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It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What
a great idea on iHeartRadio. Welcome to

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Maria's MutS and Stuff and with me. I am so thrilled to finally have

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her on the other end of an
interview and chat with her. It is

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Joeann Johannan, who is the SVP
of shelter Operations at north Shore Animal League

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America. So thank you, Joanne
for taking the time and making time to

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talk to me today. Oh,
you're welcome, Maria. I'm so excited

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to be here, and I'm thrilled
that we finally made the connection. I

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know how busy you are. We
both are. Yes, this is just

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so important and such a really wonderful
time for north Shore Animal League America.

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So thank you for having me.
Absolutely, and I mean this is the

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big thing for you for north Shore. It's that eighties yearniversary. That's amazing.

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So when I think about it,
eighty years ago was I mean World

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War Two was still going on?
So tell me how did north Shore Animally

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America start? So in nineteen forty
five, a small group of grassroots animal

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lovers decided they wanted to save the
lives of the animals. We've always been

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no kill and it was a small
operation. And then as the years went

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by, Elizabeth Lewett and her husband
Alex became involved with this group and supported

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this group, and they had the
opportunity to provide animal control services on Long

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Island in the town of Staid,
but chose not to. They wanted to

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continue with the tradition of saving as
many lives as they could without being dictated

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to as to which animals they have
to take when they have to take them,

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and not giving them enough time to
find homes. So we remain true

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to that mission. So eighty years
is a really long time to be able

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to sustain the goal of staying focused
on rescuing, nurturing, adopting, and

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educating people about the animals that we
have available for adoption. Sure, I

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mean, and that is it's incredible, And you think eighty years, I

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mean, it really is a long
run. And for those I'm sure there

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are most people who are listening right
now, they know and have heard of

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North Shore Animalague America. But for
those who haven't, it is the world's

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world's largest and longest running no kill
rescue and adoption organization. And I think

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you've saved more than one point one
million animals. Is that that's pretty correct?

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Yes, that's correct. Oh my
goodness. I'm sure it's probably much

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more than that if you add in
the natal programs we created, like Global

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Petadaptithon, like transport, like Tour
for Life. The one point one million

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animals are actual animals that came through
our doors and we were able to find

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homes for I think it's so amazing
and I'm so proud to be a part

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of it. Sure, Oh my
goodness, of course. And so let's

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that brings me to you? How
did you get started? How how long?

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First of all, how long have
you been with north Shore Animally America.

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I've been with north Shore for twenty
eight years. Wow, congratulations.

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Yes, No, that's amazing.
It is, and it's really interesting the

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way it came to be. I
started working for the ASPCA in New York

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City probably around nineteen seventy eight.
And at the time, the ASPCA was

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providing animal control services for the City
of New York and Maria. You know,

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in the late seventies and right into
the eighties and even part of the

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early nineties, population control was at
an all time high, using euthanasia as

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that means of population control. So
it was pretty bad. And honestly,

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the system for collecting data and understanding
the actual numbers of animals dying in the

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shelter system was really difficult because we
literally would have like a handwritten log book

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that would start at number one at
the beginning of each year, and maybe

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she had six puppies, it would
count as one unit. So that means

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those six little lives that were euthanized
did not count. It was counted as

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one union. Wow. Yeah,
So the one hundred and fifty thousand animals

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that we think were euthanized during that
time as a means of population controlled,

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and that was just through the ag
It was probably more like four hundred thousand

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if you wanted to count the kittens
and the puppies and you know, not

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count them as units. So we
were in a really, really bad place.

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So fast forward, I mean,
here we are in the twenty twenties

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and everybody has really supported animal welfare. Tide of animal welfare has changed since

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that time, and it's been you
know, we've evolved through the past three

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decades and if you look at where
we were then and where we are today,

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so many strides have been made,
and I'm so thankful to have been

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a part of that. So,
you know, things that we do here

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now other organizations are doing. You
know, we were heavily criticized for transporting

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animals from the South and bringing them
up here, or for even taking animals

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from the ASPCA. That's how I
got to know your animal. I was

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a shelter director at the ASPCA for
many years and nat Show would come in

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and they would take animals that were
going to be euthanized, and I was

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so excited. And of course we
did silly things like you know, cross

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out the sneezing or the goup in
the eyes, you know, get a

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tissue and clean it up right.
Term is just amazing. They would come

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in and they would take these animals, and then through the years the idea

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of transporting animals became mainstreams. So
today you've seen many even smaller groups,

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grassroots groups, everybody. It takes
the village working together to save lives.

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Why should these animals die if there
are good families waiting to adopt them in

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different parts of the country, of
course, of course, Yeah, that's

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been an exciting evolution through the years
for men. No, absolutely why do

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you think why were people critical though
of that? I think they didn't understand

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the bigger picture. I think it
was because they felt that there were animals

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here already. Why aren we bringing
more in? But if you look at

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what we had, there were a
lot of not the way it is now.

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You see even more now. And
you know, I love pitbulls.

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They are a marvelss breed. I
have one, as a matter of fact,

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mix of a pit bull. But
there were a lot of pit bulls

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at that time, a lot of
chow chows, a lot of dominant breed

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dogs that families were afraid to adopt. And so yes, we would get

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some of them adopted. But that
can't be all you have, because if

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it is, people end up going
to the pet store, and we all

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know where those animals come from.
Yes, so if there are homeless animals

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whose lives could be saved through transport, and I truly believe that now people

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understand. It took time. You
know, people aren't great when it comes

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to change. You know, humane
organizations. Me myself, when I started

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working at north Shore, I mean
I came here with the intention of figuring

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out what the heck it is.
They were doing what kind of scam a

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they run? There was no skin
run. I wanted to know how any

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organization can do twenty thousand adoptions in
a year. And I learned so much

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being here, Maria. It was
just amazing that not Shore actually advertised animals

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and the paper, you know,
that was the way to go. Sure,

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social media, I remember that,
Yes, I remember those ads very

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well. Yeah, they were everywhere. You could open the TV guide.

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My age is showing you could open
the Yellow Pages. I'm with you.

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Yes, that's right, it would
be ads U Yeah, And I thought

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to myself, Wow, this organization
is promoting the adoption of animals. We

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all thought that was kind of crazy
because we all thought that it would encourage

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spontaneous adoptions that weren't well thought out, resulting in returns, which we all

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came to realize was wrong, or
I came to realize was wrong. How

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are people to save lives if they
don't know what's going on and they don't

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know what's available. Sure, so
it really worked out well. Yeah,

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and how big is your staff now? You probably have? I mean,

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I know you have a lot of
volunteers. We do. We have over

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three hundred paid employees. Between part
and full time. But we probably have

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close to eight hundred volunteers, and
we could not do the things we do

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without our volunteers. They are amazing, amazing, Maria, absolutely. I

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mean I've been at your events,
I've seen your volunteers. They are amazing.

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And you have you probably have adoptions. I know you'd have them every

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weekend, and you probably have them
almost seven days a week. It seems

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like we do. We're open for
adoption seven days a week. And the

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only time that changed was during the
pandemic, and only for two short weeks

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while we caught our breath and regrouped. And I have to tell you,

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we did a capital campaign. I
know you know this, and we expanded

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our adoption center. We added the
second floor called Bianca's Fury Friends. And

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what that is is a fourteen thousand
square foot cage free environment for our cats

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and kittens. And what that did
was, aside from providing this phenomenal stress

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free environment in which the cats thrive
until they go home to their permanent loving

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families, but it also opened up
room downstairs on the first floor or for

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additional life saving work with dogs and
ruppies. Right though, the fact that

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it opened November. BFF opened November
twenty nineteen. It was almost like a

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gift, yes, that we got
all of this extra space right before the

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pandemic was full swing. Yeah,
yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah,

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as a result of having fourteen thousand
additional square feet upstairs, and the

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cats are ecstatic because now they don't
have to hear barking dogs, which is

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of course loving it. Yeah,
we were able to open. A lot

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of organizations couldn't or didn't or you
know, was unable, were unable to.

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But we were able to open and
continue with our rescue and continue with

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our adoptions because we had upstairs and
we had downstairs, so there was plenty

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of room for us to distance ourselves
and to wear the masks and continue rulling

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on with adoptions. But it was
wonderful having that space then, and it's

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even greater now, you know,
going back to what I said about the

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tide of animal welfare change, and
we get a lot of older animals,

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geriatric animals, animals in need of
care, so they stay with us is

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a little longer than it has been
in past years. So having the ability

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to provide such an enriching environment for
a longer stay is truly a gift for

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the animals. Absolutely, and you
know, that's always one of my biggest

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pet peeves. People always want puppies
and kittens, but you know, and

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I always say, oh, but
there are others. Get young adults or

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or adopt a senior because sometimes,
you know, sometimes people die and they

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don't make plans. It happens all
the time. You know it better than

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I do. And there's not you
know, and there's nothing wrong you're going

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to get. You know. First
of all, another big pet peeve is

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there's nothing wrong with animals that wind
up in shelters. They're not damaged,

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there's nothing wrong with them. They
just happened to sometimes the failure of people

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or not who didn't spay or newter
their animals and they wind up in a

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shelter. Okay, So it's like
win win to adopt, you know,

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And I just you know, and
like you said before, when you know,

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animals come from stores. The store
can tell you anything that they think

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you want to hear. But the
bottom line is those animals came from puppy

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mills. So absolutely right, and
it doesn't matter somebody's like, oh no,

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it's a special breeder. Just for
the store. No no, no,

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no, that's not true, you
know, and special breeder they're usually

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backyard breeders. Yes, there are
some really really good breeders out there that

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have very high standards, and those
breeders usually have waiting lists for their animals,

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and they usually screen their potential buyers, you know, and they usually

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will take their animals back if it
doesn't work out, whereas the backyard breeder

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is just looking for volume to increase
profits, and so the care of the

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animals is not at the forefront of
what they're thinking about when they're doing this.

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So I'm with you. I think
that adopting an animal from a shelter

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or a rescue group, or taking
from somebody who can no longer keep an

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animal and preventing that relinquishment in the
first place, really is the way to

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go. And life happens, you
know, sometimes, like people pass away,

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people end up in assisted living or
nursing homes. People get divorced.

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Yeah, people move to places that
don't allow pets. I personally wouldn't but

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you know me too, me too. I know you can't judge. You

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can't judge, right, right,
we are cut from the same cloth with

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that because I'd be like, well, I'm not going to move there if

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I can't take my pet. You
know, it's not a couch. But

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okay, yeah, exactly, it's
part of the family. Yeah, I

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think that many Americans are very proud
of the pets they rescue and adopt.

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Yes, I think that the whole
mindset of having to have a specific breed

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dog, not because there's anything wrong
with breed specific dogs. You know,

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we get those here too, but
I think that whole mindset has changed,

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and I think that people just look
for that connection and they really yeah,

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they want to embrace that human animal
bond. It's not necessarily all about what

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the dog looks like anymore or the
cat looks like anymore. Right, I

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agree with that. I think it's
definitely changed. I think especially you know,

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you think back like our grandparents and
they had dogs, and yes they

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were in the house, but it
was different. You know, they probably

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ate what the people ate, and
you know, they took care of them.

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There are other people that just left
their dogs in a doghouse outside.

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But now I think and over the
years, I mean I've seen it.

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I know you have dogs and cats
are and yeah, I mean it applies

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to both of them. They are
part of the family and they are you

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know, and when it comes to
their healthcare and how they sleep and how

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they eat. And I think I'm
very grateful that the you know, it's

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the tide has changed for it.
Yeah, these two we've come a long

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way, like I said, still
have a ways to go, you know,

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until organizations like North Shore are no
longer necessary. Maybe then we become

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a medical center and a boarding facility
in a grooming shop and you know,

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right right like that. But until
such time, is just good to know

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that we have the ability to help
so many animals. Absolutely, Yeah,

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Proud that I'm able to do a
little stuff thing to add to that.

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Absolutely, And it's a big something, it's not little, Joanne. You

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need to own that. You're like
a pioneer in this whole situation. So

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I hope you realize that. Well, thank you for saying that, because

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I look back at my younger days
and when I started at the ASPCA in

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nineteen seventy eight as a young girl
and going to work was like, oh

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my god, we got to give
as many animals out of here as we

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can. It was just so much
euthanasia happening. And as the years went

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by and I got to know notth
Shore Animal League, I was so thankful

209
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and so thrilled. I knew Missus
LeWitt personally. We used to call her

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bad Bet and I would always ask
her, I remember this one dog.

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We had a pregnant dog and the
rescue van she was on was full.

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But I knew that if they didn't
take this little brown dog, that they

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were going to put her down.
And she was pregnant. Maria and I

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looked at Missus Leeward and I said, do you think maybe you could take

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this dog? And she looked at
me and she knew I was upset,

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and she said, Joanne, there's
always room for one more. All these

217
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years, I never forgot that.
And she promptly took that little brown dog

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and put the door with astray,
put the dog on her lap. She

219
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was on the passenger side of the
van, and off they drove. I

220
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was so happy, of course,
that that dog's life was saved. And

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you know what, that wasn't her
first litter, because about two weeks later

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when she came back again, that
little brown dog had eight puppies. Oh

223
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my goodness, Yes, And when
the litter is that large, you know

224
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that you know it's probably her second
or third litter. But she also let

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me know when the dog was adopted. So I have so many wonderful memories

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of Babbat and so many wonderful memories
of not sure coming in and saving so

227
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many lives. But I also have
many memories etched in my heart of animals

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that warn't saved Maria, and I
think that that's what motivates me to stay

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focused, yes, and do as
much as I can for as many as

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I can. Exactly, I was
just actually you're reading my mind. I

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was just going to say, Joanne, that's what keeps you focused for all

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the animals that warn't saved, but
the ones that still need to be saved.

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And that's where you, you know, and North Shore Animal in America

234
00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.960
come in every day, every night, working so tirelessly to you know,

235
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to get these animals saved and adopted, working tirelessly. I have to say,

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we were talking about BFF and then
you know, when we talk about

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animals, it's it's so it's so
easy to go from topic to topic because

238
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there's so much to talk about.
Yes, but I've got to tell you,

239
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bet Star. Well, yes,
John, I have to ask you.

240
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Yes, I was going to actually
bring her up because we were talking

241
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about Bianca's furry friends, and I
was like, we must talk about Beth

242
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:14.680
and the name of Bianca's so please
tell me Beyonca was Beth and Haward Stern's

243
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dog, and sadly, Bianca died
in twenty twelve, and Beth wanted to

244
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do something meaningful in memory of Bianca, and so I thought, you know,

245
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Howard does some artwork, and he's
really quite talented. He is,

246
00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.839
He's very good. Yes, yeah, I would get these Christmas cards from

247
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them, and the year that Bianca
passed away, there was a watermark of

248
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:45.000
her on the back of the card. So my idea of big we were

249
00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:51.440
at We were at the location I
don't remember, but it was twenty twelve.

250
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.680
It was right after Sandy. The
venue we had in Chelsea's Tears was

251
00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.799
flooded, so we couldn't go there. We had to quickly organized the gallap

252
00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.559
it might've been the Waldorf Astoria.
Whatever, it was put together very quickly,

253
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and Beth and I were sitting at
the table, so I said to

254
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her, oh, you know,
maybe Howard could come up with a line

255
00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.839
of specialty cards and we could use
that watermark. And she said, well,

256
00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:19.160
that's a good idea, but I
was thinking something bigger, you know,

257
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maybe like an adoption center for cats. And we just started talking.

258
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She took her little makin she was
drawing pictures on there, and I said,

259
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well, you know, I don't
know if we can do this,

260
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but I'm going to check with the
town. Maybe we could add a second

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floor and that could be for cats
and kittens. And you know, we

262
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were thinking about this together, right. One idea rolled into another. So

263
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she was going away. I said, when you come back, I'll have

264
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some answers to you. The short
version is that we went to the town,

265
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we were able to add a second
floor. So when she got back,

266
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which was early twenty thirteen ten,
it was full swinging fundraising and you

267
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know, finding a company that could
do the sketches, getting the architect.

268
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I can't tell you how amazing she
was. She and Howard actually, because

269
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he supports her tremendously with the rescue
work that she does. There's always cats

270
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and kittens, and she's a big
lover of dogs. She's a big lover

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of a yeahs her, I'm pretty
sure she's a licensed wildlife rehabilitator as well,

272
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and I have to say one of
the most impressive things she's done aside

273
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from BFF, and it was so
much fun working with it. On her

274
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she has made her and Howard adopting
older animals like the in thing to do,

275
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and her Instagram reaches hundreds of thousands
of people, so animals that would

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normally sit for months at a time. Once she focuses on those animals and

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talks about them and does a quick
video clip, we're able to find homes

278
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:11.279
for them. So I can't even
tell you how many lives that has saved.

279
00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:15.920
Oh, not only directly here at
Notchare, but across the country because

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she's got quite a strong followers she
does yeah yeah, and you know,

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the people that follow her are big
animal lovers and they share with their friends

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and it's just been really a whirlwind
of lives saved as a result of her

283
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:41.480
promoting of bets, promoting the cats, the kittens, and even some older

284
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adult dogs on her Instagram. So
it's been an amazing run with her.

285
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But she's always always been an animal
lover. It's how I met her,

286
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and how did the two of you
meet well, it's really funny, she

287
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was, Oh my god, it
was so long ago, probably the early

288
00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:03.200
two thousands. We had a luncheon. I was not in this position.

289
00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:11.079
I was the manager of off offside
events and offside adoptions and we were at

290
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.359
the Garden City Hotel and it was
the luncheon. She was one of I

291
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:23.240
don't know four or five models,
Maria one was more beautiful than Sunny.

292
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:32.319
Nobody had announced on them, and
there it is. They're holding these puppies

293
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.759
and they're modeling, and you know, we were doing some adoptions there.

294
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Beth wanted to make sure all the
animals got adopted. And it was funny

295
00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:44.400
because when the cameras went off,
and you know, the other models there

296
00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:47.559
was a couple of other models and
they were all beautiful too, they were

297
00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:52.759
holding the puppies away from them.
So the volunteers and the staff we went

298
00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:56.839
and took the puppies and I said, excuse me, miss, and it

299
00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:02.279
was Beth. I didn't know her. Said I'll take the puppy. And

300
00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.839
she looked at me and she gestured
with her hands like, oh, it's

301
00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:10.240
okay, right right, I said, but what about your dress? The

302
00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:12.960
puppy's gonna maybe the puppy's going to
tear your dress or get hair on there.

303
00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:17.200
She jested again with her hand and
said, oh please, can I

304
00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.960
hold him? So I said,
of course, you can hold him,

305
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:22.880
and then we just started talking.
She told me her name was Beth.

306
00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:26.519
She said, if I could ever
do anything for you, just let me

307
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know. She gave me her phone
number, and the rest is history because

308
00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:36.799
we did. Yeah. Yeah,
and you know, the internet was kind

309
00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.119
of just starting out, our website
was just starting out. But she was

310
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.839
so darned pretty. Yeah, I
said, Beth, you could make any

311
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.359
old dog look fabulous, So would
you mind modeling with a couple of our

312
00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:52.359
older, larger breed dogs. And
she did, and they were adopted of

313
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:57.839
course, right right, Yeah,
it worked. I mean as time went

314
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:03.160
by, then hit in two thousand
and six, and at that time I

315
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:06.759
didn't even know she was dating Howard
Stern, right, And it was the

316
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:11.599
funniest thing because she said to Nija
Wanne, I'm dating a radio DJ.

317
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:15.240
Do you want me to talk to
him about work you're going to be doing

318
00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.200
in Louisiana? I said, sure, who's your boyfriend? She said,

319
00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.200
I'm dating a guy named Howard Stern
And It was funny because I heard the

320
00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.599
name, but I was always so
wrapped up in animal welfare that I didn't

321
00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:30.000
really listen to the show. I'm
embarrassed to say. Okay, yeah,

322
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:36.200
all right, there are a lot
of the interviews. But anyway, he

323
00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.799
ended up talking about it. I
think he was on AM radio at the

324
00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:44.039
time, or it wasn't serious at
the time. All I know is he

325
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:47.559
was probably a k rock maybe,
right, he's probably a k rock then,

326
00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:48.960
yeah, yeah, two thousand and
six, Yeah, he was definitely

327
00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:52.839
a k rock. Yes, but
he was also around the country too,

328
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:56.240
syndicated around the country. But yes, yeah, he was a k rock.

329
00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:59.680
I'm like, wait, I'm trying. Of course in two thousand and

330
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.160
six, Yes, that's funny.
Well, he ended up talking about it

331
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:07.079
a couple of times on his show. And the donations, not just monetary

332
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:11.599
donations, but we got a van, we got crates because we needed those

333
00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.720
partners, we got food, we
got all kinds of donations. And then

334
00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:18.920
Beck just never left. She became
a volunteer. She went out on rescue.

335
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:25.039
I mean, she is the real
deal. She is wanted to know

336
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:29.319
what it was to go out and
choose certain animals and have to leave behind

337
00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:34.400
other animals, and you know,
all these years she has saved so many

338
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:40.720
lives and never wants to be recognized
for it. I can't help but talk

339
00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:45.920
about it because I'm so appreciative and
what she does is really wonderful. Of

340
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:48.000
course, no, I mean she
works tirelessly. I know. I follow

341
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.440
her on Instagram and I always see
her stories and the cats and the kittens,

342
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.119
and sometimes Howard will be in a
photo with her with like cats all

343
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:59.039
in their heads. I mean,
it's just it's adorable, you know,

344
00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:03.559
and you know it's true blue that
when it's coming from Beth as opposed to

345
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.359
like the other models. Obviously they
were there, oh they were doing a

346
00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.319
job, but it was like I
really don't want, you know, I

347
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:12.559
want to hold this puppy for as
short a time as I can. But

348
00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:18.440
with Beth it was completely different because
she's true blue. So you know,

349
00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:21.960
it's just so perfect. Yeah,
it's so perfect. And you're right,

350
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.880
she's like a doll to me because
she's so gorgeous and she really when I

351
00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:29.160
see her at the galleys and how
she's dressed, I'm like, oh my

352
00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:30.559
god, she's like a doll.
I don't even want to go, like

353
00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:33.359
I will always go and say hello
to her and hug her, but I

354
00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:40.359
don't want to get her dirty,
you know, because I feel like I

355
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:44.000
don't want to mess you up.
And you know what, the funny it

356
00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:45.359
is, she could care, she
doesn't care, I know, which is

357
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:52.000
even funnier. But that's just yeah, yeah, a natural beauty that comes

358
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:56.440
from within. I've seen Beth with
absolutely no makeup on. She looks the

359
00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:03.359
same, of course, yeah,
you know it just she's a good person

360
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:07.039
and we're very very fortunate and the
animals are extremely fortunate to have her.

361
00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:14.000
And Howard absolutely no, I agree. I agree so well. The big

362
00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:21.079
thing that's coming up, the eightieth
anniversary, the gala that North Shore Animal

363
00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:26.640
League is happening is having rather on
June fourteenth. That's going to be here

364
00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.599
before we know it actually at the
Tribeca rooftop. Speaking of Beth, right,

365
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:36.119
she will be there, She's she
will be there, yes, And

366
00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:40.640
I'm honored and I have to admit
it because I'm honored and flattered that I

367
00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:44.880
will be hosting it this year.
So thank you for that. Oh,

368
00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.680
I'm so excited that you're so thrilled
to learn that you accepted. Oh my

369
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:56.519
goodness, to be such a wonderful
night. And the Rachel Ray Foundation is

370
00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.640
being honored with our Crystal Cholera Rewards, So Rachel Read and John Cusamano will

371
00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:06.400
be there. There's going to be
a performance by Taylor Dane. It's going

372
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:08.960
to be an exciting night, and
you just never know who else may be

373
00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:14.680
there. That's true. That's true. And for those who are listening,

374
00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:18.599
if you you can still get some
tickets if you'd like by going to Animal

375
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:23.039
League dot org slash Celebration of Rescue. But it's it's going to be a

376
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:27.279
very great night. And I thank
you for letting me host it, Joanne,

377
00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:30.000
because it's something I've wanted to do
for many, many, many years.

378
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:37.000
And when I was asked, I
was like, what yeah, yeah,

379
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:41.200
Well it worked out for all of
us because it's our honor to Maria.

380
00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:47.279
You yourself are an icon radio personality. So thank you, no,

381
00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:49.920
thank you, thank you, thank
you. And you know, for those

382
00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:56.599
who are just learning about north Shore
Animal League America right now, and I

383
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.480
really want to put this point out
because I I feel like north Shore is

384
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:07.640
very, very lucky because there are
many celebrities and you know, musicians and

385
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:11.519
artists, and they take photos with
puppies and dogs and cats. But that

386
00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:17.279
doesn't mean that everybody donates, and
that doesn't mean that north Shore doesn't need

387
00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:22.599
donations. And I'm not pooh poohing
on the fact that there are a lot

388
00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:26.440
of celebrities that are very supportive,
but they all don't. You know,

389
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.960
I would say the majority don't give
donations and help out. Am I correct

390
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:36.799
on that. I would say we
are very lucky because ours do. But

391
00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:41.599
you're right about that. Some will
pose for pictures and yeah, that's really

392
00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:47.559
about it. Let me give a
shout out to the organization, But any

393
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.759
of the celebrities that we've worked with, we've been very fortunate. But you

394
00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:56.160
know, we still depend upon our
community and the generality of our donors because,

395
00:31:56.200 --> 00:32:00.960
as you know, Maria is saving
life, saving lives very very expensive.

396
00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:05.680
Yes, yes, and you know, the medical the level of medical

397
00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:10.240
care that we provide to each animal
could be in the thousands, depending on

398
00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:15.640
what they need. Sure, And
you know, I understand that not everybody

399
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:21.160
is in a position to donate money, and that's okay. You know,

400
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:27.279
you could volunteer, You could bring
towels, right, you could bring blankets.

401
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:30.839
There's so many things that you could
do. You know, you could

402
00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:36.799
you could become an advocate to the
animals through anipals and help us get long

403
00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:42.440
term animals adopted, just by sharing
on your social media pages. So you

404
00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:45.519
know, if you're not in a
position to donate, I mean, every

405
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:49.759
dollar counts. Don't think that a
five dollars or ten dollars donation is not

406
00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:52.240
appreciated, because it is. It
is exactly and that was my point about

407
00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:59.960
celebrities, is that five dollars is
still appreciated and needed and wanted. Absolutely,

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yeah, because it all adds up
and it allows us to do the

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work we do. Absolutely. So
if you are listening and you can make

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00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:10.039
a donation, that would be pretty
amazing. Or if you can volunteer if

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00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.640
you're in the Tri state area,
that would be great too, Or make

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00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:17.559
donations of towels and just get all
the information you need and you can get

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00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:25.000
it at Animal League dot org.
So yes, if they're outside of New

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York and they want to volunteer,
they can visit our website Animal League dot

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00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:37.200
org and check out our shelter partners. There are shelters that everybody's community across

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00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:44.119
the country and rescue groups that are
just a desperate need of volunteers so that

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00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:47.359
you know they could do that as
well. That's and that's amazing, that's

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00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.440
amazing to do it. Please do
it. I love north Shore Animal League

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00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:54.319
America. I have for many,
many, many many years, you know,

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00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:58.759
growing up on Long Island, so
it was always I knew what north

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00:33:58.839 --> 00:34:04.799
Shore was and so uh, it's
just it's so wonderful to be affiliated with

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00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:07.519
the organization and with you, Joanne, and you know, I thank you

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00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:10.320
for all that you do, because
like I said, you definitely are a

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00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:15.400
pioneer and north Shore Animally, I
mean, eighty years is incredible. It's

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00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:21.360
really incredible. I hope you're around
and north Shore Animal League America is around

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00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:24.599
for another eighty years, saving lives
like you do, and all the programs.

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00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:28.480
I mean, we could talk for
hours, but there are so many

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00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:32.400
different programs. You have m degrees
and uh Tour for Life and the Humane

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00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:37.119
Relocation. There's so many different programs
that north Shore Animal League has and you

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00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:44.880
can ye so many because degrees that
just really quickly. Yeah. That is

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00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:51.840
a curriculum that was developed with Yale
University School of the Twenty first Century and

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00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:58.840
North Shore Animal League America, and
it's in over five thousand schools and libraries

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00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:04.880
across the country. And it's a
wonderful program. It's not traditional in the

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00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:13.519
sense where we just bring puppies into
a classroom and explain kindness. Full program

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00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:21.280
that focuses on the whole child.
It's social and emotional learning and teaching children

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00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:29.639
empathy and how to become good citizens, including the Animal Advocates of tomorrow.

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00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:37.800
Beyond that, just being good neighbors, good caretakers of the earth and one

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00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:42.679
another. It's a program whose time
has come, and we are the only

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00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:50.719
organization that continues with humane education because
we feel it's that important. Other major

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00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:59.480
organizations have stopped their programming because it's
not programming that is necessarily supported by donations.

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00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:04.480
But we just think it's that important
that we continue on with it.

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00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:09.079
Mm hmm. Absolutely. And for
those because I know there are listeners who

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00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:14.119
have been listening to Maria's mutts and
stuff for many years since it first started

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00:36:14.119 --> 00:36:17.719
in twenty seventeen. I believe it
might have been twenty eighteen when I had

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00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:22.960
Jane Vitalion talking about mudigrees. Actually, she came into my studio and we

446
00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:28.679
did an interview about muddigree. So
you can actually go back on the iHeartRadio

447
00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:32.119
app or iTunes wherever you get your
podcasts, and you can learn about mudigrees

448
00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:37.320
from way back when. Yeah,
perfect, perfect perfect. Oh and the

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00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:42.199
last thing I want to add is
I love Q one O four I really

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00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:45.480
do. Three. I've been listening
to it since I was a teenager.

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00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:49.119
I love it. I just love
it. Well, thank you, Joanne,

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00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:52.320
thank you, thank you, thank
you for all you do. Of

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00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:53.559
course, thank you for listening to
Q and O four point three. I

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00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:58.360
love that, but thank you for
all you do and all your hard work

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00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:02.760
for twenty eight years and he's to
twenty eight years more. And I appreciate

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00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:07.360
you and all your information. And
of course north Shore Animal League America.

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00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:10.079
And as I've said, and I
can't tell you over and over are enough

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00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:15.280
times that if you can help out
and make a donation or or just to

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00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:20.440
learn more, you can go to
Animal League dot org. And you know

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00:37:20.519 --> 00:37:24.320
the big thing is too, when
you said earlier about not needing to have

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00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:30.079
north Shore Animal League America around,
I believe if you spay and neuter,

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00:37:30.199 --> 00:37:35.159
if everybody spays and neuters their pets, that will help in that mission because

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00:37:35.159 --> 00:37:39.719
that's another pet peeve. Absolutely,
and you know we have the first national

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00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:45.159
platform still going strong. Spay USA
is ours. Yes, we have across

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00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:52.159
the country spade and neutered literally tens
of thousands of animals, So we definitely

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00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:57.639
agree with you. Yes, and
that is very important to us as well.

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00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:02.000
Absolutely, so get your rest.
Thank you on and Joanne, Johanna

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00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:06.480
and I really appreciate you and your
time and all you do, and thank

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00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:09.440
you so much to you and North
Store Animal League America. Thank you.

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00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:19.000
You're welcome. Have a good day, Rader operator, and just see you

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00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:20.320
Rader. Mommigator