The Open Sanctuary Podcast
by The Open Sanctuary Project
Do you work at an animal sanctuary or rescue? Is it your dream to start one? Join the staff of The Open Sanctuary Project as we have accessible conversations about some of the many important topics affecting sanctuaries and compassionate animal care, including species-specific guidance and sanctuary logistics, staff and volunteer support, governance considerations, fundraising and budgeting, public outreach, and effective humane education strategies! For more information and to access our extensive free resource library, including how-tos, courses, free tools, templates, and downloads, check out OpenSanctuary.org!Questions, comments, or topic requests? Reach out via the form at OpenSanctuary.org/contactWant to support our work with a donation? Head to OpenSanctuary.org/donation
Episodes
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68 - All About Internships For Your Animal Sanctuary Or Rescue
In this episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the legal and ethical parameters of creating effective internship programs for your farmed animal sanctuary. Internship programs can be a way to create capacity at your sanctuary, but...
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67 - Responding To Loose And Missing Residents At Your Animal Sanctuary
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss scenarios where caregivers must cope with a loose or missing resident. We cover three areas of focus when responding to a loose resident, discuss what to consider if you can't find a resident, and offer suggestions for what you can do...
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66 - "Five Things I Wish I knew" With Kim Sturla, Founder Of Animal Place
Julia, the Nonprofit Specialist at The Open Sanctuary Project, sits down with Animal Place Founder and Open Sanctuary Project Board Member Kim Sturla to continue our series sharing invaluable perspectives from leaders in the sanctuary and rescue world. In addition to founding Animal Place, Kim…
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65 - The Golden Years: Senior Care Considerations at Your Animal Sanctuary
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss senior sanctuary residents. They talk about how aspects of senior care may impact sanctuary capacity, but also create opportunities for animal advocates to expand their narratives! --- This Episode's Referenced Open Sanctuary Project...
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64 - Don't Eat That! Foreign Body Ingestion At Animal Sanctuaries
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss how to take steps to prevent, recognize, and address foreign body ingestion by sanctuary residents. While every resident can be at risk of doing this, the degree of risk can vary, and there are action steps you can take to prevent it! ---...
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63 - "Five Things I Wish I Knew" With Alastor Van Kleeck of Microsanctuary Resource Center
Julia, the Nonprofit Specialist at The Open Sanctuary Project, sits down with friend and colleague Alastor Van Kleeck to launch a new interview series dedicated to sharing the invaluable experience and knowledge of leaders in the sanctuary movement. Alastor is an advocate, writer, and educator…
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62 - Fire Safety At Your Animal Sanctuary
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss a concerning but critical topic: fire safety at animal sanctuaries, a "stuff of nightmares" scenario we believe is essential for every caregiver to confront. We examine the sobering statistics on structure fires and common causes such as...
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61 - Nonprofit, or not? A Conversation With The Microsanctuary Resource Center
We're very happy to offer a conversation, hosted by the Microsanctuary Resource Center, with Nonprofit Specialist Julia on the pros and cons of nonprofit status for animal organizations. In it, MRC staff Alastor and Bird discuss with Julia some of the considerations that come into play when...
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60 - Helping Downed Cows At Your Animal Sanctuary
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss how caregivers can best prepare for a scenario in which a resident cow cannot stand. In this situation, time is of the essence, so having a plan in place is key, as is understanding what to look for when assessing a cow resident who may…
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59 - The Open Sanctuary Project's 2025 Year In Review
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia celebrate our eight years of operation by discussing the year in review at The Open Sanctuary Project. We know that our audience of compassionate caregivers are often caught up in the day-to-day work of direct care for animals, so this is...
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58 - Turkeys Part 2: Welcoming A New Turkey Resident To Your Animal Sanctuary Or Rescue
Nonprofit Specialist Julia and Senior Advisor Tara talk more about turkeys! Building on our last discussion of how turkeys got here and how domestication has impacted them, we talk about the considerations sanctuaries and rescues should keep in mind when welcoming a new turkey resident to ensure...
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57 - Agency-Centered Animal Sanctuary Education Webinar With Dr. Emily Tronetti
Community Education Specialist Andie and Dr. Emily Tronetti of the Institute for Human Education led a special presentation on October 22nd, 2025 on how to nurture farmed animal agency and consent in sanctuary education. This is the audio recording of that presentation. --- This Episode's...
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56 - Fostering Farmed Animal Agency in Sanctuary Education: Part Three
Community Education Specialist Andie and Dr. Emily Tronetti of the Institute for Human Education discuss agency-centered sanctuary education and its connection to off-site programming. Andie and Emily explore the crucial considerations sanctuaries should make before planning and facilitating any...
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55 - Introduction To Turkeys For Your Animal Sanctuary Or Rescue, Part 1
Nonprofit Specialist Julia and Senior Advisor Tara talk turkeys! In the first part of our Turkey series, we discuss how domesticated turkeys got here and how that influences their care, as well as many of the considerations that you need to take into account when welcoming a new turkey resident…
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54 - When Your Sanctuary Is Contacted To Help Wildlife
Nonprofit Specialist Julia and Community Education Specialist Andie talk about how you might encounter requests outside of the scope of your mission or your capacity generally, and in particular when those requests concern wild living animals. We offer a framework where you can say no, while…
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53 - Coexisting With Wildlife At Your Animal Sanctuary
Nonprofit Specialist Julia and Community Education Specialist Andie discuss the importance of peaceful and compassionate coexistence with wildlife. Whether it's through careful environmental management, robust predator protection for residents, stringent biosecurity protocols, or engaging...
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52 - An Introduction To Pigeons For Your Animal Sanctuary Or Rescue
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia dedicate an episode to a specific bird type: Pigeons! Pigeons may not be the first animals you think of when it comes to sanctuary, but they are very special individuals who, for many reasons, may find themselves in need of sanctuary, and...
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51 - How We Update OSP, Plus Major Updates To Our Sanctuary Capacity Resource!
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss what it means to us when we say that The Open Sanctuary Project is a living library. We talk about how and why we perform regular resource updates to address community feedback, integrate new developments in compassionate care and...
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50 - Intro To Sanctuary Sustainability: The Elements Of Organizational Resilience
In the 50th episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss a memorable and actionable definition of sanctuary sustainability and break down its elements. We discuss assessing your current capacity needs and limitations, planning to…
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49 - Contingency Planning Basics For Your Animal Organization
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss contingency planning! We discuss the common challenges individuals face when it comes to contingency planning, as well as the various types of events that your organization should prepare for, including organizational challenges,...
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48 - Succession Planning For Animal Sanctuaries, Part 3
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia conclude their three-part discussion of succession planning! In this episode, we discuss succession planning for executive directors and other key roles at your sanctuary, contingency planning, as well as the importance of day-to-day...
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47 - Succession Planning For Animal Sanctuaries, Part 2
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia continue their discussion of succession planning! In our last episode on this subject, we discussed some of the challenges and emotions that can come up regarding succession planning. In this episode, we list some practical steps founders...
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46 - Succession Planning For Animal Sanctuaries, Part 1
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia embark on the first part of an episode series addressing the question of succession in animal sanctuaries and rescues. We discuss some of the challenges (including the emotional ones) that folks may face when considering succession...
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45 - Advocacy In Animal Sanctuary Spaces
Nonprofit Specialist Julia and Community Education Specialist Andie discuss animal sanctuaries' role as advocates. From a movement standpoint, sanctuaries are essential vectors of change when it comes to society's view of animals. In terms of education and even legal advocacy, sanctuaries do a...
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44 - Introducing Our New Animal Database System With Kyle Behrend
Executive Director Mckenzee and our friend and volunteer Kyle Behrend discuss The Open Sanctuary Project's brand new Animal Database! This project was long requested by the sanctuary community because keeping thorough, up-to-date records of your residents' health and life events is a critical...
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43 - An Introduction To Different Animal Sanctuary Staff Roles
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss different staff positions that may benefit operations at your animal sanctuary. Assigning sanctuary tasks to appropriately skilled staff can help maximize your efficiency and effectiveness as an organization, which is very helpful...
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42 - Three Ways To Minimize Liability At Your Animal Organization
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss three tools The Open Sanctuary Project offers to help your sanctuary minimize liability. These include a resource discussing and analyzing insurance options, a liability waiver template and its accompanying resource, and a free...
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41 - Sanctuary Considerations For Assisting With Cruelty Cases
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia have another discussion about sanctuary capacity, this time about cruelty, seizure, bust, and escapee cases. We review all the questions your organization needs to consider before working on these cases. Some of these questions you may...
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40 - The Importance Of Accuracy & Transparency For Animal Organizations
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the critical importance of accuracy and transparency in communicating with supporters and the public. We discuss how these two values work hand in hand to maintain organizational integrity, how they might prevent your sanctuary or...
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39 - The Differences Between Animal Sanctuaries And Petting Zoos
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss how animal sanctuaries differ from petting zoos. While this topic might seem evident to many in the sanctuary movement, expectations from the public based on past experiences might lead to conflations between the two environments....
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38 - Introduction To Governance And Education Resources At The Open Sanctuary Project
The Open Sanctuary Project's Community Education Specialist, Andie, and Nonprofit Specialist, Julia, offer an introduction to The Open Sanctuary Project's offerings in our education and governance departments! Did you know that in addition to our direct care resources, we also have a vast array…
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37 - Zoning Laws And Their Impact On Your Animal Organization
Community Education Specialist Andie and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss zoning laws and their importance to animal sanctuary and rescue work! We've done a few podcast episodes about capacity variables, and zoning is often touched upon. While zoning may not be the first thing you think about…
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36 - Language Choices In Animal Sanctuary Education & Advocacy
In this episode, The Open Sanctuary Project's Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the importance of language choices. Language is how we interface with and categorize the world around us. Our choice of language plays a significant role in how we consider others, so...
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35 - The Open Sanctuary Project's 2024 Year In Review
In this episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia celebrate our seventh year of operation by discussing our year in review! We know that our audience of compassionate caregivers is often caught up in the day-to-day work of direct care for...
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34 - Adoption Program Considerations For Animal Sanctuaries
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the cases for and against adoption policies at your animal organization and the considerations you must consider when implementing one. We talk about vetting homes, the paperwork you should have in place, the templates we have to...
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33 - Three Helpful Tools For Administering Your Animal Sanctuary
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss three administrative tools that are helpful (and in some cases necessary) for the effective administration of your animal organization: board bylaws, registered agents, and land surveys! --- This Episode's Referenced Open…
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32 - Fostering Farmed Animal Agency in Sanctuary Education, Part Two
Community Education Specialist Andie Springirth welcomes back special guest and Open Sanctuary Project contributor Dr. Emily Tronetti to discuss specific agency-supportive practices that sanctuaries can implement in their onsite educational endeavors to nurture the well-being of the residents and...
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31 - Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting An Animal Sanctuary
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss ten critical questions that you should ask yourself before you start a sanctuary! This resource is excellent for those new to the sanctuary movement and a helpful refresher for established sanctuaries and rescue organizations. It...
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30 - Resident Drinking Water Considerations At Your Animal Sanctuary
Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the ins and outs of an essential sanctuary consideration: resident drinking water! Ensuring your residents receive the nutrients they require for their health and well-being is an essential aspect of animal care, but the importance of…
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29 - Fostering Farmed Animal Agency in Sanctuary Education, Part One
Community Education Specialist Andie Springirth welcomes back special guest and Open Sanctuary Project contributor Dr. Emily Tronetti to discuss the importance of fostering farmed animal agency in sanctuary education. In addition to exploring why agency-centered education is so vital to the...
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28 - Collaborating With Other Animal Organizations
Executive Director Mckenzee and Nonprofit Specialist Julia talk about collaboration and cooperation between organizations! They list common pitfalls to relationship building, how to avoid them, and also how to communicate and work together in ways that enhance your capacity! Building community…
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27 - Introduction To Agency With Dr. Emily Tronetti
In this episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Community Education Specialist Andie Springirth is joined by special guest and Open Sanctuary Project contributor Dr. Emily Tronetti to discuss farmed animal agency and how to start centering it at your sanctuary to improve the overall health and...
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26 - The Importance Of Observation In Animal Caregiving
In this episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Community Education Specialist Andie and Senior Advisor Tara discuss the vital role observation plays in many aspects of animal caregiving, focusing on how we can use our observation skills to assess our residents' health and catch subtle signs of...
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25 - Finding Good Information For Your Animal Organization
In this episode of The Open Sanctuary Podcast, Senior Advisor Tara and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss the guiding principles we use to source compassionate care information. From examining the challenges of finding reliable sources that value the individual lives of animals as sentient beings...
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24 - Common Visitor Questions And How To Respond To Them For Animal Sanctuaries
Community Education Specialist Andie and Senior Advisor Tara discuss some helpful strategies and tips on how your animal organization can thoughtfully approach and respond to common visitor questions that sanctuaries get asked by visitors. --- This Episode's Referenced Resources: A Starter Guide…
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23 - Effective Tabling Strategies and Tips for Animal Sanctuaries
Community Education Specialist Andie and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss some helpful strategies and tips on how your animal organization can table at outreach events as effectively as possible. They offer insight on how tabling can be a beneficial way to connect with the public and raise...
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22 - Being Kind To Bees At Your Animal Organization
Research Specialist Amber, Community Education Specialist Andie, and Nonprofit Specialist Julia discuss how your animal organization can "bee" more friendly to bees and other pollinators! They offer insight into how bees and pollinators can support your sanctuary (and can help support you and…
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21 - Spring Green Pastures: Managing Sanctuary Resident Consumption Safely
Research Specialist Amber Barnes and Senior Advisor Tara Hess discuss the importance of understanding how fresh, lush pastures can affect ruminant, camelid, and equine residents. In this episode, we talk about the joys of spring for residents and care staff but also the potential risks that may...
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20 - Donkeys Are Different
Research Specialist Amber and Nonprofit Specialist Julia talk about donkeys! Amber explains some of the physiological, behavioral, social, and nutritional needs differences between horses and donkeys and how these impact what caregivers must consider in their day-to-day care of these individuals....
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19 - Addressing Biases That Can Harm Farmed Animals
Community Education Specialist Andie Springirth and Executive Director Mckenzee Griffler discuss combatting biases that can harm farmed animals. Since much of human thinking, feeling, and behavior is guided by our biases, understanding biases that can negatively impact farmed animals is an...
About this show
Do you work at an animal sanctuary or rescue? Is it your dream to start one? Join the staff of The Open Sanctuary Project as we have accessible conversations about some of the many important topics affecting sanctuaries and compassionate animal care, including species-specific guidance and sanctuary logistics, staff and volunteer support, governance considerations, fundraising and budgeting, public outreach, and effective humane education strategies! For more information and to access our extensive free resource library, including how-tos, courses, free tools, templates, and downloads, check out OpenSanctuary.org!Questions, comments, or topic requests? Reach out via the form at OpenSanctuary.org/contactWant to support our work with a donation? Head to OpenSanctuary.org/donation
Hosted by
The Open Sanctuary Project
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