With shelters struggling with high populations and capacity issues, it’s more urgent than ever that dogs move through the shelter system quickly to make space for incoming dogs. Whether you are struggling to make behavioral euthanasia decisions for dogs with documented histories of aggression, or you are managing a population of long stay dogs experiencing behavioral decline, this webinar will help you more effectively and efficiently manage your dog population, give your dogs a fair chance at a live outcome, and reduce your overall length of stay. Kristen Hassen has led three, large government animal shelters with intakes up to 20,000 annually and has taught and mentored many others.
“We need to achieve a balance of lifesaving, humane care, risk management, and cost efficiency.” All four are possible, but we need to have better systems in place to triage dogs from intake to appropriate pathways, establish goals for length of stay in shelter, implement standard procedures for dogs at risk of behavioral or space euthanasia, and ensure each dog is treated as an individual while in the care of animal services.”
This presentation will include 45 minutes of presentation time and 45 minutes for questions and discussion. Topics covered include:
-Chunking dogs into groups to address various barriers to exit.
-How to manage dogs with behavioral histories at intake.
-The role of volunteers and advocates in moving at-risk dogs through the system.
-The at-risk dog flow process.
-Shelter status and the role of rescue groups
-What outcomes can you expect?
-Euthanasia due to space vs. behavioral decline vs. behavior – why distinguishing these is important.
