Cathy Bissell: The Business
of Animal Welfare
In this episode, Dustin talks about the business of animal welfare with Cathy Bissell, founder of the BISSELL Pet Foundation. The BPF helps support a network of nearly 3000 rescues and shelters across the country, and has helped save nearly 100,000 homeless pets since 2011. They also talk about BPF’s participation in the Save Our Shelters tv show and Empty the Shelters initiative, the creation of the AdoptBox program (featured on HSN), and the biggest challenges facing pet rescue foundations today.
BIO:
Cathy Bissell has always had a love for animals. She grew up surrounded by pets which fostered her deep compassion.
In 2008, the adoption of her black lab, Bear, changed Cathy’s life. Bear was the first pet she had ever adopted. He came from the local Humane Society and was 6 years old. His family gave him up because they got a new puppy and didn’t have time for him. Bear was a gorgeous, regal and gentle dog who fit in beautifully with her family, including her other dogs and a cat.
Cathy’s biggest regret is that she didn’t adopt sooner, but she knows that there is always one pet that changes you and makes a difference. Since Cathy can’t bring all pets in shelters home, starting BISSELL Pet Foundation was the next best thing to help homeless pets everywhere.