November 2009

Audience: Executive Leadership, Foster Caregivers, Public, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers, Veterinary Team

On October 23 and 24, 2009, The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine hosted the second annual Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Conference in Gainesville, Florida. The sold-out conference brought more than 200 veterinarians and shelter leaders from 22 states.

The first day featured shelter leaders from some of the nation's most successful lifesaving programs. Their power point presentations are now available for viewing and downloading below.

The second day was led by UF's own team of highly respected shelter medicine veterinarians who provided new information for attending shelter veterinarians and staffs.

Power Point Presentations:
Making the Move to Adoption Guarantee (Starr) Logo for Adobe Acrobat
For a successful transition to adoption guarantee sheltering, start with strategic planning. Lay out a philosophy and be true to it. Incorporate the community and always ignore the naysayers.

Making the Move to Adoption Guarantee (Kogut) Logo for Adobe Acrobat
The path to adoption guarantee is riddled with obstacles. Perhaps none are more difficult your organization's own Board, staff and volunteers.

Taking the Guesswork out of Shelter Pet Evaluations Logo for Adobe Acrobat
Follow the process Dane County, Wisconsin, and Richmond, Virginia used to create and implement a pet evaluation matrix for their community.

How Shelter Medicine is Helping Create a No-kill Nation Logo for Adobe Acrobat
University shelter medicine programs are pioneering ways to keep shelter animals healthy, rehabilitate animals with physical and behavioral diseases, train shelter medicine specialists, and develop new knowledge.

Myth: Lifesaving Strategies Lead to Warehousing Logo for Adobe Acrobat
Well run shelters avoid the pitfalls of warehousing with good management, a priority on health, efficient flow-through and good disease surveillance and monitoring programs.

Increasing Pet Adoptions - Saving Lives Logo for Adobe Acrobat
No organization markets better than the Nevada Humane Society. How? Set goals, celebrate success, make it easy to fall in love, get the word out and the people in. (Don't miss the 32 promotions highlighted in this presentation).

Foster Care Volunteers are Lifesavers Logo for Adobe Acrobat
How do you save lives when your shelter is old, small and antiquated? Ask the community to foster needy dogs and cats and treat your fosters like the lifesavers they are. That strategy enabled The Seattle Humane Society to place 3,000 dogs and cats in foster care in 2008-2009, and achieve a live release rate of nearly 87%.

Foster Care - A Program for Saving Lives Logo for Adobe Acrobat
What are the keys to a good foster care program? Find, organize, support, train, empathize and reward. So says Susanne Kogut, Executive Director of the Charlottesville-Albermarle SPCA who's shelter fostered 2,000 dogs and cats last year.