Topics in the Animal Welfare Community



 


About Topics:

Topics are used on Maddie's Pet Forum to help categorize discussions and resources which makes all content easily searchable. Members of the Animal Welfare Professionals community must select at least one topic when creating posts or when adding files to the Resource Center. Members are also encouraged to follow topics of interest to curate the notifications you receive in your Personalized Digest emails.

On your profile, there are two areas related to topics: "Topics I Follow" and "Observed Topics".
To follow topics of interest, click on the "+ Add a Topic" button to reveal the list of 25 Animal Welfare topics. This is the most direct way to ensure you receive the content you're most interested in.
Reveals list of animal welfare topics to follow
Topics that have an asterisk * next to them mean that they are a specific Human Animal Support Services (HASS) Element. These have recently been added to better support the members of the HASS Learning Community and you do not need to be a HASS project participant in order to post to these topics.

As you interact with discussions and resources in the Animal Welfare Professionals Community, the system performs calculations based on your actions (such as reading, favoriting, liking and commenting on content) to automatically promote content you're interested in in your Personalized Digest email. These are shown on your profile as your Observed Interests. You can easily remove any of these interests by clicking on the gray x next to the topic name. 

All Animal Welfare Topic Discussions

  • On May 13 at 2pm Eastern Time Community Cats Central and Corinne Bourgoin from the Massachusetts Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(MSPCA) is going to show us how to best the dead microchip See More

  • @Samantha Maurice Yea, it can be difficult if they won't go in on their own, but I have a few methods assuming he's already in a kennel/shoreline and you've already tried putting a box in to see if he'll See More

  • It's great that you adopted her ❤️ but what you're describing is definitely something to watch closely. Since she was just spayed today, sleeping a lot right now is normal-the anesthesia can make See More

  • Thank you for this! We've got a very stressed and aggressive boy who just came in as a surrender due to urinating outside the box. Could you tell me how you got the cats like him, who are not inclined See More

  • Thank you from the cats at Special Little Whiskers Sanctuary. There's quite a few of us spicy cats here. ------------------------------ Bre Hoffman Administrative Director Special Little Whiskers Kitten See More

  • We take adopted animals back, sometimes life happens and there is no choice. If we are over capacity we will reach out to our volunteers to see if anyone can foster, but we never turn them away. We also See More

  • Thank you Berlin. You are going to be such a fantastic vet! ------------------------------ Jody Beskin (i) President/Founder Dove Road Sanctuary & Safe Haven Rockvale, TN --------------------------- See More

  • I've recently recorded a webinar on recognizing and understanding feline stress behaviors as well as how to manage cats of all temperaments. Feel free to watch it here or on my website at TheSpicyCatProject.com See More

  • Hi! Thanks to all who helped put on this webinar yesterday, it was very insightful and contained a lot of good information about navigating a course with reactive dogs in a shelter environment. I See More

  • Discussion

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous Thanks for your answer. It helps to know it's not just us. -------------------------------------------

  • In The Cypress Protocol: A Comprehensive Take on Reactivity webcast on Thurs Arpil 23, Lindsay Echito and Marie Lombardo shared with us the work they do with managment and behavior modification for reactive See More

  • Discussion Thread

  • I am a volunteer for a local spay/nueter voucher nonprofit that also does several other "friend of the shelter" type projects ranging from supplying pet supplies to industrial washers and dryers. They See More

  • On Wednesday, April 29 at 12pmPT, join us for a dynamic look at some of the winning strategies from the 2025 Foster 50 Challenge. Through a series of lightning-fast talks, you'll learn how grant funding See More

  • Hi Wendy, thanks for sharing what the Humane Society of Central Oregon does when it comes to owner surrenders. We too have had to delay the return from time to time, but we've never had a big challenge See More

  • RE: adoption hours

    Posted by: Sandi Mercado, 2 days ago
    Discussion

    We are open for adoptions from 1-5 Mon-Wed, and from 11-5 Thur-Sun. Intake is open 7 days a week from 10-2. ------------------------------ Sandi Mercado Shelter or rescue director Citizens for Animal See More

  • Hi Diane, thanks for sharing that information about your insurance carrier. I've been in Rescue for 16+ years and we have always, since day one, been insured. Fast forward from 2010 to 2026 what I'm seeing See More

  • Hi Maria, thank you for responding and sharing how Forest Felines (love that name) takes care of your cats for a life time, especially for working cats! Yes, it can be done for them as well. And big shout See More

  • Hi Debi, thanks for sharing how all of you at Elle's House manage your returned adoptions. Having a Pet Care Provision in place is really good plan. Elle's House is like Fearless Kitty Rescue, even if See More

  • We are a brick and mortar shelter and we always take our animals back, regardless of how long ago they were adopted. We do ask people to schedule appointments for bringing them back so we can ensure we See More

  • Hello. It was part of the adoption contract of the organization I volunteer with to take every cat back any time for years. Unfortunately, our current insurance carrier feels that this makes actual ownership See More

  • Hi Robin, thanks for sharing how your organization needs to handle this. It sounds like everyone wants to be in a position to take an adopted animal back, but when someone is full, that's the challenge. See More

  • Hello, I'm the Fundraising director for a cat rescue. I'm sorry you aren't getting responses. We do our best to respond to all our messages. We are all volunteers with fulltime jobs and sometimes it See More

  • adoption hours

    Posted by: , 2 days ago
    Discussion

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous Hello Fellow Professionals/Animal Lovers, Just a quick questionWhat do you find are the best hours and days for adoptions? We are See More

  • adoption hours

    Posted by: , 2 days ago
    Discussion Thread

  • Introducing Open Door Veterinary Collective's series of innovative programs focused on increasing access to veterinary care. Learn about low cost heartworm treatments, setting up and raising funds for See More

  • Hi, We're looking forward to the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection presentation at noon PT/3 pm ET today about The Cypress Protcol: A Comprehensive Take on Reactivity in Dogs. Here's the presentation See More

  • I've used programs like Better Impact, but it's costly and honestly, a high learning curve. If I were you, I'd utilize the mailing list, but upon onboarding (or those coming in for shifts) have them opt See More

  • We will always take an animal back that we chose to place into the community no matter the reason. Whether or not we take it in as an immediate concern depends on the situation, but we will always schedule See More

  • May 2026 Maddie's Monthly Foster Connection Supporting Fearful Foster Cats: Practical Strategies Shelters can be overwhelming places, impacting cats' well-being and adoptability. In this See More

     05-07-2026  |  12:00 PM - 01:00 PM PT

  • Discussion

    Glad you are also asking about this, because I was sent many emails by Get Buddy trying to get my rescue to participate so I finally did the initial sign up and then they never got back to me. This I thought See More

  • Discussion

    I really appreciate Deborah's perspective and agree that it's not about "half-doing it," but about being honest and responsible with the resources available. I adopted a dog with severe skin allergies, See More

  • We do take pets back, unfortunately with the amount of pets being abandoned, dropped off in back county roads, we occasionally have to tell the returns/surrenders we are full. We have taken a poll in the See More

  • One specific way we could shift our shelter's medical decision-making toward a more intentional spectrum of care is by developing a clear, tiered care protocol that guides when animals need immediate veterinary See More

  • Discussion

    This thread is nine years old and the same problem keeps coming back, which tells you it's a systems issue, not a channel issue. The real pattern here is that most volunteer programs treat communication See More

  • Discussion

    This is one of those situations where the gap between shelter capacity and what the animal needs creates a lose-lose. The shelter can't afford the full workup. The adopter inherits a mystery condition See More

  • Maddie inspired a whole generation of people to stop accepting "that's just how it is" and start asking "what if we did this differently?" That question is what led me to build the Animal Welfare Resource See More

  • Get Buddy Adoption Site?

    Posted by: Farrah Goff, 3 days ago
    Discussion

    Has anyone used the site Get Buddy to help with adoptions? We are getting a lot of emails from them and not sure if anyone has any experience with this! Would love to be advertising our adoptable cats See More

  • Get Buddy Adoption Site?

    Posted by: Farrah Goff, 3 days ago
    Discussion Thread

  • Today, we're celebrating a very special birthday – Maddie, the little dog who sparked a big revolution! (Her actual birthday is April 26). She was spunky, full of heart and the inspiration behind everything See More

  • Hi Kim, We adopt out working cats and we have a life-time return option. Our contract also states that if the adopter is able to re-home their working cat: the new adopter follows our policy on acclimating See More

  • Library Entry

    Position Summary: The Animal Care & Adoption Specialist supports Joybound’s mission by ensuring the humane care of animals while providing exceptional service to the public throughout the adoption See More

  • On Thursday, May 7, 2026, join Maddie's® Monthly Foster Connection at 12pm PT/3pm ET. Board Certified Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior Tabitha Kucera, CCBC, RVT, KPA-CTP, VTS, of Chirrups and See More