Ian Hallett—Director of Hillsborough County Animal Services—discusses his formative years in Riverview, the sort of animals he grew up with and around, including becoming a staff vet tech at 16. He explains how his educational path took him to Austin, where he began volunteering at the animal shelter there, taking on various volunteer roles, then getting hired as a staffer, ultimately ascending to Deputy Chief Animal Services. He recalls the Austin 
operation’s embracing of No Kill (after comparable moves earlier didn’t pan out), and seeing up close the way that it can work, and helping ensure that success in Austin. He assesses some of the differences he’s identified at Hillsborough County Animal Services in the almost year since he took the job, and describes part of his “Be The Way Home” plan, by way of citing the plan’s three most 
significant components (marketing, offsite adoption, fostering). He also speaks to question’s about the plan’s proposed no-less-than-70% save rate in the first two years, and gives some detail about the plan’s Pilot Community Cat Program, including how the program’s key tenets connect to Hallett’s broader vision of where Hillsborough County Animal Services should be headed over the longer haul. Hallett also responded to listener calls and e-mails, although time constraints (& our discussion) prevented him from speaking to anywhere near all the listeners who wanted to ask him questions &/or offer comments. (With that in mind, we agreed, off-air, that Hallett will return to “Talking Animals” soon, expressly to resume such dialogue with concerned listeners and members of the community. (www.HillsboroughCounty.org/AnimalServices)
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COMEDY CORNER: We didn’t air a comedy piece today.
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Elastic Bond’s “Snake Charmer,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Rolling Stones with Tom Waits’ version of “Little Red Rooster” (recorded at the Oracle Arena in Oakland May 5, 2013) …this week, someone got it!
