A passion for putting pets first — and for staying ahead of the curve — fuels the ASPCA’s innovative strategies, and kept it energized when Katrina-relief efforts, a rebranding campaign and the overhaul of its development department all converged.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

The ASPCA has been moving along at a pretty good clip the past century and a half. But toward the end of 2004, it took a look at some numbers that, frankly, got on Sullivan’s nerves: Three-quarters of the households in the United States report having pets. That’s 66 million homes. The ASPCA has fewer than a million available names on its house file.