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...

Do you struggle with volunteers who interact inappropriately with dogs? Are staff and volunteers often at odds over behavior or training? Is sharing a euthanasia decision with volunteers actively traumatizing them and you? This presentation will talk about how to build a strong dog volunteer program that gets everyone on the same team to help dogs without a toxic culture. Takeaways include concrete steps on recruitment, training, discu...

Caring for shelter animals involves making decisions, often challenging ones, day in and day out.  Whether you're working in shelter administration, operations, medicine, or behavior (or all of the above), you've likely experienced the fatigue that comes with decision-making.  Join us to recognize that we aren't alone and that we can implement strategies including effective communication techniques, collaborative decision-mak...

Caring for shelter animals involves making decisions, often challenging ones, day in and day out.  Whether you're working in shelter administration, operations, medicine, or behavior (or all of the above), you've likely experienced the fatigue that comes with decision-making.  Join us to recognize that we aren't alone and that we can implement strategies including effective communication techniques, collaborative decision-mak...

Could we be causing roadblocks for one another? During this session, attendees will uncover ways to work to improve, repair, and create new meaningful relationships with key partners in the work to better serve their communities and uphold their missions. Attendees will do an in-depth dive into existing relationships with peers and receive practical solutions to ensure we are supporting one another to the fullest to improve the lives o...

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...

To run a successful volunteer program, we need to create an environment where volunteers feel welcome and that they are contributing in a meaningful way. Investment in quality onboarding and training upfront will pay dividends in the end! Having staff buy-in is essential for building and maintaining a strong program with good volunteer retention. In this session, we will explore some strategies and best practices for getting staff inve...