Celebrating the heart of a champion
Over the past 30 years in animal welfare, I have met countless folks who are in this work for the love of the animals. It’s in our DNA and helps us move mountains every single day. There are some, however, who bring an unwavering commitment to lifesaving. This commitment comes from someone who has the heart of a champion. Someone who plays to win instead of playing not to lose. Someone who has a vision for change and doesn’t take no for an answer. I was privileged to have the opportunity to interview two such women at Best Friends National Conference on February 20: Susanne Kogut and Denise Deisler.
When I sat down with Susanne and Denise, I was reminded of their brilliant minds and champion hearts as they talked about their “why” — why they got into animal welfare in the first place. I introduced them as co-conspirators and foxhole comrades, and that’s really how we collaborated in the early days. In the trenches, we worked together and learned from each other as we reached for the unheard of: creating a no-kill country.
I’m sad to say that both are retiring this year, but they’re not leaving for good — just taking a step back. Denise is stepping down from her position as CEO of Jacksonville Humane Society and will remain an executive adviser in the interim, and Susanne is stepping down as the president of Petco Love but staying on as their board chair. I’m happy that they both feel like the movement is in a good enough place where they can take a step back. And I was honored to present them each with a lifetime achievement award at the conference for the work they’ve done in animal welfare. It’s bittersweet.
First up was Susanne, whose legacy reaches far beyond this word count: from attorney at Capital One to the president of Petco Love to making Charlottesville, Virginia no-kill, and every victory in between. She says, “My ‘why’ really revolves around my dog Murphy. Nobody boo me now. He was a pit bull that I bought for a boyfriend. He was the love of my life. The dog! Not the boyfriend.” Susanne somehow always manages to find a moment of levity.
She continues, “I didn’t know anything about animal welfare at the time. I didn’t know there were too many dogs out there. I didn’t know what was happening at the shelter at all. I just went online to get a new dog, and I found so many out there that I actually adopted two dogs. Then, I decided that I would help [the rescue] with their corporate work and file their nonprofit thing, and then all of a sudden, I was the Virginia arm of that rescue group.”
It may seem accidental for Susanne, but the truth is that her heart and passion for animals have always been there. That love for Murphy and inspirational moment of learning what was happening in shelters allowed her to tap into her heart of a champion. Her determination to be their voice is something that ran much deeper than “accidentally” leading the charge in lifesaving efforts in Virginia.
Then, of course, I asked the same questions of the incomparable Denise. As she says, she “tripped” into animal welfare. She took a career leap, or a stumble, to prove the naysayers wrong. She adds, “A huge part of my ‘why,’ [was] there were hundreds, thousands, and millions of animals losing their lives in shelters for no reason other than we had never attempted to do anything different than that.”
A visionary. She saw and put words to what very few were saying at the time: Let’s at least try something different. Just because it hasn’t been done certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be done. “The more people [who] said it couldn’t be done, the more determined I was. I doubled down,” she says. Even though she didn’t have a road map, despite all odds she broke new ground and paved the way for others. That is her heart of a champion.
Reflecting on her entry into animal welfare in Virginia, Susanne says, “My favorite thing out of COVID is hearing people say, ‘This is the worst time ever for animals.’ Oh my god, please! In 2005, when I started, the Virginia save rate was 30%. Going in, I was like, ‘We’re going to save lives!’ And everyone that I worked with thought I was crazy — they thought I was naïve.”
Denise adds, “I’ll echo what Susanne said: If you think things are tough now, do some seeking and searching of the history of where we come from. There was no hope of animals making it out of the shelters alive because there was no focus on animals getting out of shelters alive.”
These two women put the spotlight on lifesaving. Hearing both women mention how far we’ve come reminded me just how important it is to celebrate the hard work that we’re all doing every day. It’s easy to focus on the negatives and the barriers in the way of our success, but it’s important to celebrate Susanne, Denise, and everyone in our communities who are dedicating their lives to making a difference.
The cumulative success over their lifetimes is exactly why Best Friends awarded them each lifetime achievement awards. These awards represent every single animal they saved and every sacrifice they made along the way — the additional 1,000+ animals Denise saved in her first year at Jacksonville Humane and Susanne jumping in to lead a Virginia shelter to no-kill when the state was at a 30% save rate. In recent years, Virginia’s save rate has consistently been well above 80% and is making strides toward the no-kill benchmark of 90%. These numbers and awards represent the individual lives of the humans and animals around them whom they championed and showed up for. They each boast individual journeys following their hearts of champions, and, while different, both have changed the course of history forever.
Susanne’s award reads: “Susanne Kogut: You are a visionary, a bringer of light, a keeper of promises, and an absolute badass. Your work has changed the course of history.”
Denise’s award reads: “Denise Deisler: In appreciation of your chain-breaking, gate-crashing, ceiling-smashing will to save lives, your work has changed the course of history.”
Susanne and Denise were born with hearts of champions. It’s seen in their ability to make a promise and stick to it — to envision a goal for saving more lives and commit to it regardless of the obstacles. Champions can have losses and setbacks, but it’s about how they respond that sets them apart from the rest. The courage to keep going, the compassion to carry a team, and the knowledge that they can do anything they set their minds to — that’s what makes them champions. And now, watching each of them celebrate the other as we award their respective lifetimes of achievement, through and through these women have the hearts of champions.
Thank you, Denise and Susanne, for all you have done and inevitably will continue to do for animals. While we may not be elbow to elbow on the frontlines together anymore, I will always feel your presence right alongside me.
-Julie
