Animal Welfare Professionals

Template Manual of Standard Operating Procedures; contains basic standard operating procedures (SOPs) for some of the most commonly performed tasks in animal shelters. It is designed for you to edit and expand to reflect your agency’s policies and procedures. All staff and volunteers should be not only familiar with the SOPs, but also trained in the SOPs that apply to their responsibilities and held accountable for performing their jobs in accordance with the SOPs. SOPs are the backbone of how each agency runs. The development and implementation of SOPs not only helps ensure consistent work and care for the animals in your charge but also how the public is treated when interacting with your agency. SOPs provide the foundation for training and evaluation of your staff. Every agency has policies and procedures that are appropriate for their mission, the kinds of animals they care for, their staffing levels, facility, funding, and so on. Many of your agency’s protocols may be similar to those described in this document, while others may be quite different. So, how can this manual help? Our intent is to help you jump-start the important task of creating your agency’s SOPs by providing: • A list of the kinds of policies and procedures that agencies need to document • A model of the level of detail your SOPs should provide • Specific procedures that are examples of current best practices for shelter operations • Content that you can edit, add to, and delete as needed until you have procedures that are appropriate for your agency The SOPs in this document directly relate to open-admission shelters. If your admission philosophy is different, you can edit the information to reflect your policies and procedures.
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