Shelter Medicine Conference

Welcome

The registration for this course is full. If you would like to be put on the waiting list please contact Tamara Johson at tjohnson@dce.ufl.edu and she will add you to the list. You will be contacted in the order that we receive the requests.

Dear Colleagues:

The College of Veterinary Medicine is committed to enhancement of animal health and welfare. The mission of our new Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program is to enhance the health and welfare of homeless animals through education, innovation, and advancement of the life-saving goals of sheltering programs.

We are pleased to invite veterinarians, technicians, and program managers to two full days of continuing education covering very important challenges in shelters today: strategies for ending the use of euthanasia for population control while transitioning to an “adoption guarantee” management model, using the science of veterinary forensics to fight cruelty, and improving outcomes of impounded animals by controlling infectious diseases in the shelter. 

On the first day we’ll learn how the country’s most innovative and progressive leaders used novel tactics to achieve astounding save rates in their shelters. Controversial topics such as embracing a No-Kill philosophy, creating categories to define healthy, treatable, and unhealthy animals, and leveraging foster homes will be discussed by the shelter directors and veterinarians at the forefront of the adoption guarantee movement.

On the second day, we’ll address the use of forensics in the investigation of animal abuse, including crime scene and animal examination, forensic testing, and case presentation. Veterinary infectious disease specialists will discuss how the mergence of new infectious diseases and reemergence of well-known diseases pose continual problems for the shelter environment as well as for veterinary practices, boarding kennels, and other facilities where dogs and cats are housed in close proximity. These experts will provide strategies for optimizing use of vaccines, disinfectants, animal movement, disease surveillance, and stress reduction can shift a shelter from a high-risk environment to a safe haven for homeless pets.

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