Topics in the Animal Welfare Community

This was my first live call and I thought she was amazing. It was very real and entertaining. Great job! Daniel Kaye, Roxy Therapy Dogs ------------------------------ Daniel Kaye grant writer Roxy See More

We hope to see you on the next Maddie's Community Conversation on Monday, June 22, 2026 at 11am PT / 2pm ET for "How We Did It," a conversation with @Ruby Fooks. Shelter Director for Friends of See More

We feel the pinch in the summer too! We're in a college town, and many of our volunteers are students who head home when school is out. It sounds like you have great communication with your volunteers. See More

We recently had an adopter return a cat because she claimed not to have known that the cat needed daily meds. We are usually good about sharing this information, but recently we have been short staffed See More

Hi @Ellen Pearsall, Thank you. We are fortunate that we have a few that will consistently drive so far to volunteer, but not nearly as many as we need. We have 188 animals amongst 27 different species See More

Happy to help! CAT (Cat Adoption Team) was able to run Fostering 4 Rock Stars as an apprenticeship and later through Maddie's University, all thanks to Maddie's Fund. ❤️The courses are no longer See More

Thank you for these links Karen! Super helpful as we are building our programs. cheers, Rebecca ------------------------------ Rebecca McCathern Founder & Managing Director Helena's Community Cats See More

Michelle, CAT was my shelter! And thank you for bringing up Fostering 4 Rock Stars. That website has much more information about our foster program than my brain does. 😉 Fostering 4 Rock Stars See More

Hi Peter, When I lived in California, the kittens I adopted were 8 weeks and already fixed. I am in Georgia now, and the best I can get is 2.5 lbs which is working out to be 9-10 weeks for the kittens See More

I'm so glad you added that point and the link! At CAT, we had started altering at 6 weeks and a "healthy, robust" 1.5lbs, but there was still reluctance among staff, volunteers, and fosters. Not an overnight See More

The Roanoke Valley SPCA in Virginia is hiring an Animal Admissions & Transfer Coordinator! Come join a great team! This is a full-time role on Monday to Friday from 9:30am-6:00pm. Learn more on our website: See More

Here is our powerpoint from today! ------------------------------ Sara Pizano ------------------------------

Wow! That's so impressive that you have volunteers willing to drive so far to help out! I love that you have the volunteers evaluate you. Is that evaluation done in a meeting or by a formal survey? I'm See More

I love this, Karen! FYI: The UC-Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program recommends "spaying/neutering shelter kittens is as early as 6 weeks old or at a robust weight of 1.5 pounds." Of course, not all veterinarians See More

Hi, Rebecca. The UC-Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program recommends "spaying/neutering shelter kittens is as early as 6 weeks old or at a robust weight of 1.5 pounds." Of course, not all veterinarians See More

Thanks to everyone who joined today's call! The recording is now available to watch on-demand. ------------------------------ Charlotte Otero Community Strategy Manager at Maddie's Fund she/her See More

Just to clarify, for us, pre-adoption meant basically all of the adoption process had been completed except that the kitten was still legally and physically in our possession. Karen ------------------------------ See More

At our rescue, kittens fly off the shelves whether they are 8 weeks or 16 weeks, but we have the option of an onsite location where there is a lot of visibility. We also do pre-adoptions while kittens See More

I'm such a big fan of pre-adoption! My previous shelter pre-adopted out the vast majority of our neonates from foster. We made them available at 6 weeks and scheduled pickup based on their anticipated See More

Thanks to Cinimon for the amazing talk today! If you want to schedule a session with Cinimon (which I highly recommend!), please go to CinimonClark.com and if you put SHELTER in the code, you'll get a See More

Hi guys, I am looking for the BEST pet scales that aren't too expensive to put on our shelter's Amazon wish list. I send them out with each foster kitten/puppy, but the scales we have are so cheaply See More

We are currently raising funds to support a critical renovation project at our rescue. Located in the Arizona desert, we face extreme temperatures that make safe, comfortable shelter an ongoing challenge See More

In honor of Juneteenth, CARE's REDI Bronze for $19 / REDI Copper & VetREDI 19% discount (June 19-July 31, 2026) Register here for REDI Bronze Individual $19 with coupon: JuneteenthREDIBronze26 Register See More

I hope you can join me for an amazing guest, dog behavior trainer and animal intuitive, Cinimon Clark! She will be our guest today at 2pm eastern on Community Conversations (cinimonclark.com). https://forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations See More

Hi Anon - I have been involved in 4 shelter design projects and am doing an expansion now. I would be happy to chat with you and there are some architects that can help you with this type of designhappy See More

Possible shelter/boarding/breeding kennel design is fascinating subject. Each has its own pros and cons designed around climate, material and energy efficiencies, staff hours, optimal staff-animal interactions, See More

Explore resiliency and trauma support in dogs through the lens of the human-animal connection. Learn how experiences shape the nervous system, how the brain can rewire over time, and how to build a more See More

The way we shelter dogs keeps me up at night. It was meant for a dog to spend a week there - and they're spending months, even years, in these kennels. It is, in my estimation, simply inhumane; and we See More

Thank you for your insight from a volunteer perspective. That is very helpful. We are not a dog shelter, we take in farm, exotic and wildlife at our sanctuary, what our volunteers do is a little different. See More

I don't have information on demand, but just wanted to present one other potential factor-- marketing. Years ago, my local shelter had "pit bull rules" that called out the breed as something different See More

Bonnie and Tammy, fair challenge, and I do not want to talk past it. We want the same thing, the dog in a home where it can stay. Nobody wants a bounce-back over a lease nobody checked. Here is the distinction See More

This is the right question, and it does not get asked enough. We designed shelters around cleaning efficiency and warehousing capacity, then acted surprised when the dogs fall apart in them. The dog's See More

I'm putting together the second volume of The Shift to Prevention, a working handbook of prevention programs that any county or organization can pick up and run. The method is combination, not copy. We See More

Audrey, this is one of the sharpest things anyone has put on this thread, and you pulled it together fine. You named the real gap. Spay/neuter is a known message. The "when," and especially "how early," See More

Thank you for this! It's equally important to focus on what we shouldn't do as much as what we should be doing! I agree that "feeling part of something" is an important goal to work on! ------------------------------ See More

Maybe start a Foster to Adopt Program. You still have control of when the kitten gets fixed. I would caution with adopting before spay/neuter. Once adopted, it could be difficult if not impossible to facilitate See More

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous As a volunteer, I can tell what you what keeps me coming back and what stops me from going. When I feel included and part of the team, I See More

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous I'd like to open up a conversation around shelter design. For decades shelters have been designed as rows of kennels but not what is psychologically See More