Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Kassidi Jones, PhD, Founder of Ginger’s Naps LLC
gingers-naps.com
“The Impossible Dog Mom” combines storytelling, speculative fiction, and American history to explain the many hoops that generations of Black folks have had to jump through to have companion animals in the 21st century. The story begins with Kassidi and Ginger in 2020 but takes listeners back to low-income Black and Brown neighborhoods in the 1990s, Southern states in the early 1800s, and coastal West Africa pre-1620. Through a series of cynoracial (from the Greek root “cyno,” meaning “dog”) vignettes, this presentation gives foundational background information to facilitate what community, allyship and decolonization can look like in the animal wellbeing world today.
To access the full agenda and resources from this call or to ask questions of our speakers, visit https://maddies.fund/communityconversations61625
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
Chapters
00:00 Welcome / Question of the Day
04:43 National updates
07:21 Presentation
Kassidi Jones, PhD, Founder of Ginger’s Naps LLC
gingers-naps.com
“The Impossible Dog Mom” combines storytelling, speculative fiction, and American history to explain the many hoops that generations of Black folks have had to jump through to have companion animals in the 21st century. The story begins with Kassidi and Ginger in 2020 but takes listeners back to low-income Black and Brown neighborhoods in the 1990s, Southern states in the early 1800s, and coastal West Africa pre-1620. Through a series of cynoracial (from the Greek root “cyno,” meaning “dog”) vignettes, this presentation gives foundational background information to facilitate what community, allyship and decolonization can look like in the animal wellbeing world today.
To access the full agenda and resources from this call or to ask questions of our speakers, visit https://maddies.fund/communityconversations61625
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
Chapters
00:00 Welcome / Question of the Day
04:43 National updates
07:21 Presentation
