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

  • A WIN for us in 2025, I would have to say was being a part of the FOSTER 50 and focusing on our foster program. Over the week of Thanksgiving, we decided to have our floors re done. In order to do that, See More

  • Discussion Thread

  • Hi everyone! I wanted to start a conversation about something that often gets overlooked: the lessons animals teach us, who quietly reshape how we work, collaborate, or think about sheltering. Most of See More

  • Library Entry

    #Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment #EducationandTraining

  • Our win this year is reaching and maintaining a 90% or higher live-release rate since this summer. We struggled a lot this summer, with an overwhelming number of dogs and cats coming into the shelter every See More

  • Thank you for the response ------------------------------ April Cannizzaro CEO San Diego Last Chance Ranch CA ------------------------------

  • Such a great question! We've been so busy this year making progress in several areas that I haven't been able to participate with Maddie's as much as I'd like to. I hope to get back to it in 2026! Our See More

  • @Laurel Wilton (She/Her)! Thank you!! I neglected to add the registration link but it's there now :) And yes, you are correct, we post the recordings or at least a link to them a day or so after each See More

  • Hi @Julielani Chang, Oops! I forgot to add the registration link. It is https://maddies.fund/MIwebcastsRegister Thanks for posting! And registering :) ------------------------------ Alison Gibson See More

  • If you click the drop down at the top of the page that says "Events" there should be an option that says "Maddie's Insights Webcasts". There you can find the link to register for these monthly webcasts, See More

  • Thank you Alison for this post. I can't wait to attend. Will there be a registration for this webinar?I love all of the resources that Maddie's are offering. I joined Maddie's conversations on Monday, See More

  • Hello LaTonya, I totally agree and applaud you! Our work builds bridges and makes a major impact! Keep doing what you're doing! ------------------------------ TERRYL Daluz President LOVING See More

  • Hello Mary, That is amazing! This sounds like an outstanding program! I am always interested in finding ways to work with our youth. To be able to combine grooming is a great idea. I will look into it. See More

  • Hi all, I work with a volunteer-based animal rescue in Maryland as a Grant Writer/Content Developer. It's a relatively new rescue (foster-based), which started in February, 2024. We use a communication See More

  • Discussion Thread

  • This year, our work in a small Texas coastal town reminded us that progress happens in time - not all at once. We committed to realistic, meaningful goals, focusing heavily on expanding spay and neuter See More

  • As a groomer and business owner, my impact doesn't just come from picking up my tools, it comes from picking up the pets and people who need someone to care. Grooming, for me, has never been just a service. See More

  • I'm so glad this is being asked - 10 Lives has had a tough year with some really tough and weird medical cases - including 3 (possibly 4) cases of congenital rickets in a litter of kittens and 2! cases See More

  • Library Entry

    Position Summary: Let’s inspire the next generation of animal lovers! We’re welcoming students ages 9-14 years old to Camp Joybound. This weeklong camp at Joybound’s Walnut Creek headquarters See More

  • Check out the Shelter PALS website for the compounding guidelines template and compounding requirements checklist here: https://www.sfspca.org/about/advocacy/#shelter ------------------------------ Jennifer See More

  • Thanks to those who attended and listened to our conversation! We had a few outstanding questions that we promised to get back to and provide resources for from the chat conversation during the live. Posting See More

  • Our foundation opened our emergency grant programs in June of this year and so far we have awarded $3,900 to economically disadvantaged families. We have prevented five cases from economic euthanasia, See More

  • Effective fundraising relies on strategic collaboration, ethical practices, and streamlined operations. Prioritize Collaborative Efforts: Engage in long-term partnerships with other ethical non-profits See More

  • Full Time Veterinarian wanted in Northern New Jersey Liberty Humane Society is hiring veterinary staff for its new Non-Profit Access-To-Care Veterinary Clinic in Lyndhurst, NJ. The Full-Time Veterinarian See More

  • This is such a powerful and timely conversation - thank you for creating space for it. 💛 At Texas Homeward Bound Animal Rescue in Houston, TX, end-of-year fundraising is one of the most critical See More

  • Our rescue did a re-brand this year. We are under a new name, and I am the new Executive Director. I am incredibly proud of the progress we've made in the three short months since our re-brand, but one See More

  • Our kennel attendant took over our Volunteer Program a little under a year ago, and to date has grown our regular volunteer base from about 5 to 30! We have even more volunteers on record, but many come See More

  • Hi fellow animal-lover friends, 2025 was a wild ride for all of us, but our tiny (yet mighty) animal shelter and spay/neuter clinic was able to rise to the occasion in many ways. Despite having See More

  • Maddie's® Insights is our ongoing webcast series with practical tips based on current research to help pets and people. Join us in January as we share insights into how allowing animals to exercise choice, See More

  • Thank you, Daniel! We are glad that you enjoyed the conversation. We love the work that we do! It is not easy, and funding can be limited. You have to do what you can do, with whatever you have. When you See More

  • This question caught my attention, in my State of TN, we have a Program called TN Promise Program. Students, high schoolers & new College kids are required to perform 8 hrs of SERVICE work each month! See More

  • Yesterday's conversation was great. Thank you @TERRYL Daluz and @Andrea Carter for sharing your lived experience and thoughtful approach to supporting people and pets in the community. I think in response See More

  • Thank you so much Sheila and Debra, for your positive energy and for hosting this amazing community conversation. Thank you, Maddie's, for sponsoring these weekly conversations! They are so imperative. See More

  • Hello April, That's amazing! Being able to help these helpless fur babies get a better shot at finding their forever home is important. We do crowdfunding on social media, posting stories about the pets See More

  • It's not just a New Year's resolution; saving time and money is a year-round goal for shelters and rescues. As we head into 2026, let Shelterluv give you a head start! If you sign up by December 31, we See More

  • This year we have been excited to have received the funding to renovate our kennels making them even better then before. We were also able to add a second play yard and improve the previous one. We received See More

  • Discussion

    We used PetPoint for a few years and it did the job, but there were things we liked and things that made us grumble. The biggest positive was having everything in one place. Intake, medical, behavior notes, See More

  • RE: Intake sheets

    Posted by: Daniel Burr, 2 days ago
    Discussion

    We do something similar on our end and it really helps keep things organized. Having both the surrender form and the medical intake in one place makes the handoff smoother and you catch fewer surprises See More

  • Discussion

    I actually went through this myself. The landlord kept mixing up ADA rules with Fair Housing rules and kept rejecting my ESA letter for no real reason. ADA has nothing to do with ESAs, but FHA does and See More

  • RE: Programs to use?

    Posted by: Daniel Burr, 2 days ago
    Discussion

    We've used Fi Nano too and had a pretty similar experience. The lifetime registration alone saved us a ton of stress because we didn't have to chase adopters later to finish the paperwork or pay extra See More

  • 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 See More

  • RE: Owner Surrender Fees?

    Posted by: Daniel Burr, 2 days ago
    Discussion

    I ran into this with a local rescue near me and the breakdown was almost the same. People kept asking why the surrender fee was "so high" until the shelter showed what actually goes into getting an animal See More

  • Our Home for the Holidays campaign is in full swing. Our big win this year: First time since we started 6 years ago, a ferret was the first pet adopted! Our campaign is for Colorado homeless pets 3 years See More

  • Discussion

    Hello! We are a small shelter with no municipality contracts. Yes, we charge rehoming fees. We are foster based as well, but have a facility for meet and greets, clinics, and in the future surgeries. See More

  • Sarah, wow, what is your secret? that is amazing! We are starting our third year. We support 4 no kill shelters and the county shelter. First year we were able to give away $11,500 and this past Oct we See More

  • 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 See More