CARE partners with community-based individuals & marginalized community organizations to identify needs & priorities, then develop & implement equitable, accessible, & community-led solutions for people & pets. We’ll discuss research behind this approach & suggestions for integrating community wisdom into evaluating your program. Attendees will understand how shifting community engagement to partnership, not servitude, advances health equity & promotes comprehensiv...

Let’s use real world examples of what it looks like when people can’t or don’t get needed medical care for their pets. We will examine cases and generate creative solutions to common barriers faced, then facilitate creative pathways of alternative approaches through REDI. These opportunities help increase awareness of barriers and motivate proactive steps to encourage inclusion of these communities. This results in increased preventive care, animal and human health, and pets staying home.

Are you guilty of policing poverty within the animal welfare industry? Let’s explore the impact of decisions made by animal control, shelters, and veterinary professionals on families in need of support. Challenge your mindset as we discuss alternatives to removing pets from homes, ticketing families with citations, and reactive practices, emphasizing resource provision over judgment. Attendees will gain insights on distinguishing malice from poverty in their practices, fostering positive tra...

Join the discussion on how being a Disruptor is conducive to creating more inclusive, lifesaving programs. We will examine the positive impact of important Disruptors throughout history and the related social changes that positively influence our lives today. We will apply a Disruptor approach to Animal Welfare by reviewing practical steps for assessing programs and identifying opportunities for programmatic changes to support keeping companion pets with their families and embracing “well-bei...

Wind down from the day and enjoy some tasty snacks and beverages while getting to know fellow attendees and partaking in some or all of the many activities including arts and crafts, various board games, tarot card readings, cornhole, jumbo Jenga, a photo booth and more.

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Workplace culture and environment are critical components to animal lifesaving. It can be the difference between team members who are engaged or burned out, pet owners feeling welcomed or judged, volunteers working with or against us – all of these dynamics either positively or negatively impact animal outcomes. While Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have become the mainstream ap...

This panel includes representatives from the MSPCA, the Animal Rescue League of Boston, and Save the Unicorns. The panelists will describe how their organizations have rebooted their foster programs to engage more foster volunteers by specific foster need, break down barriers to fostering, increase training, and gain support for some animals that have been hard to find foster options for. 

Have you ever been curious about what dogs do in the shelter when we’re not watching? How much are they sleeping, drinking, scratching, or even licking? We were too, so we put activity and health trackers (think Fit Bit for dogs) on thousands of shelter dogs to find out (and collected DNA samples too!). In this session, we’ll provide insights from thousands of data points collected. We’ll share how shelter dog behavior differs from in-...

The national dog crisis is impacting every community in our nation, and although it is overwhelming, a clear solution has emerged to help us combat this crisis - increasing adoptions.  Learn how the MSPCA has pivoted since early 2023 to reimagine adoption programming for dogs to increase adoptions. The solution may surprise you as we have recycled the playbook from 2012 to supercharge adoption programming. 

The merge between MSPCA and NEAS requires a new level of consistency among our four-shelter system to support fluid internal transfer of and communication surrounding our dog population. To meet our unique needs, we developed an evaluation process comprised of objective observations recorded during routine daily care and at natural checkpoints in an animal’s pathway. We aim to equip staff and volunteers with the skills to participate i...

Programs that support pet ownership in the community can reduce surrenders and improve welfare. What programs will help and how can you tell if you are making a difference? Common community outreach programs will be reviewed and compared against a strategic decision-making matrix. Participants will work through real-world case scenarios. Being strategic and adaptive when implementing these programs will increase pet retention, improve ...