Topics



 


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

  • An unaswered question from the webcast has been answered by Dr. Vernick: So youre saying feral moms with babies, it's more beneficial to separate so mom doesnt teach bad habits? Thanks for seeking See More

  • Hi @Bryan Langlois! Dr. Vernick responds below: Excellent questions. To date, there are no studies on whether Zylkene or Feliway would be helpful in those situations, particularly early in life. These See More

  • RE: Connected Pets

    Discussion

    Hi Sarah, that actually sounds like a really interesting idea. Anything that helps improve safety and comfort for our pets is always worth exploring. Technology that connects owners with their animals See More

  • RE: Dog Testing

    Discussion

    I volunteer for our county shelter and they also do dog friendliness. As they take the dogs out for a break, they will have two of the walkers start apart and see how the dogs react. Then they will get See More

  • My concern with them being in heat when they're spayed is that males will still sense their pheromones and harass them after their surgery, since the pheromones take several days to disapate. I hate to See More

  • Thank you so much for the reply. Does a mid-late term spay/abort qualify as extenuating circumstances for a longer hold in your policy? If so, do you hold those for 48 hours? ------------------------------ See More

  • Our vets at the very start were pretty new to TNR so of the first few, we had 2 or 3 on longer holds as they thought best - then I did see the shutdowns happen, especially post 4 days. If they are not See More

  • We have been doing TNVR only for over 13 years. We do approximately 200 cats per month with an all-volunteer team. Our protocol is to return the morning after surgery unless there was an extenuating See More

  • Our TNR cats get returned the morning after they had surgery so close to or slightly less than 24 hours. We have them recover from sedation inside their traps so you don't have to stress any of them out See More

  • Thanks to Maddie- We have a few scholarships left from our February TNR Certification event that are available. This is an "on demand" version of the video and it gets your registered in our online university. See More

  • Hi Jennifer This is what my vets and I have developed through testing since I started the TNR programme 5 years ago. Generally it is a same day evening return, or next morning. The surgery team has See More

  • It was a very informative talk with a lot of interesting data and findings. I did have a follow up question on things. Since the data showed kittens that had more time with mom appeared to suffer less See More

  • Hi all! Faunalytics recently published 'Tactics in Practice: The Data Behind Humane Education,' which invites us to reflect on the goals of humane education and what's working. Join us on 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 See More

  • Discussion Thread

  • Hello everyone, We are developing Standard Operating Procedures for a collaboration of various volunteers and groups to work together on a TNR program doing mass-trapping projects. One of our most argued See More

  • I highly recommend checking out Malena's book: https://a.co/d/0gg0y7sm She's an expert in working dogs through true separation anxiety, and now teaches a course to certify dog trainers in doing the See More

  • My old rescue took in a high volume of medically and behaviorally challenging animals. We partnered with Joy Organics, for high quality CBD, and had generally good/notable results - obviously all pups See More

  • Well done Miranda, how exciting! Your organization is incredible, and benefited our pups from Austin Pets Alive so much. I'll always remember taking Eel, a very reactive and highly defensive to See More

  • Discussion

    I've used a variety of techniques, helping with vaccines. Sometimes a simple frisbee covered in peanut butter, hanging on something is enough of a motivator to distract food motivated dogs. Sometimes holding See More

  • Discussion

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/98-conferences-animal-welfare-veterinary-social-work-savannah-xraec?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via ------------------------------ TyAnn Sumpter 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 April for a program that looks at common health and behavior concerns See More

  • Discussion

    For our staff, we offer 50% off spays/neuters and any preventive medication they can buy at cost. If they need other medications and we have them in stock, they can also buy them at cost. We have teamed See More

  • We have iMarc, but ours broke almost right away. You get free repairs in the first year, I think it was, but you have to pay for shipping and the machine is a beast. They will try to talk you through repairs See More

  • RE: Dog Testing

    Discussion

    https://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-shelter-dog-behavior-assessments#:~:text=A%20mathematical%20analysis%20by%20Patronek,to%20strangers%20and%20heavy%20traffic. See More

  • RE: Dog Testing

    Discussion

    We take the barriers away and use the Dogs Playing for Life model to assist us with assessing. If a dog does not handle that well, we also will use leashed tests but find they are not as accurate. ------------------------------ See More

  • RE: Dog Testing

    Discussion

    Hello, I work for a non-profit that travels to shelters/rescues/sanctuaries to teach them how to perform assessments off leash, to gain a true read on the dog's behavior - as assessments on leash or See More

  • Thanks to the 200+ folks who joined us today! If you missed the webcast, you can view the recording below. NOTE that to earn a certificate of attendance for continuing education, you must watch the recording See More

  • Job Opportunity

    Discussion

    Hi All, We're partnering with an animal welfare organization located in Salisbury, MA. They are looking for an Executive Director to lead the organization. It's a small, growing and passionate group See More

  • Job Opportunity

    Discussion Thread

  • Aloha Melissa! Totally agree with you, we often find some great foster mom & dads for our sweet kitties on Social Media! I love what you are doing! Thank you for sharing 🌺 Mahalo, Kristine Volcano See More

  • On Thursday, April 2, 2026, join Maddie's® Monthly Foster Connection at 12pm PT/3pm ET. Jordana Moerbe, Director of Lifesaving Partnerships and Medical Care at Austin Pets Alive!, will be discussing how See More

  • Attached are a copy of Dr. Vernick's impressive slides and her list of references for her study. Here's a link to her published research study: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/3/446 ------------------------------ See More

  • We purchased ours through https://www.visionengravers.com/ and they will engrave the logo for you. I opted to have them load the software on my machine so I can engrave logos myself. The iMarc machine See More

  • Discussion

    Hello all, I am inquiring about employee discount programs that you may be privy to or offer your shelter staff. This would include partnerships with prescription companies or food manufacturers. See More

  • Discussion Thread

  • Discussion

    Hi, I manage the foster program at Denver Animal Shelter. We have 10K animals annually but I think our guidelines would still apply. This is the acknowledgement and release form we have all foster volunteers See More

  • We are also very a very small foster based rescue. We intake kittens at the neonate stage so most of the time we just start posting pics on social media instantly. Our followers like seeing the babies See More

  • Dog Testing

    Discussion Thread

  • Dog Testing

    Discussion

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous Hello! I am a volunteer at both a local city shelter and a foster based rescue and have some questions about how people dog test for dog See More

  • Our organization purchased a GoScribe engraver 3 years ago and it has been a great little machine! It's small and easily portable and takes less than a minute to engrave. I would agree with the other poster See More

  • After letting go of my 15 year old girl in July 2025, I started doing short term fostering, or as I like to call it, doggy sleepovers, for my local shelter. I pick up a dog in the afternoon, keep if for See More

  • Hi, Sallie: Yes, we have the presentation now. It carries RACE CE as well: Identifying and Understanding Animal Cruelty and Neglect. It is also included in the sample portal for NY State standards that See More

  • RE: FeLv adoptions

    Discussion

    Hey Amanda! So we're a municipal shelter here in Texas. We have condos in our lobby we have dedicated to FIV or FeLV positive feline friends. We had a generous benefactor in our community who LOVES See More

  • Discussion

    Wow. That is hard to believe. They are ok with Fostering? ------------------------------ Melissa Hunter Director of Development Middleburg Humane Foundation ------------------------------