New director of MD SPCA strives to save more animals

By Allison Bazzle
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

The newly appointed executive director of the Maryland SPCA hopes to increase the number of animal lives that are saved each year at the Baltimore shelter.

To achieve this goal for the organization, Byron Logan wants to increase pet rescue as well as nurture and adoption programs, including off-site adoption events. He also wants to educate more youth across the state of Maryland on animal welfare.

“I want to see us save more lives, because I know that we have the capacity to do it,” Logan said. “We have thousands of volunteers. They may not all be active, but we do have access to thousands of volunteers. We have a great foster care program, which to me is the backbone of the adoption program.”

The Maryland SPCA, which has a shelter at 3300 Falls Road in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood, is a no-kill shelter that adopts out about 3,500 animals each year. The SPCA also has a spay-and-neuter clinic onsite that preforms around 9,000 surgeries a year. The facility can hold 60 dogs and 60 cats.

The shelter takes in an estimated 1,300 cats and dogs annually from other shelters that do euthanize. Logan said that the more animals the SPCA can adopt out, the more animals it can save from these other shelters.

More than a month into his new job, Logan already has a daily regimen. While he does the normal business routine of checking emails and attending meeting after meeting, Logan also makes it a point to walk through the shelter each day.

“I want to make sure I know everybody and everyone knows me even if it’s not on a first name basis,” Logan said. “I want to get them used to knowing that I care. I’m just making sure that when those doors open and people walk through, they know that’s some TLC and some real love that went into setting the shelter up.”

Logan brings with him nine years of experience from his previous career at the North Shore Animal League of America in Port Washington, New York, one of the largest no-kill shelter in the world.

While at North Shore, Byron started as manager of the customer service department. He was quickly promoted to manager of major gifts and planned giving. Two years later he was promoted to director of corporate and national shelter outreach.

“My experience at North Shore literally gave me the background in animal welfare from a shelter operations side,” Logan said. “I got to learn what it was like to work in the kennel, order supplies and work with the vets. Talking to our donors gave me more insight into marketing and development.”

For the 44-year-old native of the Bronx, New York, Baltimore is a long way from home. After seeing an ad for the executive director position at the Maryland SPCA, Logan was drawn in by its history, especially previous Executive Director Aileen Gabbey’s long tenure with the organization.

“I figured, wow, somebody puts that much of an emphasis and an effort to pretty much have their whole career at one organization, it has to be a good place to be at and it also has to be a hard place to leave,” Logan said.

Logan moved to Baltimore with his wife Aretha of 22 years, their two daughters, Maya and Caprice, and their 8-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Madison.

Rae Borsetti, the Maryland SPCA’s volunteer manager, said that Logan has been great to work with and is always happy to get involved.

“He spoke at a volunteer meeting last month, and instead of just telling volunteers about his experience, he wanted to hear their stories,” Borsetti said. “He’s already working with the director of community outreach on expanding the Maryland SPCA’s school programs and with the director of development on getting more corporate donations for our Kibble Connection program. He’s already shown us that he’s a great leader, and I’m excited to see where he takes the organization.”

When he’s not at the shelter, Logan can be found watching movies with his wife, one of their favorite Sunday past times. He thinks of himself as a coffee aficionado and says that he always has a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in his right hand.

“Were really excited to have Byron onboard as our new executive director,” said Tina Regester, director of communications. “Coming from one of the largest shelters in the Unites States, he has a lot of ideas on how we can save even more homeless pets in our community.”

During his time at the SPCA, Logan said he is focused on setting a legacy in which everyone can take part.

“Aileen leaves a legacy here and you don’t undo a legacy,” Logan said. “So what I have to do out of respect for everyone, the animals, the adopters, the community and the staff here is set a legacy that we’re going to be a part of and that we’re going to be proud of.”