THE BUSINESS OF SAVING LIVES HEADS TO THE HIGHLANDS

The Business of Saving Lives began at Helen Woodward Animal Center in 2002 as quarterly workshops, taught by Center management team members on the Rancho Santa Fe, California grounds. The goal of these workshops is to share the success the Center has experienced through President and CEO Mike Arms' business-focused approach.  Business practices such as marketing, social media and customer service take on an equal importance to non-profit goals such as fundraising, volunteer-building and humane animal care, leading to more pets placed in lifelong homes, expanded reach into communities and more generated funds to carry on programs. Over the years, shelters from throughout the United States and as far away as Argentina, Ethiopia, Singapore, India, Ireland, Kenya and Romania have traveled to Helen Woodward Animal Center to take part in the free training. 

In 2015, Arms decided to extend the program to organizations unable to afford to travel out to Helen Woodward Animal Center, providing life-saving training at absolutely no cost to the rescue groups right in their own cities. Since that time, The Business of Saving Lives has made its way to U.S based shelters in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Idaho and more and abroad to Sydney, Australia, Puerto Rico and Estonia. 

"The only way to change the world of animal welfare is to work together," said Arms. "We are honored to join with individuals throughout the world to discuss ways to continue creating a more humane world. Forging strong connections to share, assist and support one another will eventually benefit us all and result in a kinder world for our animal friends."

These connections could be seen in action beginning last year as the war in Ukraine ravaged Ukrainian homes and shelters. The relationships formed during the 2019 trip to Estonia provided a clear pathway to communicate with both Estonia Animal Welfare Society and the Polish Society for The Protection of Animals to help provide funds to UAnimals. Helen Woodward Animal Center facilitated the raising of over $450,000 in donations funded directly to the non-profit Ukrainian animal rights organization, working valiantly to help struggling animal welfare groups trapped in war-torn areas. 

In 2020, the Center's valuable overseas workshops were put on temporary hiatus as the pandemic forced restrictions on travel and U.S. shelters needed emergency focus. Now Helen Woodward Animal Center is honored to take its work beyond its country's borders once again, uniting with speakers from such Scottish animal welfare-focused organizations as Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, The Maggie Fleming Animal Hospice, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Society of Companion Animal Studies (SCAS), University of Edinburgh, and hosting organization, Fostering Compassion at the Compassion Allways Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Fostering Compassion is a ground-breaking award-winning humane education project founded in 2013 and focused on vulnerable children who may show challenging behaviour towards animals or who may struggle with compassion and empathy in general.  Unique in its approach, through their workshops and activities they share the stories of rescued domestic and wild animals in such a way that the children draw parallels between their circumstances and those of the animals. Through sharing the stories of the animals, the children gain a greater understanding of their own circumstances and this often provides a platform for the children to open up about their own abuse and neglect. Fostering Compassion began with just ten children and now, ten years later - over 1000 children have benefitted from the programme. 

To celebrate the 10 Year Anniversary of Fostering Compassion, the organization is delighted to welcome Mike Arms CEO of Helen Woodward Animal Center and his team to Scotland to be the keynote speaker at the Conference and to deliver their Business of Saving Lives workshops. Scheduled for Saturday the 7^th and Sunday 8^th October 2023 the Compassion Allways Conference will see 16 speakers delivering 19 presentations at the Roslin Institute, Easter Bush, Scotland.  There will also be 22 charities and 8 ethical businesses exhibiting.

Fostering Compassion Founder and CEO Lesley Winton says "It is incredibly exciting to be hosting our first ever Compassion Allways Conference to recognise and celebrate 10 years since Fostering Compassion was established and the hundreds of children who have benefitted from the programme. We are over the moon and extremely honoured to be joined by Mike Arms and his amazing team from Helen Woodward Animal Center, who will bring their great expertise along with an International element to our inaugural conference. This is such a significant milestone for Fostering Compassion and we are delighted to share the moment with the American team."

The Business of Saving Lives offers brand new ways to look at animal welfare, marketing, social media, fundraising, humane education, and more, and explores how these concepts can breathe life into adoption programs that are outdated and killing millions of domestic animals annually.  To become an agent of change for animal welfare, apply for a FREE The Business of Saving Lives workshop in your own town. For more information or to register, visit www.animalcenter.org or call 858-756-4117 x 302. 

About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where "people help animals and animals help people." Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday^® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world.  For more information, go to: www.animalcenter.org.

SOURCE Helen Woodward Animal Center