Join us for the next All Call on October 15! Director of Placement Izzy Nidetz will share Pasadena Humane’s approach to their large dog placement programs.

About the Presentation:

Large dogs often face significant challenges in finding homes, leading to longer stays in shelters and increased pressure on kennel space. To address this, we must explore innovative strategies that set both dogs and people up for success. How can we foster greater community involvement and encourage potential adopters to give big dogs a chance?

We will explore proven solutions for getting large dogs into foster and adoptive homes through creative, results-driven programs. Topics will include Pasadena Humane’s Adoption Trial Program, Field Trip and Sleepover Programs, and unique events that have successfully engaged the public. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas for implementing or enhancing similar programs to improve outcomes for large dogs in their own communities.

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

On the Live From The Ranch, Kiki Yablon will join Ken Ramirez to discuss a new approach to loose-leash walking. Rather than just walking by your side, in this method, a dog and a person move through space together, almost like they were off-leash, interacting with each other and the world in ways both parties find enriching.

WEBSITE LINK:  https://theranch.clickertraining.com/live/#next

Camp Maddie is back! Join us for the third edition of Camp Maddie, a free virtual half-day event on Wednesday, November 13th from 9AM-1PM PT / 12PM-4PM ET.

Across the country, many people face tough choices due to housing restrictions, often having to give up their pets. At Camp Maddie: Pet-Inclusive Housing Edition, we will cover a variety of topics related to pet housing in presentations, videos and question and answer sessions.

Presenters will share ideas about:

• Understanding human homelessness response systems for better animal welfare advocacy and program design
• Dog-inclusive housing
• Legal protections for tenants with pets and the eviction process
• Engaging rental housing providers with pet-inclusive approaches and pet owners with information they need to access pet-inclusive rental housing

Presenting on these topics will be:

• Christine Kim, Founder, My Dog is My Home
• Shannon Glenn, Executive Director, My Pit Bull is Home
• Dianne Prado, Founder and President, HEART LA
• Diana Cruz, Program Director and Law Clerk, HEART LA
• Zaira Bernal, Paralegal, HEART LA
• Ross Barker, Program Director for the Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative (PIHI), Michelson Found Animals Foundation
• Sara Maria Muriello, Senior Program Manager for the Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative (PIHI), Michelson Found Animals Foundation

Camp Maddie: Pet-Inclusive Housing Edition is perfect for those interested or involved in animal shelters or foster-based organizations, social workers and anyone passionate about keeping pets and people together.

At the end of the free half-day event, presenters will share a collection of resources to help you apply what you learn in your own organization and community. By embracing pet-inclusive policies, we can help families stay together and create neighborhoods where pets are valued as part of the family. Come make new friends and help make housing accessible to all members of the family!

REGISTER HERE: https://maddies.fund/CampMaddieHousingRegistration
Can’t make it? Register anyway to get notifications about the recordings.

Find out more about the speakers and their presentations on Maddie’s Pet Forum: https://forum.maddiesfund.org/campmaddiepetinclusivehousing#agenda

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

Don’t miss this FREE online event showcasing how to help vulnerable pets using data. Whether you love geeking out over data, want to help pets in your community—or both—you don’t want to miss the ASPCA^®-AAWA Research Forum online on October 30 from 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET. Last year, nearly 1,300 of your colleagues registered for the Forum to explore new research results in community and shelter animal welfare.Get access to cutting-edge research that supports your lifesaving work, including studies on:

• Tag! You’re Home! Reunification of Pet Cats with Their Owners Using a Community Engagement Approach
• Benefits of Pair-Housing Dogs on Welfare Measures and Length of Stay
• Using a behavior modification protocol to improve nail trim success in adult shelter cat
• Rest or Rehabilitate? The Impact of Early Behavioral Treatment on Shelter Dog Rehabilitation Outcomes
• Evaluation of StrayCare – a Targeted Cat Neutering Intervention

Attendees will leave with practical suggestions for applying what they’ve learned to benefit their communities and are eligible for CAWA and NACA credit, as well as IAABC CEUs!

Participate in a live Q&A with the researchers following the presentations.

The Research Forum is for anyone interested in advancing animal welfare, including veterinarians, shelter leadership, staff, and volunteers. Register here for free: aspca.org/researchforum

PS: Can’t attend live? Register anyway, and we’ll make the recordings available.

WEBSITE LINK: http://aspca.org/researchforum

Register for Part 2 of our conversation on addressing gaps in Emotional Support Animal (ESA) documentation and protection for vulnerable communities! 

HEART LA’s Zaira Bernal (Paralegal) and Diana Cruz (Program Director/Law Clerk) will return to the All Call on October 1 for a conversation on addressing landlord resistance to ESA protections. What do you need to know to advance disability justice and help people and pets at risk of eviction stay together in your community? Submit your questions for the presenters.

About the 10/1 Call:

In this follow-up presentation, we shift the focus from individual barriers to the systemic challenges presented by landlords, particularly small property owners, in ensuring the legal protections afforded to tenants with Emotional Support Animals (ESAs). Despite clear state and federal laws, landlords often disregard these protections, leading to ongoing harassment, pushback, and, in some cases, the denial of rightful accommodations for individuals with disabilities. This presentation will explore how tenants frequently report resistance from landlords even after informing them of their rights, highlighting the critical role larger organizations play in advocating on their behalf.

The presentation will conclude by offering strategies for intervention that our organization has found effective. These include drafting reasonable accommodation requests on behalf of our clients, involving governmental agencies like the Los Angeles Housing Department and the California Department of Disabilities, and partnering with animal welfare organizations to identify solutions that benefit all parties. By acknowledging landlords as actors in the housing ecosystem and uplifting tenant power, this presentation aims to foster a more equitable approach to ESA-related housing issues, ensuring that legal protections are upheld for vulnerable individuals in our community.

Watch the Part 1 recording. At the 9/17 All Call, Zaira and Diana explored common challenges individuals with disabilities face when seeking the required documentation for Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), focusing on the limitations of current policy and real-world hurdles. They also offered practical solutions HEART LA has implemented to address these challenges. These include facilitating self-certification for individuals receiving disability benefits in California, partnering with organizations to connect clients with healthcare providers, directly engaging with cautious medical professionals to educate and alleviate concerns, and training caseworkers and other qualified third parties on how to issue ESA documentation.

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 team members Allison Cardona, Nadia Oseguera, and Ivy Ruiz, 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