Meet Kim Sill

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Kim Sill again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Kim , always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
I am Kim Sill and I run a non profit dog shelter called Shelter Hope in Thousand Oaks California. Shelter Hope has been saving dogs for almost 15 years and what sets us apart is that we use our community to sustain our model. Our goal at Shelter Hope is to provide our adopters with resources to help them give their new companion the best life ever! Dog advocates know that regular vetting is important to sustain a healthy and happy life for your dog. Grooming is a big part of wellness for your pet. We work with businesses who donate services to help us save death row dogs from high kill shelters in California. With every adoption we give our clients a free vet visit, a doggy day care visit and a free grooming. Shelter hope has a fully stocked pet pantry and we give back to our homeless pet owners and provide them with free vaccines, microchips and spay and neuter services.During the recent fires we helped families who needed assistance paying for vet care. It was our honor to be there for these families and will continue to help as long as we are needed.
Here is a link: https://shelterhopepetshop.org/fire-donations/

Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
After posting one of my weekly newsletter about things happening in the dog world, there was quite an uproar because I called out a fake dog rescue. Fake dog rescues will buy puppies from breeders and puppy mills and then “label” them as rescues. These dogs are created for profit and it is consumer fraud. AB485 is a law in California that a rescue dog can not be sold for more than 500.00 dollars. Many fake rescues add on a transport cost, and boarding cost and then lie about the origin of the dog. I warn consumers that buyers beware, if you are being charged upwards of 1500.00 dollars for a rescue dog, it is not a rescue.
Instagram and other social media outlets have creating easy ways for consumers to be defrauded into buying a fake rescue dog.
I am actively seeking ways to create legislation to stop this monetization of puppies in California.

We have now arrived at one of our favorite parts of the interview – the lightning round. We’ll ask you a few quick questions to give us all some fun insights about you.

Favorite Movie: Forrest Gump

Favorite Book: Lovely Bones

Favorite TV Show: Criminal Minds

Favorite Band or Artist: Taylor Swift

Sweet or Savory: both

Mountains or Beach: both

Favorite Sport (to watch): football

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: successful

French Fries or Onion Rings: onion rings

Favorite Cartoon growing up: flinstones

Favorite Breakfast Food: pancakes

Life is often about tough choices – can you talk to us about your thought process, strategy or philosophy when it comes to making difficult choices or tradeoffs.
I learned a long time ago that making “any choice” is better than doing nothing. Choices have helped me move forward.
The bad choices I made gave me experience and the good choices gave me confidence. I am grateful every time I get to be challenged with a new set of decisions to be made and looking forward to a 2025 full of them!

Website: https://www.shelterhopepetshop.org

Instagram: shelterhope_petshop

Facebook: Kim Sill

Image Credits

Kim Sill holding Ban puppy mill brochure
Cheri Lucas and Kim Sill at Flash mob event for Shelter Hope

Demetra Canning and Kim Sill