March 2026 Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection
Beyond our Safety Net: Navigating Returns, Risk and Humane Outcomes in Dog
Adoptions
This session will explore the complex realities of accepting adoption returns for dogs exhibiting challenging or dangerous behavior. While our goal is always to keep adopted animals in homes, there are times when a return is requested and the shelter environment may not be in the dog’s best interest—or safe for staff and volunteers. We’ll walk through how to guide adopters through private rehoming when appropriate, the questions we ask before accepting a behaviorally complex return, and how we incorporate professional assessments into our decision-making.
The session will also cover how we provide compassionate support and clear guidance when behavioral euthanasia is the most humane option. Finally, we’ll examine how to communicate transparently with staff, fosters, and volunteers while centering safety, quality of life, and organizational sustainability.
Key Takeaways:
- Learn how to assess behavioral risk while balancing animal welfare, public safety, and
staff/volunteer well-being.
- Understand how to navigate difficult conversations about return, risk, and humane
euthanasia with clarity and empathy.
- Gain tools for fostering internal alignment and supporting emotionally invested team
members through hard decisions.
Guest Speaker: Stacy Price, COO at One Tail at a Time
Stacy Price comes to One Tail at a Time with over 15 years of animal welfare experience, starting her career studying techniques to prevent stress behaviors in zoo animals. Her focus was forever changed in 2009 when she adopted an overlooked senior white shepherd from a county shelter. With Vlad as her inspiration, Stacy has spent the last 10+ years in leadership positions at various open intake and managed admission facilities before landing the job as One Tail’s Operations Director. When she’s not working, you can likely find Stacy at home with her four cats, three dogs, rescue horse and incredibly tolerant husband.
Register here: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration
About Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection:
Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior - supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats. Webcasts hosted by Board-Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, Dr. Sheila Segurson
All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available on the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection page in Maddie's Pet Forum - https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF
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