Carrie Ducote is a nonprofit executive, strategist, and animal-welfare leader with over 15 years of experience helping shelters transform their operations, culture, and community impact. In this episode, Carrie shares her journey from volunteering at a small rural shelter to leading national animal welfare initiatives and founding her consulting company, Shelter Savvy.

We talk candidly about what really happens inside animal shelters, why euthanasia is often misunderstood, and how community-centered solutions can dramatically reduce suffering for both animals and staff. Carrie explains the difference between municipal and nonprofit shelters, why staff morale is the backbone of lifesaving work, and how access, not apathy, is often the biggest barrier to spay and neuter services.

This conversation is eye-opening, compassionate, and practical, offering listeners a deeper understanding of animal welfare and clear ways they can make a difference in their own communities.

In this episode, we discuss:

*Carrie’s path into animal welfare and shelter leadership
*What shelter assessments actually evaluate
*The emotional toll on frontline shelter staff
*Why euthanasia is a systems problem, not an individual failure
*The importance of community outreach and support
*Why spay and neuter access matters more than blame
*How fostering, volunteering, and adopting adult dogs saves lives

To find out more about Shelter Savvy, visit https://www.animalsheltersavvy.com/

Want to be a guest on Life Stories Podcast? Send Shara Goswick a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1718977880777072342a16683