Shelter Management Articles 

Shelter Veterinarian Takes on Challenge at Beleaguered Texas Animal Control Agency

May 2013
Former shelter medicine resident Dr. Cate McManus is using her expertise to help change the management practices at a municipal animal control facility and double the shelter’s live release rate.  Read More

Free to Roam: A Small City Pulls the Shelter’s Welcome Mat in Favor of Policies that Save Feline Lives and Tax Payer Money

May 2013
Healthy community cats are no longer accepted at the municipal animal shelter in Chico, California, and the change has led to more lives – and dollars – saved.  Read More

Shelters Embrace New Model for Saving Orphaned Kittens

April 2013
The Jacksonville Humane Society in Jacksonville, FL, and California's San Diego Humane Society and SPCA talk about the emerging model of operating kitten nurseries to provide round-the-clock care for kittens in a shelter environment.  Read More

Cats by Appointment Only

March 2013
The SPCA Serving Erie County has dramatically reduced cat admissions and eliminated overcrowding and severe disease outbreaks with its cats by appointment policy – worries about an angry public, bad press and an increase in cat abandonment haven’t materialized.  Read More

A Protocoled Response to Dog and Cat Diarrhea in a Shelter Setting

January 2013
Every life is precious, but that doesn't mean the concept of "herd health" shouldn't be a guiding principle of the shelter veterinarian. Dr. Ellen Jefferson, whose data-driven approach has helped make Austin, TX, the largest no-kill community in the nation, shows how blanket protocols and procedures give most shelter dogs and cats the best chance to avoid, or recover quickly from diarrhea.  Read More

Don't Run from Diarrhea: Easy Steps for the Prevention and Management of Diarrhea in Shelter Dogs and Cats

January 2013
Does the sight of a brown puddle in a kennel run or cage strike dread in the hearts of your kennel staff? It shouldn't. Diarrhea is common in shelter cats and dogs, whether caused by stress, diet change, parasites or pathogens. While there are serious illnesses associated with diarrhea, in most cases, it's easily treatable and often at a very small cost. Two in-the-trenches shelter veterinarians, Dr. Barbara Hanek of PAWS Chicago and Dr. Heather Budgin of Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation, as well as Dr. Elizabeth Berliner, Director of Clinical Programs for Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University, share their experience with beating the "brown scourge," and their tips on how your organization can do the same.  Read More

The Role of Nutrition and Diet in Shelter Dog and Cat Diarrhea

January 2013
The prevalence of nutritional-caused diarrhea in shelter dogs and cats.  Read More

Common Ground: Shared Goals, Respect for Differences Boost Lifesaving for Portland Area Pets

January 2013
The ten-member Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland (ASAP) has been able to reduce euthanasia by 65% in 2006 and save every healthy shelter dog and cat in the Portland metro area, thanks to a shared commitment, trust, and lifesaving objective.  Read More

Using Data to Make Austin a No-Kill City

March 2012
Today, Austin has a save rate of 91%. That wasn’t the case just four years ago when 44% of the animals coming into the Austin Animal Center were losing their lives. Dr. Ellen Jefferson recounts how she used the shelter’s data to figure out bottlenecks in the system and develop and fine-tune programs to fill in the gaps.  Read More

Common Elements of No-Kill Success

November 2012
Maddie’s Fund asked seventeen no-kill community leaders what they considered to be the key elements of their success. Marketing/PR and Adoption Specials topped the list.  Read More

Free Pet Adoptions: Study Results

November 2012
The University of Florida surveyed 1,928 adopters from a fee-waived adoption event and concluded that successful adoptions do not require a fee; free adoption promotions can increase adoptions without compromising the quality of a pet’s life.  Read More

Expanding Lifesaving Despite Slashed Budgets Editorial

March 2012
Maddie's Fund President Rich Avanzino has some unexpected ideas on how to forge ahead with lifesaving progress when animal control budgets are cut.  Read More

Data-Smata, Who Cares About Data?

February 2012
Are you on the fence about the importance of publishing shelter data? Barbara Carr of the SPCA Serving Erie County in Buffalo, NY explains why she became a firm believer in revealing the good, bad and the ugly, and describes how transparency has helped her organization save more lives.  Read More

A Model Pet Evaluation Matrix

April 2011
Use the Pet Evaluation Matrix provided here for your organization or community.  Read More

Humane Society Silicon Valley: Going the Extra Mile for Animals in Need

January 2011
Saving animals with treatable health and behavior conditions is the focus of this Northern California animal shelter.  Read More

Working the System

January 2010
Moving pets quickly from municipal shelters to adoption partners and intonew homes has helped increase lifesaving in New York City from 37% in 2003to 74% in 2009.  Read More

Nonprofit Management Series

2007
Management Consultant Jeannette Peters has put together an eight-part primer on running your non-profit organization like a business.  Read More

Spring Cleaning for Your Organization

2007
Jeanette suggests that Spring is an excellent time to do an assessment of the administrative details of your nonprofit organization and clean up any loose ends that may have escaped attention.  Read More