Thank you for sharing, Laurel! I actually thought of a channel on YouTube who works in the same vein as those creators. The name is Midwest Magic Cleaning!
Original Message:
Sent: 05-04-2025 08:04 AM
From: Laurel Nelson
Subject: Veterinary Social Work: Ask a Social Worker!
I definitely meant to reply to this way sooner! Creators like @cleanwithbeax or @nottheworstcleaner_ both on instagram and I'm sure on tiktok do free cleanings and often talk about the mental health or societal pressures that are often associated with these types of situations.
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Laurel Nelson
Cat Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society
NE
Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2025 12:14 PM
From: Kayla Anderson
Subject: Veterinary Social Work: Ask a Social Worker!
Laurel, thank you for providing me with this to take into consideration! No, I have not done any work with cleaning services but can definitely see the need for that in such a situation. It is good to hear how you have discovered some mutual aid groups around affordable cleanup. Could you share more about the cleaning services you have been seeing?
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Kayla Anderson
Veterinary Social Worker
Program for Pet Health Equity
Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2025 10:31 AM
From: Laurel Nelson
Subject: Veterinary Social Work: Ask a Social Worker!
Something I have been thinking about recently is people who's animals get confiscated due to unsafe living conditions, and if it's unsafe for the animal it's unsafe for the human living there as well. Do you do any work or partnership with cleaning services, probably involving biohazard clean up, to offer support for people to get their homes to a habitable condition, possibly allowing them to even get their animals back? I know those services can get expensive but I've seen on social media some will occasionally do a free or reduced cleaning for people in situations like this, where their mental or physical health has led to unsafe conditions.
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Laurel Nelson
Cat Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society
NE
Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 07:47 AM
From: Kayla Anderson
Subject: Veterinary Social Work: Ask a Social Worker!
Veterinary Social Work marriages the disciplines of social work and veterinary care through four core tenants:
- Animal Assisted Interventions: Conducting therapeutic work with the assistance of animals, facilitating animal-assisted education and research opportunities.
- Grief and Bereavement: Aiding families in assessing their pet's quality of life and collaborating on the best course of action, facilitating pet loss support groups.
- Intentional Well-being: Promoting the mental health of animal welfare professionals, making efforts in building healthy individuals and systems.
- The Link Between Human and Animal Violence: Study the connection between animal abuse and interpersonal violence, identifying policies that could prevent animal abuse in the home.
As the veterinary social worker for the Program for Pet Health Equity and AlignCare, my role is to support pet families, their veterinary service providers, and serving as a mediator between the two parties. For pet families, I provide grief and loss support for in anticipation of and after the death of a pet in addition to coordinating referrals for local social services and pet resources for human and non-human family members respectively. For animal welfare professionals, I host trainings on topics like conflict management, compassion fatigue, emotional regulation, and boundary setting along with assisting individual animal welfare professionals in need of mental health support. On the research side, I assist in studies on the link between access to veterinary care and human well-being in the form of individual client interviews and focus groups.
What are some thoughts that come up for you about the field of veterinary social work? What questions do you have about the discipline?
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Kayla Anderson
Veterinary Social Worker
Program for Pet Health Equity
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