Animal Welfare Professionals

We hope to see you on the next Maddie's Community Conversation on Monday, December 8, 2025 at 11am PT / 2pm ET  for "Evolving in Shelter Work: From Shelter Medicine to Shelter Outreach" a conversation with @Ehani Hunter, Shelter Outreach Veterinary Assistant for San Diego Humane Society.  

This session shares the perspective of a Veterinary Assistant transitioning from shelter medicine to shelter outreach and explores how both roles work together to strengthen animal welfare. Drawing from hands-on experience in a high-volume shelter environment, the presentation highlights the medical skills, adaptability, and teamwork developed in daily practice and how these translate into effective, community-centered outreach. Attendees will gain insight into resource limitations, collaborative problem-solving, and the importance of supporting shelters through shared knowledge and partnership. This session aims to inspire and inform by showing how integrated approaches create more sustainable, compassionate outcomes for animals and people.

This session is especially relevant for adoptions and foster staff and volunteers, return to home and intake prevention staff, veterinary professionals (vets, techs, support staff), behavior staff and volunteers, field services/animal control officers, marketing and communications staff, and grant writers/fundraisers  - but all are welcome! 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Collaboration matters. Working together helps find solutions.
• Share experiences to highlight the realities of shelter work and promote positive perceptions of shelters.
• Everyone can make a difference. Start somewhere and find your role.

Don't forget! $10,000 in grants each month! Maddie's Fund will be giving away up to $10,000 in grants each month! You can enter for a chance to win each time you attend a call or watch it on demand during the month by completing the monthly giveaway drawing entry form. 

Register for Community Conversations hosted via Zoom. If you have not re-registered for the new season, please do so today. 

🧠 Got Topic or Speaker Suggestions?
We want to hear your ideas! If there's a topic you're curious about or a speaker you'd love to hear from, please share your suggestions with us on our Community Conversations Suggestions thread. 

Looking forward to being in community with you! 

#AccesstoCare
#Diversity,Equity,InclusionandJustice
#EducationandTraining
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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Sheila Kouhkan
Senior Education Specialist
Maddie's Fund
CA
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This looks like a solid session, especially for anyone who has bounced between medical work and outreach. I've seen how different the day to day feels in each area and how much smoother things run when both sides actually talk to each other. You get fewer misunderstandings about capacity, better decisions about which animals need priority, and more realistic expectations for what outreach can handle in the field.

The focus on collaboration hits home because most of the headaches I've watched in shelters came from teams working in their own corners. When people share what's happening on the ground, everything from intake prevention to follow up care gets a little easier.