Shelter Veterinarian as Lifesaver: You can create happy endings.

Join us in Orlando, Florida this August for our annual Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Conference!  This year’s event will focus on the role of the shelter veterinarian as lifesaver.

If you’re looking for innovative ideas and real-world insight into saving your shelter’s animals – including the most vulnerable –  you must join us.  You won’t want to miss informative topics, inspiring presenters, and connecting with sheltering colleagues.

Register today and get our lowest rates!

Our two-day conference is packed to the brim with sessions that will suit organizations of all shapes and sizes.  Whether you’re looking for distemper and parvo treatment protocols or insights for treating and placing animals rescued from hoarding situations and puppy mills, you will come away with practical programs that you can implement in your shelter.  We hope to see you there!

Veterinary students, interns, and residents: click here for information about trainee scholarships.

Interested in sponsoring the conference?  Learn more.

Presenters

• Dr. Frank McMillan, Best Friends Animal Society
• Dr. Brian DiGangi, University of Florida Shelter Medicine
• Dr. Leslie Groshong, Humane Society of Boulder Valley
• Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Austin Pets Alive!
• Kathy Johnson, Animal Humane Society
• Dr. Julie Levy, Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida

Session Previews

The First 60 Minutes: Animal Sheltering’s Critical Hour

From the minute a dog or cat sets paw inside an animal control vehicle or shelter, the clock is ticking on decisions, procedures, and practices that can spell health or illness – even life or death – for that animal.  Find out how decisions made in that first critical hour impact the stress response and susceptibility to disease of sheltered animals and how you can use that time to maximize the life-saving capacity of your organization.

The Evolution of a Shelter Medicine Journal

Conflict to Consensus:  The Humane Society of Boulder Valley’s Shelter Medicine Journal was created to eliminate conflict   among veterinarians and the shelter staff tasked to deliver medical care.  Learn how the document was developed and how it is utilized in shelter practice for medical treatment protocols and as an informational tool to communicate medically adoptable conditions to staff and adopters.  An unexpected consequence of this document has been to significantly reduce length-of-stay and save more lives by driving consistency in treatment and decision-making to streamline shelter medical cases.

Resolving Upper Respiratory Infection in the Shelter

Upper Respiratory Infectin (URI) is considered an expected condition within the population of shelter cats and dogs.  This presentation focuses on treatment and husbandry protocols that have transitioned an open admission shelter from one with crowded isolation wards to one with the ability to transfer in dogs and cats from overcrowded high euthanasia shelters.  Learn how an open admission shelter, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, keepsadoption areas full and avoids URI outbreaks from transferred cats and dogs.

Parvovirus: An Integrated Communication Strategy is Part of Treatment

When approached from a team perspective, an outbreak of parvovirus does not need to be a crisis in your shelter.  On a weekly basis, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley accepts large transfers of puppies from high risk shelters, and each group is considered at risk of breaking with parvo.   Learn how communications with shelter personnel, clinic personnel, and adopters can lead to a positive, healthy outcome for the parvo patient.

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Saving the Bottom 50%

This session gives an overview of how Austin Pets Alive (APA) changed the face of shelter euthanasia at the city shelter by tackling difficult shelter medical issues.  Knowing it would not be as simple as just saving more of the easy-to-save animals, APA examined the types of animals being euthanized and developed programs targeted at those types of animals to enable a live outcome for them.  Austin went from a 50% save rate to a 90% save rate in 2 1/2 short years and is now the largest “No Kill” city in the United States.

Treating Distemper and Parvo

In an effort to save all injured and ill animals at the city shelter, Austin Pets Alive (APA) developed a program for parvo treatment and a protocol for distemper treatment.  As a result save rates for these diseases are near 85%.  In this session, we will discuss the methods used to treat distemper, the illness manifestations and treatment course, and nursing care.  We will also talk about why distemper  occurs and how to prevent it, in addition to how APA treats parvo and has set up a volunteer-run ward to handle up to 350 cases per year.

Saving Neonatal Kittens

Austin Pets Alive’s Bottle Baby Program saves over 1,000 kittens per year that would otherwise be euthanized due to their high needs without a mother.  The program began by mimicking an open admission wildlife center’s nursery and began with no startup funding and only a handful of volunteers.   It has since grown to ensure that every underage kitten that enters the open admission city shelter is saved.

Bound for Home

Bound for Home is a strategic initiative designed to eventually place all healthy and treatable animals.  After a consult from the UC Davis Shelter evaluation team, the Animal Humane Society of Minnesota launched several components of Bound for Home to significantly improve the lives of the animals in our care, dramatically decrease length of stay, slash euthanasia rates, and drive placement rates.  An important element of our success was to engage the community in improving the lives of animals in our area through a surrender-by-appointment process.   This presentation will cover specific elements of the changes that were implemented and define the impact that they have had.

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Shelter Crowd Control: Keeping Community Cats Out of Shelters

While innovative strategies are saving lives across the country, euthanasia rates for stray and feral cats remain stubbornly high in many communities.  This presentation will explore the magnitude of the community cat population and redefine definitions for “home” and “rescue.” Data will be presented from a novel and bold program that cut shelter cat intake dramatically and almost overnight, preventing the tragic deaths of thousands of shelter cats.

Physical and Psychological Health Issues in Puppy Mill and Hoarding Rescues

Animals entering shelters after being rescued from life in a puppy mill or hoarding environment may be afflicted with numerous physical and psychological health problems at varying levels of severity.  This presentation will cover the array of important physical and psycho-behavioral conditions exhibited by these animals that require therapeutic and rehabilitative intervention.  Special attention will be paid to the impact of the change in the animals’ environment—leaving the familiar and entering a shockingly unfamiliar world.

Therapeutic Insights for Treating Animals Rescued From Puppy Mills and Hoarding Situations

Shelters and adopters of animals rescued from puppy mills and hoarding situations were surveyed to inquire about the methods used to help rehabilitate their animal(s), specifically, what they did that was most effective, what was least effective, and what, if anything, caused a setback in the animal’s progress toward recovery.  For psychological conditions, it was found that specific traditional therapeutic methods as described in current clinical behavior texts could be beneficial for one animal but unhelpful and even harmful to another animal with the same apparent disorder.  This talk will present this wealth of clinically useful information for helping these animals overcome their physical and emotional difficulties.

Specific Instructions and Prognostic Information for Adopters of Rescued Puppy Mill and Hoarding Animals

Animals adopted out after rescue from puppy mill and hoarding environments present adopters with a wide array of real and potential challenges.  Fortunately, we’ve learned a tremendous amount that can now equip adopters with a very precise account of expectations, chances of specific outcomes, do’s and dont’s in caring for the animals, projected outlooks for the new pet’s recovery, and even the likelihood of adopters’ satisfaction.  This talk will present a concise list of guidelines that can be provided to adopters of these very special animals.

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Dr. Sheila D'Arpino of the Center for Shelter Dogs will provide top-notch tips for shelter dog welfare.

Optimizing Canine Welfare in Shelters

Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Time: 3:00pm – 4:30pm (EST)

Presented by: Dr. Sheila D’Arpino, Senior Applied Animal Behaviorist at The Center for Shelter Dogs

Description: This 90 minute webinar will teach attendees about tools and techniques to maximize canine welfare while in shelters, including information on playgroups, play with people, quiet time, training programs, and other useful tools and techniques.

Register now!

For me, one of the best parts about being a resident in Shelter Medicine is visiting various shelters, learning first hand the challenges they face and the creative ways they are responding to these challenges. I have had the amazing opportunity to tour over 100 animal shelters and spend extra time as an extern at a handful of these organizations. I enjoy sharing my own knowledge and I always learn something new everywhere I go. The innovative programs implemented at the Richmond SPCA in Virginia, my most recent shelter externship, truly inspire me.

Among the many programs they offer in addition to humane animal care and education, the Richmond SPCA operates a free and low-cost spay/neuter clinic and behavior helpline and offers pet behavior classes, children’s educational programs, a pet pantry, an affordable wellness clinic and numerous volunteer programs. As an animal sheltering organization that has been in existence for over 120 years, one might assume such an organization would become comfortable in these programs, in their position within their community and no longer feel the need to be creative or innovative. Not the Richmond SPCA. They continually strive to improve and innovate, to identify and even anticipate community needs and respond. During my recent visit at the beginning of this year, I witnessed this juggernaut of innovation in action as I participated in two new programs they’d been developing and have now implemented.

As an animal sheltering organization that has been in existence for over 120 years, one might assume such an organization would become comfortable in these programs, in their position within their community and no longer feel the need to be creative or innovative. Not the Richmond SPCA.

The School for Dogs was launched in the Fall of 2011 to provide an additional dog training option for the Richmond community. The School for Dogs targets busy dog owners who want their pet to receive the very best training and socialization. Skilled and experienced dog trainers meet with each dog’s owner to develop a training plan based on the individual dog’s needs and owner’s goals. The dogs come to the school twice a week for a full day of individualized instruction and owners receive a written report at the end of each day. At the end of the program, owners are provided with a video summary of their dogs’ training sessions to facilitate ongoing training with the owners and their families at home. I attended several sessions at the School for Dogs and their staff put me to work performing “physical examinations” on several of the dogs in order to help the dogs become more comfortable with the kind of handling they would experience at a veterinary appointment.

On March 5, 2012, the Richmond SPCA opened the Clinic for Compassionate Care, which provides full-service veterinary care at low cost. Through a study conducted by Alan Newman Research in 2010, the leadership at Richmond SPCA became aware of the need for low-cost veterinary care within their community and the Clinic for Compassionate Care was created to provide an option to fill that need. This clinic provides full-service veterinary care to low-income families with pets in the Richmond region as well as services for homeless pets in the care of government animal control shelters, pets adopted from the Richmond SPCA, pets referred by other veterinary practices due to their owners’ inability to pay regular prices and pets of Richmond SPCA employees. These services are in addition to those provided through Smoky’s Spay/Neuter Clinic that was opened in 2004.

My visit to the Richmond SPCA was truly one of the highlights of my residency. I left (however reluctantly) with a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration.

My visit to the Richmond SPCA was truly one of the highlights of my residency. I left (however reluctantly) with a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration.  I was pleased that I could be involved and even contribute to these innovative programs. I know this experience will have a lasting effect on me and I will strive to foster the Richmond SPCA spirit of innovation and invention within myself and other organizations I interact with in the future. Being immersed in such a vibrant humane animal care community has inspired me to tap into my creativity to find new solutions to the challenges we face in the sheltering world and I hope, through reading this blog, you have been inspired too.

Dr. Laura

Laura Andersen, DVM

Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Resident, Third-Year

Recent Blog Entries

Innovation = Inspiration

Apr 12th, 2012

Being 120 years old is not a license for laziness! Shelter Medicine Resident Dr. Laura Andersen reflects on the great work one inspirational shelter is doing.

Local canine rescued from fall down 50-foot hole

Mar 20th, 2012

When an afternoon adventure went wrong, the UF VETS team was there to help.

Adventures in Shelter Medicine: Leaving Thailand

Feb 14th, 2012

Shelter Medicine Resident Dr. Katherine Polak's last blog post from Thailand, where she provided assistance to an emergency shelter to help dogs affected by this year's severe flooding.

A simulated hoarding scene was created to provide hands-on experience in crime scene processing.

Whether they waded through piles of newspaper or examined volunteer canines, attendees at our recent conference on Recognizing & Responding to Animal Hoarding got a priceless experience.

More than 150 veterinarians, veterinary students, technicians, and humane investigators descended on the UF CVM on March 24 and 25 for Maddie’s^® Veterinary Forensics Conference. Experts from the ASPCA joined Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program to bring two days of content to Gainesville.

On the first day, presenters lectured on the many facets of animal hoarding for welfare organizations: common medical problems in victims, media relations, planning a response, and even community-based approaches to hoarding problems.

This has been a wonderful conference! The speakers have been dynamic, well-spoken, and have demonstrated expertise while keeping their presentations focused on practical information.

Attendee feedback was extremely positive: "Very interesting. Loved it!" "Great job on all the wet labs." "Amazing amount of work by the organizers - thank you!"

On the second day, attendees got their hands dirty with a series of hands-on workshops including crime scene processing, examining a live victim, and examining a deceased victim for forensic evidence.  With ever-increasing exposure for this phenomenon and public interest in the topic, the Gainesville Sun even stopped by to see the attendees in action.

Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program and the ASPCA planned the conference for months, and the response from attendees has been glowing.

And when asked what key things they learned, one attendee hit the nail on the head:

To look at the big picture, to understand the many levels of the problem and multi-modal approach to therapy, and to document, document, document!!

This conference would not have been possible without the hard work of our speakers, faculty, staff, and trainees.  Special thanks to the ASPCA and Maddie’s Fund^® for supporting this event.

Photo Gallery

To apply for a scholarship, submit:

• A memo of support from your mentor documenting active status as a trainee (not required for students in the UF Shelter Medicine Certificate)
• An essay of up to 150 words describing your commitment to animal welfare, your future career plans, how attending the conference will help you reach your goals, and how dogs and cats would benefit from this scholarship

Use the form below to apply.  The first round of scholarships will be awarded by June 1.

Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program has released our Annual Report for July 2010 through June 2011.  We invite our donors, supporters, students, alumni, and friends to download the report and learn more about our programs and our work for animals.

We have been hard at work over the past year—helping homeless animals and advancing a future where every animal leads a comfortable and enriched life…

View the Annual Report now.

Dr. Clemmons and Joe are lifted from the hole.

How big is a large animal for technical rescue?  Fortunately for Joe the Springer Spaniel – it’s about 50 lbs.

Friday afternoon was a great day for Joe and his owner to play in the park in Jonesville – until he found a hidden hole and fell approximately 50 feet.

When the Alachua County Fire Rescue Service (ACFRS) responded to the emergency call, they requested mutual aid from the UF Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service (UF VETS).  The UF VETS team, led by college director John Haven, specializes in high angle technical rescue and was uniquely equipped to rescue Joe.  While only tipping the scales at 50 pounds Joe is one of the smaller emergency victims assisted through technical rescue, the UF VETS Team did have a sling designed for canines.

On the scene, the UF VETS team rallied together with officers from ACFRS, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Alachua County Animal Control, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation to quickly and safely return Joe to his owner. Dr. Roger Clemmons, who performed the actual rescue of Joe, was lowered down into the hole, where he performed a quick assessment of Joe and then secured him in a rescue harness.

While scared, Joe was a cooperative victim as he was strapped into the special canine rescue harness.

Joe is reunited with his owners after the rescue.

Riding at Dr. Clemmons’ knees, both Dr. Clemmons and Joe were smoothly lifted back up the hole, where Joe was happily reunited with his owner. While he appeared no worse for his adventure, Joe was taken by the owner to UF Small Animal Hospital’s Emergency Service for medical evaluation.

The UF VETS team also recently coordinated the rescue of “Midnight” the horse from a mud flat in Paynes Prairie.  UF VETS is an all-volunteer and donation-supported team. If you would like to make a donation to support their efforts, please contact John Haven at havenj@ufl.edu.

Read more about the rescue in the Gainesville Sun.

Recent Blog Entries

Innovation = Inspiration

Apr 12th, 2012

Being 120 years old is not a license for laziness! Shelter Medicine Resident Dr. Laura Andersen reflects on the great work one inspirational shelter is doing.

Local canine rescued from fall down 50-foot hole

Mar 20th, 2012

When an afternoon adventure went wrong, the UF VETS team was there to help.

Adventures in Shelter Medicine: Leaving Thailand

Feb 14th, 2012

Shelter Medicine Resident Dr. Katherine Polak's last blog post from Thailand, where she provided assistance to an emergency shelter to help dogs affected by this year's severe flooding.

Take our short survey and tell us what YOU think about important new possibilities in Shelter Medicine training.  You could even win a thank-you prize!

We have some exciting new distance learning courses under development here at Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program, and we’re asking for your input.  Would you please spend the next 15 minutes telling us what you think?

Take the survey >>

The survey is designed to help us gauge the interests and priorities for distance learning from veterinary and shelter practitioners.

Your input is important to the success of our efforts here at Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program.  If you’re interested in learning more about Shelter Medicine and Veterinary Forensics, we hope you’ll take a few moments to share your thoughts with us.

Tell us what you think >>

To thank you for your time, we’ll randomly select 10 responders to receive a FREE copy of Maddie’s Infection Control Manual for Animal Shelters.

You are the reason we are here!  You and your work for animals.  Please fill out our survey so we can better meet your needs and interests.  We appreciate your time.

About the thank-you gift: Maddie’s^® Infection Control Manual

Developed for veterinary personnel at animal shelters, this manual covers shelter diseases, infection control, establishing effective cleaning and disinfection procedures, infection control policy guidance, and sample protocols.  Handouts for use in staff and volunteer training are also included, along with a CD-ROM of the documents.  Take the survey for your chance to win!