Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi, 

Our shelter leans towards open adoptions. We check pet policy for homes but are a same day adoption site. A lot of our new team members are struggling with fears around the right adopter and negativity bias, and I am looking for resources to open the discussion with them, specifically videos or podcasts we can all listen to as a team. I think hearing from other professionals versus just our own management encouraging them to have more open minds about "the perfect adopter" would be helpful. I am having trouble finding many resources that are not just articles. If anyone knows of any good webinars/videos/podcasts that could help encourage us to think about our fears versus reality, it would be so helpful. Thank you in advance! 

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
#Conferences,WorkshopsandWebcasts
#Diversity,Equity,InclusionandJustice
#EducationandTraining

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Kimberly Franchino
Bideawee
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Hi, Kimberly,

I think this webinar, which is more of a discussion, is great: https://www.humananimalsupportservices.org/webinars/adoption-requirements-vs-open-adoptions/

One more from Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge: https://university.maddiesfund.org/products/the-power-of-yes-three-things-to-do-today-to-open-the-kennel-doors-and-send-animals-home

CARE also has a few short, impactful videos that come to mind, and you can find all of them here: https://careawo.org/narratives/

Best,

Elise

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Elise Pollard
Koret Shelter Medicine Program
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Hi Kimberly,

It's so great you're working to remove barriers and get the resources your team needs to become more inclusive!

In addition to the great resources Elise shared, you and your team might be interested in Harvard's Project Implicit. They have a variety of online tests you can take to uncover your unconscious/implicit biases. But folks need to be prepared to face these...we all have biases so the purpose is to uncover what they are so we can address them. But of course human nature takes over and the knee-jerk reation of "I'm not [fill in the blank bias]" will happen if people aren't in the right frame of mind to receive this info. 

Best of luck to you and your team!

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Shelly Thompson
Director of Operations
Maddie's Fund
San Francisco CA
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