Salise Shuttlesworth

Artist, Atheist, Business mentor, Change agent, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Gay, Idea generator, Lawyer, Writer/Editor

Texas girl (and I used to be proud of my state but there's a lot to talk about here now) Went to the University of Texas at Austin Lawyer Former Legislative Aide Non profit founder/director Marathoner Maybe the oldest living Swiftie Happily married to a Polish woman

making animal lives better

be nice, y'all.

Animal Law, Animal Sheltering, Disaster Response as Relates to Animals

This is my first TED conference. I am a former lawyer who began a second career as a founder of a non-profit animal shelter. Entering an industry essentially unchanged for 150 years has provided some of the greatest challenges and the greatest opportunities in my life. We have, since our 2002 incorporation, changed what is possible for the industry. I don't say that lightly or arrogantly. I came to this industry ignorant of most of the history that limited the thinking of the "big three shelters" that had dominated the Houston landscape since 1929, 1957 and 1972. Our approach is part animal shelter, part social work. We see the issues as being so intractable over the years because we as an industry have tried to solve an "animal problem" when what we have is a "community resource problem." A partial list of our firsts and only's include: We built Houston's only no kill, LEED Certified animal shelter. Created free animal food bank having distributed over 74 tons of food to date and behavior program having done over 2,000 hours of free professional behavior consults. Held 36 free veterinary clinics during COVID treating 7,000+ animals at no charge to pandemic affected Houstonians. Are the only Houston shelter to have a credentialed Animal Behavior department. It happens to be led by a professional holding credentials attained by only a dozen others on the planet. The only shelter to have created a job training program to provide the $5,000 worth of professional training to anyone interested to become an animal behavior professional and sit for the Certified Professional Dog Trainer license. We partner with a women's home an provide women with incarceration records and in addition recovery this opportunity. Once licensed, they can open their own consulting businesses and no one ever asks about the albatross of their previous records again. We have a 100% pass rate and have trained 25% of the dog trainers in Houston and 68% of the cat trainers. We have the only cat behavior program in Texas and it is internationally reknowned. Most recently, the NYSPCA has adopted our "Fraidy Cat" socialization protocols in all 5 NY boroughs. We have created a mathematically verifiable way to address the overflow in shelters without killing treatable and saveable animals. It is called Shelter 3.0. During Hurricane Harvey, we were asked by the City of Houston to direct the animal response at the City's "Mega Shelter" sheltering 10,000 people. The Red Cross handled the people aspect but Friends For Life made it possible for evacuees to shelter WITH their animals for the first time in the U.S. It went so seamlessly and was so praised by the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, The Texas Health Department, the Red Cross, the City of Houston and others that we co-wrote with Louisiana, the international Cohabitated Disaster Response Manual. It's now used all over the world to safely shelter people with pets in disasters. We created a social work-based community cat management program that uses trap/neuter/return science and done in a mathematical, targeted way that has resulted in the only zip code in the U.S. in which year to year, documentation shows that community cat population has been stabilized. This model is called Fix Houston (tm) and is reproducible anywhere. I hope to host a TEDx conference to invite the best and brightest thinkers in all aspects of the animal-related fields to share industry-changing insights. I'm here to learn everything I possible can and am so grateful for the opportunity to just be present.

Knowing the entire script of Young Frankenstein and being willing to participate in scenes at a moment's notice. Rehabilitating dolphins. Veterinary phlebotomy.