Meet the Petful Team - Petful (original) (raw)
Dave Baker | Publisher
Dave is a journalist and editor who has worked at The New York Times and The Nation magazine. He was also part of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize–winning team at The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he founded Pets Adviser in 2009, which eventually became Petful. For a few years he was co-owner of the Presidential Pet Museum.
A longtime advocate for pet food safety, Dave has been passionately tracking pet food recalls at Petful for the past 10-plus years, and more than 30,000 pet parents are subscribed to his recall alerts — which sometimes arrive even faster than the recall alerts put out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Animal Radio has called Petful’s list of U.S. pet food recalls “the best, most complete list” online.
Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Clemson University, where he studied journalism and was editor in chief of The Tiger, a student newspaper twice awarded Best in Show during his years there by the Associated Collegiate Press.
His work in the media has received a number of other awards over the years from professional organizations, such as the Society for News Design and the South Carolina Press Association. In 2019, Dave received an Honorable Mention in the AVA Digital Awards in the “On-Camera Talent” category for his video “Why I Created Petful.” He also was the winner of an Award of Excellence and 2 Awards of Distinction in the 2019 Communicator Awards.
Petful is a part of Dave’s independent company, Super Copy Editors LLC — a business proofreading service in New York City. Here is the company’s Better Business Bureau page. In addition, Dave is a proud member of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), an organization dedicated to promoting accuracy in writing and raising the standards of editing.
A passionate animal lover, Dave has cared for a number of dogs, cats and other small pets over the years.
Kristine Lacoste | Editor in Chief
Kristine is an author, poet and pet lover from Louisiana. She is the author of One Unforgettable Journey, which was named as a finalist for a Maxwell Award from the Dog Writers Association of America, and was host of a weekly pet news segment on the National K-9 Academy Radio Show.
In addition, she was the New Orleans coordinator for Dogs on Deployment, a nonprofit that helps military members and their pets, for 3 years.
Kristine has been researching and writing about pet behaviors and care for many years, with her articles appearing in various publications.
She is the chief operating officer of a large mental health practice in Louisiana and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Business Administration degree.
She has been with Petful since 2011. During that time, the Petful content team has won numerous awards — including 7 Certificates of Excellence from the Dog Writers Association of America, 3 Certificates of Excellence from the Cat Writers’ Association, 1 Award of Excellence and 2 Awards of Distinction in the 2019 Communicator Awards, plus an Honorable Mention in the AVA Digital Awards.
But our biggest award is the positive feedback we regularly get from our readers.
“Everything we do at Petful is focused on helping pets live happier lives and empowering their human caregivers with information, entertainment and shared experiences,” Kristine says.
Her love of animals started at a young age with cats, dogs and many frogs.