How do we reduce relinquishment to animal shelters? In the U.S. and Canada, approximately 25-30% of animals that enter shelters are surrendered by owners. However, despite many shelters and rescues providing various pet support services for the past few decades, there has been little demonstratable reduction in owner surrendered animals. Currently, many animal shelters use data collected at intake, such as surrender reasons, to create programs that aim to support pet owners to keep their pets. This presentation will outline research into animal shelters, pet owning communities, self-rehoming platforms, and pet owners to demonstrate the complex system of pet surrender. By the end of this presentation, participants will learn how community data can complement animal shelter data to help divert animals from shelters.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this presentation, you will be able to….
- discuss strategies to improve standardization of intake data collection within your shelter
- Identify ways to connect animal shelter data to community-level demographic data to understand risks of surrender
- Interpret data from pet support services, self-rehoming platforms, and pet owners to understand how to promote intake diversion
Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcasts
Connect with the guest speaker & ask questions here on Maddie’s Pet Forum: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcastIntakeDiversion
This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association and has been submitted for approval for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) approval.
Presenter: Lexis Ly, PhD Student, UBC Animal Welfare Program
Lexis Ly is a PhD student in Applied Animal Biology at the University of British Columbia’s Animal Welfare Program. Her work uses animal shelter and community data to understand how to maintain human-animal bonds, help animal shelter services provide equitable services, and reduce intake to shelters. She is also interested in veterinary disaster response, climate change and pet ownership, and bias in animal shelter adoption.
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