've fallen behind. And it's only $16 for a core vaccine that
rabies are your DHPP for dogs. And then your your feline just temporary for cats. And we offer
those. The next one in Racine is coming up on Thursday, January 16th. You can go to our website,
make an appointment. It's really fast and easy and very affordable. We also offer microchipping
for $25 at those vaccine clinics. And then another service I wanted to mention is we have a pet food
pantry that is open to anyone who's struggling to afford food or supplies for their animals.
And that pet food pantry is at all of our locations. We typically have some dog food, cat food,
and cat litter. But we also depend on donations to stock those shelves. And those shelves are
running pretty bare right now. And so if you are in a position where you can donate a bag of food or
cat litter, that would be incredibly welcome this 10 of year. Well, the roses are going to be
donating some food down the question is, what do you like dry? Well, are they wet canned food?
What's the best to get? I would say dried dog kibble and canned cat food are the two most
in need items and then cat litter. Yeah. We have the brand they make here. I forget that
brand of it already. They make it here Wisconsin. I'm trying to remember the brand of it from.
Yes, what froms? Right. We get froms. And we like that. So we'll get a couple of bags,
smaller bags, or the big giant ones, like smaller ones. Whatever you can left. Okay. We will take
any any food. Okay. So the roses will be dropping some off in the next week or so here. We're
going to hand it over to the pet store, get my coupons and use them all up. They'll say,
oh, she I didn't know you're getting another dog. Just mind your business. And here's my money.
Now I was telling you, we are now grandparents or an uncle, I don't know how the family tree works
to a neighbor's dog. He brings it over every week. It's a pit bowl. She is one of the most
sweetest animals I've ever ever had ever with. Even all my own dogs were just never this sweet.
It's just a wonderful animal. The problem is she's very powerful. So when she comes to the yard,
she tries to jump on me and she'll knock me over because the pit bowl is really powerful.
But she's just a sweetheart. And I love that dog. So I think my wife and I are grandparents.
Grandma and grandpa. That was what you get to spoil the dog and have fun with the dog.
It's that's wonderful. How old is Juniper? Juniper is four. We think he when he got hit
it's a rescue dog. And so we think they think it was she's about four years old. Now here's
the way we we brought up our old doggy beds. We got him washed or cleaned and we went out to the
store and bought very durable toys because we had a toy that all our beagles used to play with
this dog toward a part in just a few seconds because she's powerful. So we got this really good
toy that she can't tear apart. And one of the thing about toys I gotta tell you, I watched this
video on YouTube. And at Christmas time, they had a lineup of about a hundred toys. And at the
shelter, each dog is allowed to go through and pick out a toy. And it's amazing. They go look
and look at a pick one out and they run back. They pick one out. They run back. I mean,
it's it's really they dogs walk down the line examining all that then they pick one out and
they run back into their channel because they didn't want everybody else to get to get the toy.
All right, so let's do a quick review here. Cold weather safety. And what's the temperature
we're looking at? Are dogs and cats different? It's definitely different for your golden
retriever versus your Chihuahua. Rulistum just keep a close eye on them. And when it gets bitter,
cold, you really just want to take your dogs out for short, potty bricks and right back inside.
Okay, let's talk about and goldfish don't go out in the cold because never take your gold fish
up. No, the water doesn't won't do well. And of year, the giving they have a matching thing going
on, right? We do and tell midnight tomorrow, every donation is being matched up to $50,000.
I know it's it's next 48 hours only though. So if you're in a position to make a monetary
donation, that donation will be doubled right now. Okay, if you want to foster an animal,
you go down to your local Wisconsin Humane Society. We have one is this one and we're seeing
I know I know I know where it is. I don't know the street address, but I can find it.
Yeah, we're in 16th Street in Mount Pleasant and it's a beauty. It's our newest facility.
Oh, it's new. Yeah, location. And then also it were in Kenosha on the 60th Avenue, too.
Yeah, I know because that was the there was a different one. Okay, so that's new. Okay, good.
And the food bank, you can drop off food anytime. Animals, you know, cat food, you want cat litter,
you want dog food, canned for cat and dry dog food, kibble for dogs, which is probably the best
deal. And how about toys? You want toys, too? Oh, always. Especially those durable toys,
like your friend's unicorn. Yeah, we've got a lot of heavy chewers. And it keeps them kind of
happy and healthy when they're awaiting new homes. Congs are great. Any sort of cat toys,
not catnip though. And those shelter animals absolutely live for their toys. Okay, I want you to
call me anytime you've got a program or a need for something. You call me first, Angela.
We'll make sure we get it on the radio, okay? Absolutely. Thank you so much, John.
Oh, we'd love to have you here. Angela Speed. She is the vice president of the marketing
and communications for this Council and Humane Society. Right on 16th Street, they have a brand new
facility here in Racine and in Kenosha, they've got one so you could drop off food, donations,
whatever you want. And they'll be glad to take it because the residents there can't wait. They
just want those toys and they want that food. And you have a good happy new year, Angela.
Thank you very much for coming in. Thank you as well. Thanks so much. Bye bye.
