Episode 95: Cathy Bissell
Join Lori as she speaks with Cathy Bissell, Founder of the Bissell Pet Foundation, to discuss the foundation's unwavering commitment to supporting animal shelters and rescues throughout the United States. Cathy shares how the foundation raises awareness about the challenges shelter animals face and strives to give these animals a second chance at finding a loving home!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
Cathy's personal journey that changed her life and inspired her to advocate for shelter animals.
What are the challenges animal shelters face, and how can people support and help?
The main initiatives of the Bissel Pet Foundation.
How can parents instill philanthropic values in their children from a young age?
And much more!
Bissell Pet Foundation Website: https://www.bissellpetfoundation.org/#
Bissell Pet Foundation Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bissellpets/
Bissell Pet Foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bissellpets
Cathy’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathy_bissell/
Cathy’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cathy-Bissell-100044530445611/
Episode Transcript
00:07
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast, where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey, and through the stories we share here, we hope that it sparks something in you and how you make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host. Lori Kranczer, attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Together, we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and making a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted on Wednesdays. So I'm really excited today to introduce Cathy Bissell. She is the founder of the Bissell Pet Foundation, and she's here today to share her story. Hi, Cathy.
00:52
Hi, thank you for having me. Lori, I'm so
00:55
excited to share your story today, Cathy, so why don't you start us off and share a little bit about you and what you do. So
01:02
I started the Bissell PATH Foundation in 2011
01:06
I support shelters and rescues across the country with over 7000 partners. The initiatives that we have are incredible. We work strongly on our making sure people are aware of shelter pets. So we have an adoption event called Empty the shelters, which is unbelievable, the largest funded adoption event in the country. We invite up to 400 shelters to invite up to 4000 shelters or more. But it's all about funding, because we fund these adoptions at a rate that's agreeable between the shelters and ourselves. So I believe, to date, we've done about 288,000 adoptions through this program that started in 2016 so that's, you know, pretty awesome. We know that these animals are going into wonderful homes, and people are enjoying them. We hear great stories. We also do spay neuter initiative called Fix the future. So shelters are full and and I'll come back to this a little bit if you allow me to, shelters are full right now like they haven't been in years, and animals just need to have spay and neuter to keep the populations down. So we're working really hard across the country to drive this new program that we started a year ago to help with population, to help with shelters, to help animals, to stop suffering, and then we do crisis and disaster, which is amazing we are on the ground when states need us, shelters need us to protect animals and the people that care for them. So I started this in 2011 we've grown big in the last 13 years. We pivot quickly when we see an opportunity to save more lives. We just kind of switch and make a difference and try and make a program that works and we love what we do. I have a small team, and we are dedicated and doing a really good job at working to save pet lives. I also will tell you that I never went into a shelter in my whole life, until I was 49 years old. I was afraid to visit a shelter, so the fact that now I'm overboard, like doing everything I can to help shelters, and you know, with their populations, is really kind of funny. I'm I'm just crazy about the work that the people in the shelters do. They are amazing. They are dedicated, and they need our help. And so it's been a real journey of love for me, and I do think for my team, and it's just something that hopefully one day, you know, we'll see that we have to work a lot less, and people understand that adoption is the most important thing.
03:56
So I'm glad that you brought the story, Kathy. So I was I know the work that you do is absolutely incredible, so we, if we have time, I want to get back to what you're doing now, but I want to go back to why and when you started. And so you mentioned in 2011 and the first time you stepped foot in a in a shelter,
04:17
what made you do that? And like, what was
04:19
the event that led you to do that.
04:23
So it was really interesting. Katrina had just happened, and our local shelters were struggling with the amount of pets coming up. They were, everyone was, you know, in a frenzy trying to help all these animals that were, you know, in Louisiana. So we're based in Michigan. So animals came up. And I had never been in a shelter, but I thought I'd go help. I love photography. Take some pictures of these animals, just so we could get them up and see if we could field them back to Louisiana to see if anybody was missing their pets. So I went to the shelter and was taking pictures. And just, you know, it was life changing for me, because it was very sad to see these animals that had come up from Louisiana and lost their families. And it was also very wonderful, because it was such a changing event in my life. I I wanted to start raising funds for the shelter to help these animals and to help the shelter, and that was kind of the pivotal point. I started a fundraiser. We raise some money, we raise more money, we raise more money. And I decided that we were actually making too much money to give to just one organization, and so I started the foundation so that I could start to divvy up money to all these shelters that were in need. And that's really how it started. And my first adoption that I ever did was at one of my parties where one of the dogs was a black lab, and the vet that I work with walked up from the shelter and said, you know, this beautiful lab came in, he was given up six years old because they got a puppy. Why would you give up a dog at six years old? Part of your family for a puppy, they did, and there are many excuses for giving up your pets. And that dog came right into my home and was a perfect fit with my other labs, and I wanted to make him a poster child for adoption, because he was regal and beautiful and perfect in every way. And it just got me so mad. Like, why? Why do people give up these wonderful animals? And so that was the life changing moment for me. This dog changed my life.
06:35
So I love that, because Kathy, I myself have a black Labrador retriever, and he is. He's a really guide dog, from guiding eyes to the blind. And he's really, now he's 11, he's really in a major part of my life. But so when we're thinking and talking about philanthropy, we always like to go back and try to understand where that comes from. What was our first act of giving? Can you think about that? Kathy, in your life, when did you first want to give back?
07:04
Oh, you know what? I've always, pretty much had a kind heart. So I've always wanted to give and help. I started giving by working. You know, our school was very, very much involved in giving back the school I went to. I was, you know, I am catholic, so I went to an all girls Catholic school, and we spent Wednesdays giving back, whether it was, you know, going to a senior living home or going to a food, you know, bank and giving out food. So I always that was just part of my life. And my mother is a very giving person, so we just always kind of volunteered and gave back through, you know, not through funding, just through our hearts and giving. So yeah, I I started young with that, and it really started in school and elementary school.
08:02
I love that. And do you continue family tradition around giving now?
08:06
Well, yes, because the family now is so committed to Bissell Pet Foundation, all of my children are very involved in helping the foundation and supporting it in every way that they can so and my grandchildren actually as well. They did a lemonade stand recently, and some of the proceeds from the lemonade stand went to the sopad Foundation. So it's wonderful.
08:33
That's great. I love hearing these stories, and many listeners also are trying to figure out how to incorporate their family in their philanthropy. So can you share
08:43
a little more about that? Yeah,
08:44
so with, with, first of all, I just want to talk about when my kids were younger, kind of what I did with them was, whenever we would raise money, we would put some money in a bucket for them, of course, because you're working hard and you have to have a little bit of reward, and we would put some in a bucket for a charity that they wanted to to give to. And then there was some that would, you know, go to pay for whatever they're, you know, needed to happen, you know, whatever they needed in the future. So we had these buckets, and they could only spend the one bucket. And it started small, but they they grew their little bank accounts, and it was kind of special, because they got to use that money anyway they wanted to, yet they were rewarded by making a difference for others. So that was, you know, really important, I think, for children to have some kind of definition and to give back, because you have to teach them to be givers. They don't just know that, right? They have to be taught
09:48
absolutely so to me, what I'm hearing is that you really incorporate those values into the discussions with your family always and they have. And I'm always curious about this, because it's not always the case that all our family members or generations have the same interest areas that we may have. So what are your children and grandchildren interested in? Are they also interested in animals?
10:14
So yes, they're very interested in animals. All of My children have adopted pets, so it's wonderful, and they are involved Foundation, like I said, but my daughter is very much involved with education, so she commits her time and her resources to helping raise funds for the school system that she's in, which is wonderful, and so they're always things that her children are helping to do for the schools as well. My other children, one lives in Chicago, but his wife is very involved with the foundation, Bissell Pet Foundation, and then my son and German daughter in law are also involved with the foundation, and their kids are all very young, so they haven't, you know, gotten involved with other initiatives yet,
11:05
right? Okay, so let's go back to the foundation, because the work that you're doing is really incredible, and I want to if you can share, but when you started, which seemed to be prompted by not only your values and the issue area that you care about, but also by a historical event, right that Katrina happened, and this prompted the start of of really the growth that you had. Can you talk about where your funding goes in terms of looking at the different shelters around the country? Are you strategic in any way focusing on different geographic locations or certain areas that maybe need more resources.
11:48
So, you know, it's interesting that you say that, because it is true, they're sectioned. We section off the country a little bit differently. Everybody participates in our empty the shelters events across the country, in all 50 states, which is wonderful, because that is adoption and bringing awareness to adoption. But what we and and we're we're using our initiative of fix the future, and that is now in 32 states, and that will cross the country as well. That's a neuter effort. I mean, that's just needed everywhere, and it's the same where we do find differences, and we have geographic locations of differences, so there's a lot of different values to put on pets in different areas of the country. So the South has an overload of pets. They don't necessarily always treat their pets the same way that other parts of the country treat their pets, they're not as concerned about spay and neuter or some of the other things that need to happen, where in the north, they might be a little bit more careful. The problem is now everybody's having the same issue, which is overcrowding. We have too many strays. Animals are being let go. Health care is tough to get. You know, for animals, people can't afford it. Housing is difficult. So we're having all sorts of different issues now that are addressing the entire country. So we used to have different segments, like I was saying, like different issues in the southwest, in the southeast and in the north. You know, we were able to transport more animals from the South to the North, but all this has changed down because the population is so they're just too many pets. It's crazy, it's sad, and this is where our spay neuter initiative is really taking hold, and why it's so necessary, because we need to get this population under control. During
13:42
the pandemic, it seemed that all the shelters were cleared out. I mean, at least that's, you know, the sense that I got from where I am in New York. Why do you think what has happened in the past few years that they're they're all filled up again?
13:57
So they really weren't all empty New York. It was interesting to me, because I would see all these news articles saying there, there are no pets in the shelters, and see more, you know. So people started buying pets. So commercial breeding really took off, which is really unfortunate, because now they're in trouble as well. So there's dog both in shelters and commercial breeding facilities that are full, that are not able to, you know, get their dogs out that, you know, I used to laugh about those stories in New York and say, why don't you just go to to New Jersey? Because their shelters are full. But for some reason, New York was able to move their animals. I'm not sure they were all empty, because I don't think really anybody empty during COVID, it was just stories that went around. There weren't people to care for animals during the time of COVID, a lot of shelters shut down, and therefore there weren't animals in those shelters, because they didn't have any animals. They either euthanized in droves and people weren't working they could, you know, there was different rules in different cities states. So COVID was really COVID was a tough period. A lot of people left the shelter system. A lot of people got burned out because of COVID. It hurt the soul, because, you know, you had these great animals, you didn't have people coming in to help them anymore. You had no place for them to go. And yeah, they were they were in trouble. We also lost a huge amount of veterinarians during that time. Decided they wanted to just not go back to being a vet. I mean, being a vet is a really tough thing, especially a shelter vet, because they are dealing with so much, so much sadness, really, and so we lost a lot of veterinarians during COVID. The interesting thing is, with our program fix the future, we are finding a lot of those vets, and they want to come back and work, and they're happy to be a part of our program because it's positive. It's the right move. It's making a difference by helping the population. And it's just, you know, a happy a happy job. So, yeah, COVID was really a big game changer. A lot of animals were not spayed and neutered during that time because there were no vets. And therefore populations grew and grew and grew, and this is what you see, is why we're in the trouble we're in. People just don't have access to care. Didn't have it during that time, and now we're overloaded with pets.
16:33
Okay, so thank you so much for sharing that, because I don't think people understand, at least especially I didn't. So it's interesting to see what what the reality is, and that's just a perception that has gone around on social media. So So Kathy, what can people do to either help your work in the business Pet Foundation or maybe even locally, with their local shelters? What can they do to help this?
17:03
So I always say, you know, the first thing you want to do is you want to support your local shelters. They need your help. If you can volunteer, if you can do anything, you know, get in the shelter, walk the animals, do the laundry, whatever you can do. They need help, and they have really great, solid volunteer programs at most of these organizations, fostering, taking in a pet that maybe you don't want to adopt, but taking a pet into your home right now during these tough times is really, really important, because these animals are very stressed out in the shelter, cats and dogs, there are so many of them. There's a lot of barking. It's just a stressful environment when the populations are high. So being able to open up your home and bring bringing a dog or a cat into your house to allow them to relax and be a pet and then get adopted and be a normal pet. You know that someone, someone sees when you go to a shelter. These animals are stressed when they're there so many pets there. So having pets and foster is really saving the lives of so many pets right now. So fostering is huge. And then, you know, donating, of course, I always say I want everyone to donate to me, because our work is phenomenal. We are doing a really, really great job of understanding what's going on around the country and helping with the need, but I also never want them to overlook their own cities and communities and making sure that they're supporting them financially if they need it, because we as a foundation are big. We are making a difference. We are trying to affect every everybody that calls us. We're trying to help. It's impossible. But when you give locally to some of your shoulders to help them, give up your time, give of your money, that's where you're going to make some of the difference. We don't always see every small little group. We are out there with the big groups, we try and touch as many small as possible. It's almost impossible to touch everyone. So making a difference in your own hometown is really important. And then if you choose to help us at Bissell PATH Foundation, that would be incredible, because we are also making that difference for so many that don't get support.
19:15
That's great. Thank you for sharing that. And you know what? This is a great segue talking about making a difference. So what would you consider your legacy to be?
19:26
Well, I would consider my legacy to be this foundation that is working hard to make sure that all pets are safe, happy and loved, and we do everything we can to protect the animals that come across our path. And I really, truly hope that this legacy that I've created brings awareness to so many people for pets that are in shelters, that they are they are highly adoptable, beautiful animals that need to be given a chance, and that people would first go look at the shelter and see if there's a pet for them there, because I know when I go. I go to a lot of shelters. That's part of what I do. I visit shelters all the time, and I could leave every single, single time I go with many, many pets from that shelter and be tough cookie, like I I do take the sick ones, but I really do feel that there is a pet for everyone at the shelter. And if you didn't find it on Monday, you probably will find that pet on Wednesday, because they're coming in in droves, and they're all, you know, very adoptable, and they're good pets, and they need to have a second chance. So getting back to the legacy part, I hope that my legacy of this foundation would bring awareness to people about shelter pets and need to be adopted and brought into a home and cared for. Thank you.
20:52
And then speaking of helping so Cathy, where can people find out more information about you and the Bissell Pet Foundation, anything they want to share with us?
21:03
Oh, sure, so social, the Bissell Pet Foundation. So what people need to know is, if they donate to us, 100% of their donation goes to the pets. We don't keep any of it for office staff. That's all paid for by our corporate company, Bissell Inc, and they're wonderful. They cover all that costs, so when somebody makes a donation, it does go to save a life. And they can check us out on our social, Facebook, Bissell Pet Foundation, Instagram, Bissell Pat foundation. I also have an Instagram and Facebook. It's Cathy underscore, BISSELL. We have our blue verified checks, so we're easy to find, and then going to our home page at Bissell Pet foundation.org We have blogs on their stories we share. There's a whole lot of our work. You can see the shelters we've given to the states were organized in how we're helping. And I would love for people to go check that out.
22:01
Thank you for sharing this. We're going to put those in the show notes. Everyone listening. You can follow the information where you're listening to this podcast. We'll have all the links in the show notes. And I want to thank everyone for listening today. This is such an important topic. I myself have had several pets through adoption, and I can't think of anything more meaningful. So thank you again, Kathy, for sharing your story and how people can support this very important issue