SAN DIEGO, Dec. 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helen Woodward Animal Center announces its third International The Business of Saving Lives, sponsored by Blue Buffalo. Headed by Center President and CEO Mike Arms, this three-day conference will be held at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside Hotel. Speaker, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, renowned for instigating one of the most impressive and controversial programs in the world of animal welfare today, will join a distinctive list of speakers. The conference includes hands-on, workshop-style sessions and cutting-edge ideas from some of the leading animal advocates in the country. The Business of Saving Lives runs February 5th through 7th, 2015.
The Business of Saving Lives is the third international conference for Helen Woodward Animal Center, offering brand new ways to look at animal welfare, marketing, social media, fundraising, humane education, and more, and exploring how these concepts can breathe life into adoption programs that are outdated and killing millions of domestic animals annually.
February's Conference topics will be expanded to include more advanced, attendee-participation sessions, with take-home tools and materials to immediately implement conference-learned skills and techniques. Also added is a very special Compassion Fatigue Track – a crucial and often overlooked topic in the animal welfare industry. Unlike anything being offered today, the mental-health-focused track includes multiple sessions and an interactive panel to help attendees recognize and address compassion fatigue amongst their staff and prevent emotional burn-out.
Perhaps the most exciting addition to the upcoming conference is the list of speakers which includes Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona – head of the nation's third largest Sheriff's Office and named "America's Toughest Sheriff" by the media. Arpaio has been profiled in over 3,500 national and foreign newspapers, magazines, and TV news programs.
Arpaio's controversial prisoner programs include the nation's largest Tent City for over 2,000 convicted inmates; his use of chain gangs (including the world's first-ever female and juvenile chain gangs) which contribute thousands of dollars of free labor to the community; his requirement that all inmates wear pink under shorts and socks and are cuffed with pink handcuffs; and his get-tough policies including bans on smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in all jails.
At February's Conference, Sheriff Joe Arpaio will share his innovative program that has animal advocates talking – housing abused animals within his Arizona jail, MASH Unit (MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAFE HAVEN), and teaching inmates awaiting trial, how to care for and groom these abused dogs and cats. The program was created to provide the inmates valuable skills and life lessons to use once on the "outside," helping them secure jobs and build confidence to reach higher potential and life fulfillment.
In addition to Sheriff Arpaio, the conference includes an extensive list of other high-profile, cutting-edge speakers, thinkers and activists in the animal welfare industry, including Diana Webster, President and Founder of the Native America Humane Society; Tamar Geller - best-selling author and founder of The Loved Dog™ method of dog training; Steve Dale - syndicated newspaper columnist (Steve Dale's Pet World and The Pet Minute); and Mike Arms – credited with saving the lives of more animals than any other human being on the planet.
"We began offering Center-based workshops to share the success we've experienced here," said Helen Woodward Animal Center President Mike Arms. "The Business of Saving Lives Conference is an opportunity to introduce successful animal welfare innovators from all over the country. There are still animal care facilities in the United States that are euthanizing orphan pets every day of the week, simply because they have no space or because the animals have 'run out of time.' The Business of Saving Lives is working to put an end to that."
Join us February 5th through 7th, 2015 at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside in beautiful San Diego, California to find out how you can be an agent of change for animal welfare. For more information on The Business of Saving Lives or to register, visit www.animalcenter.org/BOSLConference or call 858-756-4117 x 350.
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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 57,000 people and thousands of 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 Blue Buffalo 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.
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CONTACT:Jessica Gercke
JessicaG@animalcenter.org
858-756-4117, ext. 335
