Shelter Learniverse and Industry-Wide Calendar

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  • Webinar – 8/27/24 – Emerging Zoonotic Fungal Infections You Need to Know – VetGirl (fee applies)

    Webinar – 8/27/24 – Emerging Zoonotic Fungal Infections You Need to Know – VetGirl (fee applies)

    There is a fungus among us. Now what?

    In this 1-hour, VETgirl small animal webinar, Dr. Jeremy Gold, MD, MS will review several emerging zoonotic fungal infections that veterinarians may encounter in their clinics. Tune in as Dr. Gold reviews the epidemiology and clinical features of antimicrobial-resistant ringworm, cat-transmitted sporotrichosis, and other fungal infections of public health importance!

    Not a VETgirl ELITE member? Get your learning on with the #1 veterinary CE resource – clinically relevant, practical, and accessible 24/7 on your own time! Don’t miss out – click HERE to check out your options, including our new  14-day, no-commitment ELITE Trial.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://vetgirlontherun.com/webinars/august-27-2024-emerging-zoonotic-fungal-infections-you-need-to-know/

  • Webinar – 9/21/24 – Return-to-Field: Saving the Lives of Community Cats – Community Cats Podcast

    Webinar – 9/21/24 – Return-to-Field: Saving the Lives of Community Cats – Community Cats Podcast

    It used to be that a feral cat had little chance of exiting a shelter alive after he entered. But that’s no longer the case. In recent years, more and more shelters have adopted Return-to-Field (RTF) programs. Instead of euthanizing healthy community cats (whether feral, friendly or otherwise), the shelter will spay or neuter, eartip and vaccinate, then return the cat back to where he was found. We’ll cover the policies behind RTF, the mechanics of implementing the program, current controversies over the RTF of friendly cats, and how to combine RTF with TNR in general to lower cat populations and create sustainability.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/events/return-to-field-saving-the-lives-of-community-cats-presented-by-neighborhood-cats-sept-2024/

  • Online Course – Starts 9/9/24 – Community Cats Program Management – University of the Pacific (fee applies)

    Online Course – Starts 9/9/24 – Community Cats Program Management – University of the Pacific (fee applies)

    This innovative and comprehensive eight-week certificate course is designed to empower participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively manage community cat programs. Aimed at animal welfare professionals, veterinary students, animal control officers, nonprofit leaders, and community advocates, this course combines theory with practical applications to cover all aspects of community cat welfare. Through a blend of online lectures, interactive discussions, and real-world assignments, students will learn how to implement humane and effective strategies for managing community cat populations, ensuring their health and welfare while engaging positively with the communities they serve.

    Modules include:

      1. Introduction to Community Cats
      2. Fundamentals of TNR
      3. Community Engagement and Education (AKA “Marketing Module”)
      4. Legal and Ethical Considerations
      5. Volunteer Management and Community Involvement
      6. Ongoing Management for Community Cats
      7. Conflict Resolution and Community Relations (AKA “Customer Service Module”)
      8. Funding and Sustainability

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://uc.pacific.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3508103

  • Online Meeting – Mondays – Weekly Community Conversations #ThanksToMaddie – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Meeting – Mondays – Weekly Community Conversations #ThanksToMaddie – Maddie’s Fund

    Maddie’s Fund hosts a weekly 50-minute Zoom call for animal well-being professionals. These calls are a collaborative space to share exciting new programs and research, discuss uncomfortable topics, connect with peers in the industry, and more, all while sharing a common goal of preserving the human-animal bond.

    Who Should Join?
    Executive directors, animal well-being leaders, shelter workers, pet support professionals, volunteers, rescue organizations and anyone who shares the common goal of preserving the human-animal bond.

    Win Ca$h for Attending!
    Each month, Maddie’s Fund will be giving away up to $10,000 in grants. You can enter to win each time you attend a call or watch on-demand during the month by completing the giveaway drawing entry forms shared in the chat during the calls.

    Register Today
    Join us each Monday at 11am PT/2pm ET to receive support and learn about innovative ideas other organizations across the country are seeing success with. If you registered prior to May 2024 or are new to these meetings, please use this link to register:
    https://maddies.fund/CommunityConvoRegistration2024 

    All calls are recorded and uploaded to the Community Conversations page on Maddie’s Pet Forum https://forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations

    Please note: All views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie’s Fund.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/CommunityConvo2024Registration

  • Webinar – 8/29/24 – Testicle Talk – Customer Service in the Animal Space – CalAnimals

    Webinar – 8/29/24 – Testicle Talk – Customer Service in the Animal Space – CalAnimals

    Customer Service training in Animal Welfare has often been an afterthought. So keenly focused on lifesaving programs, we sometimes neglect the human being at the other end of the leash. Seldom do we see curriculum on this topic at most conferences and when we do, it’s nothing new. We all assume everyone knows how to be nice, but it’s not about being nice, it’s about being effective in our communication with one another, volunteers, customers, and anyone else we encounter through the course of our work. It’s about legitimizing the feelings of others, finding words that impact the psyche and leave the other person feeling cared for, even when our answer might be no. This session will inspire attendees to really evaluate the training given to all staff/volunteers that interact with others. Often, we presume customer service is something our parents should have taught us, but that is not always the case. This session will be unique in that we will walk through conversations that we have routinely, but often fall short in doing so. This session is intended to provoke conversation, thoughts, and action.

    This is not your normal customer service class!

    Presenter: Gina Knepp, Michelson Found Animals

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UgfDgI0ZTAiUDENrxMBQyQ

  • Webinar – 8/22/24 – Open Adoption Theory: Getting More Pets Home – CalAnimals

    Webinar – 8/22/24 – Open Adoption Theory: Getting More Pets Home – CalAnimals

    While countless factors beyond our control are causing an influx of animals into our shelters, we do have some influence over the pace at which they leave. Most members of the public are not acquiring their pets from shelters and rescues and it is on all of us to change that. More adoptions mean more lives saved and more manageable populations in our shelters. Please join us for this important session with speaker Michael Keiley from the MSPCA to take a deep dive into Open Adoption Theory where we will discuss effective conversation-based adoption counseling and take a hard look at policies that drive people away. This one-hour presentation will be followed by a 30-minute opportunity for Q&A with our speaker who has successfully implemented this approach in placing more than 10,000 animals per year in loving homes.

    Presenter: Michael Keiley, MSPCA

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fefhN37BTnCjM2JXCztWag

  • Webinar – 8/6/24 – Not Enough Adopters, or Not Enough Adoptions: Foot Traffic Tracking May Tell You It’s the Latter – HASS

    Webinar – 8/6/24 – Not Enough Adopters, or Not Enough Adoptions: Foot Traffic Tracking May Tell You It’s the Latter – HASS

    Why are people interested in adopting pets leaving shelters empty handed?

    Turns out the shelters themselves may have more of a role that you think. Join Amanda Foster, Assistant Director of Research & Data for HASS, as well as Heidi Martson, PetSmart Charities Director of Pet Placement Initiatives, to discuss how five different shelters began implementing people-centric best practices to better understand the WHY behind their adoption conversion rate, and provide you with the tangible tools and initiatives organizations can use today to aid in increasing adoptions.

    Join us live Tuesday, August 6th at 5 p.m. CST!

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/7816739797796/WN_FpVANXHzQh6xe9AnFE-zXQ

  • Webinar – 8/15/24 – Protecting Kittens from Feline Panleukopenia: Essential Strategies for Animal Shelters and Rescues – Maddie’s Fund

    Webinar – 8/15/24 – Protecting Kittens from Feline Panleukopenia: Essential Strategies for Animal Shelters and Rescues – Maddie’s Fund

    Animal shelter and rescue agencies across the country often struggle to protects cats and in particular kittens from the infectious diseases that tend to rise as ‘kitten season’ surges each year. This webinar focuses on safeguarding cats of all ages from feline panleukopenia (sometimes also called feline distemper or FPV), a highly contagious and potentially fatal viral disease. Veterinary experts will discuss disease recognition in individuals and within a shelter population, effective prevention methods, and best practices for managing outbreaks in shelter environments and foster homes.

    Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for 75 minutes. This webcast will be recorded.

    Join Dr. Becky Stuntebeck, Facility Design and Outreach Veterinarian at the Koret Shelter Medicine Program, and Dr. Uri Donnett, Lead Veterinarian at Dane County Humane Society, and come away knowing how to implement effective prevention strategies within the shelter or foster homes, including proper vaccination protocols and sanitation measures – and much more.

    This webcast will be moderated by Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DAVBP, Fran Marino Distinguished Professor of Shelter Medicine Education at the University of Florida.

    Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording.

    This webinar have been approved for 1.25 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association. It has also been submitted for approval for 1.25 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) approval. Submission for RACE CE is for on-demand viewing only. Maddie’s Fund does not share registration information.

    About the Presenters

    Dr. Julie Levy,  DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DAVBP

    Dr. Julie Levy is the Fran Marino Endowed Distinguished Professor of Shelter Medicine Education at the University of Florida, where she focuses on the health and welfare of animals in shelters, feline infectious diseases, and humane alternatives for cat population control. She founded Operation Catnip, a community cat trap-neuter-return program that has spayed, neutered, and vaccinated more than 80,000 cats in Gainesville since 1998. A decade later, she joined Dr. Cynda Crawford to launch Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine. This educational and discovery initiative has a global impact on the care of homeless animals and served as the academic home for development of the Fear Free Shelters program. She later teamed up with Dr. Kate Hurley to start the Million Cat Challenge, a shelter-based campaign that saved more than 5 million cats in shelters across North America and then Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge to create transformative “communities of practice” that deliver access to care through humane community-centric programming-inside and outside of the shelter-to achieve the right outcome for every pet.

    Dr. Rebecca Stuntebeck, MS (Becky)
    Becky is the Facility Design and Outreach Veterinarian for the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at UC Davis. She has consulted with many shelters across the country as well as worked as a shelter veterinarian at two private shelters in Wisconsin. In addition to facility design her interests include shelter data, proactive population management, infectious disease prevention in shelters, and building relationships with folks across the sheltering field. Outside of work she enjoys petting kittens, getting outside, and reading. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, daughter, 1 aged moggy, and 1 rowdy mutt.

    Dr. Uri Donnett,  DVM, MS, DABVP

    Dr. Donnett is the Chief Veterinarian at the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, WI. Uri is board certified in Shelter Medicine Practice through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. His veterinary interests include high quality/high volume spay/neuter, other shelter surgery, transport programs, epidemiology, and infectious disease in the shelter setting as well as high-quality low-cost medical care for rural and resource­ scarce shelters and communities. Uri has served on the board for the Association of Shelter Veterinarians since 2018.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddiesfund-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zkfLlQroQ1S8IGbqekfgAA

  • Online Event – 8/6/24 – All Call: A Conversation on Community Veterinary Clinics – California for All Animals

    Online Event – 8/6/24 – All Call: A Conversation on Community Veterinary Clinics – California for All Animals

    An increasing number of shelters are interested in opening access to care clinics for their community. At the August 6 All Call, join Dr. Chumkee Aziz (Outreach Veterinarian, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program) and panelists for a discussion on financial and operational models of clinics for publicly owned animals.

    Panelists:

    • John L. Lipp, CEO, Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter
    • Dr. Katie Marrie, Chief Veterinary Officer, Santa Barbara Humane
    • Dr. Jena Valdez, Chief Med Officer, SF SPCA

    The All Call is a twice-monthly, California community call for animal well-being professionals that occurs on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday. The one-hour call is a dedicated space to share and learn from each other. Popular topics include initiatives that create a more inclusive culture for both staff and community, programs that keep pets with their people, industry trends, research studies, as well as the hard stuff, like what’s not working or what is particularly difficult during times of scarcity. The call is a mix of presentations, storytelling, open discussion, and Q&A time.

    The All Call is hosted by California for All co-leaders Allison Cardona and Nadia Oseguera and is enriched by rotating facilitators. You only need to register one time. Calls are sometimes recorded; recap emails with supplemental resources are sent post-call.

    Register here: https://tinyurl.com/all-call

  • Webinar – 9/26/24 – From Horror to Hope: An Anti-Puppy Mill Advocate’s Eye-Opening Journey Inside of USDA Kennels – Life of Riley at Spring Point

    Webinar – 9/26/24 – From Horror to Hope: An Anti-Puppy Mill Advocate’s Eye-Opening Journey Inside of USDA Kennels – Life of Riley at Spring Point

    Speakers:

    • Mindi Callison, Founder and Executive Director of Bailing out Benji
    • Alexis Bell, Research Analyst Bailing out Benji

    Mindi and Alexis have devoted their lives to ending puppy mill cruelty and Bailing Out Benji is widely known as a powerful and tireless advocate for the dogs on these facilities. Through their examination of inspection records and images from licensed dog breeding facilities, they have uncovered and exposed cruelty and played critical roles in shutting down bad facilities and passing animal protection legislation. Earlier this year, members of Bailing Out Benji were given intimate access inside USDA kennels in the Midwest: they were allowed to see every inch of these facilities, touch everything (including dogs!) and had all their questions answered by the kennel owners.

    Join Mindi and Alexis for a conversation about their experience and hear why animal advocates can be hopeful about changes that are happening within the industry.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvdO-qqTwsE9cLZ_pIAXRc8lpwnlI00ijf#/registration