Conference 2013 Workshop Descriptions

2013 Annual Welfare and Care Conference at the Ocean Place Resort & Spa, Long Branch, NJ

Workshops are listed in alphabetical order

TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE CLICK HERE!

Building (and Growing) Your Foster House - A well-run foster program can increase the number and improve the quality of life of animals you save. It allows you to devote attention to animals that would be difficult to care for in a shelter environment – for example, medically or behaviorally complex animals. Learn the keys to building a successful foster program for both shelters and rescues that can have a lasting positive effect.

Cat Behavior Modification for Shelters and Rescues, Kerrie McKeon, The Cat Sleuth - Cats in a shelter or foster environment face unique environmental and behavioral challenges. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, these cats develop behavior problems that limit their adoptablity. Others come to us with pre-existing handling or sociability issues that present their own unique challenges. This workshop will offer simple and effective behavior modification plans for the most common of these problems.  Each protocol is designed to be user friendly with the needs of the future adopter in mind!

Disaster Preparedness: Business Continuity After the Storm, Kate Pullen, ASPCA - After a disaster how to you work towards getting back to your normal operations and deal with the realities of the impact of the disaster?  We will discuss how the Louisiana SPCA did just this after Katrina, how to prepare for a disaster to minimize negative results after the disaster has passed, how to take advantage of the opportunities after a disaster and not shy away from them, and how to reclaim your program and operations.  There will be ample time at the end of this presentation for questions and answers from the audience.

Disaster Preparedness: CART /State Presentation, Dr. Shari Silverman, NJ Dept. of Agriculture, Dr. Karen Dashfield, Antler Ridge Wildlife Refuge - The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA), Division of Animal Health (DAH), is the regulatory agency whose mission is to protect livestock, equine, and poultry industries within the state from infectious diseases resulting from natural or man-made consequences. It consists of a diagnostic laboratory that can conduct various disease tests and a field unit consisting of veterinarians and technicians who implement state disease regulations, testing programs, animal welfare investigations, and conduct disease epidemiologic investigations.

In addition, to other responsibilities during disasters, NJDA is present at the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). Specifically, the NJDA responsibilities during disasters are outlined in the State Emergency Support Function (ESF) #11 “Agriculture Annex” as the primary agency responsible and through ESF #6 “Mass Care Annex” as a support agency. Under these two ESF annexes, the NJDA DAH assumes the role of the lead agency addressing animal needs for sheltering and evacuation during any type of disaster concerning any species of domesticated animal.

In December of 2002, the NJDA-DAH and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) established the Animal Emergency Working Group (AEWG), which was subsequently endorsed by the New Jersey Domestic Security Task Force.  AEWG is a cooperative interagency committee of governmental agencies, animal owners, livestock enterprises, veterinarians, non-profit animal groups, and the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association, and other animal organizations, collaborating to develop and implement a coordinated animal emergency response. The AEWG mission is to support the CARTs (County Animal Response Teams).

Together, these associations work to develop and implement safe, effective, and efficient responses to animal emergencies at the local, county, state, and federal level. Their goals are to prevent and mitigate from further harm the effects of any disaster affecting or impacting animals.

The lead agency for AEWG is the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health (DAH), with Dr. Manoel Tamassia, Director, State Veterinarian giving oversight as the AEWG Director and with the NJDA’s Emergency Management Coordinator, a DAH Senior Veterinarian, Dr Shari Silverman giving daily guidance, reviewing and working with the CARTs. The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) is an integral part of AEWG and is very involved with the planning and growth of the CARTs.  It is the NJOEM that activates the NJDA during an emergency and is responsible for promoting the inception of CARTs at the County level with the County OEMs.   County OEM officials are an integral part of the CART since they are the way the CART is activated to respond to an event. They attend their county’s CART organizational and planning meetings.  While some counties are further along than others, it is hoped that all counties will soon be up to speed in the development of their CART plans and response.

Representatives from numerous agencies throughout the state of New Jersey make up the AEWG.

Disaster Preparedness: Prep Your Rescue, Dr. Karen Dashfield, Antler Ridge Wildlife Sanctuary - Hurricane Floyd, Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy….. floods, hazmat incidents, power outages, and disease outbreaks….. by know we should be aware that we need to be prepared for disasters in New Jersey.  A practical and basic approach to disaster planning for shelters and foster based rescue groups will be discussed, and resource lists provided to make sure that your group is ready to protect the animals in its care the “next time”.

Disaster Preparedness: Using Social Media in Animal Disaster Response, Beth Gammie, Red Rover - When your agency or group responds to a natural or man-made disaster, social media can provide critical information to the people in your community.  On a real-time basis, social media lets the public know crucial information such as where they can take their animals, how to reclaim lost pets, and where to take donations. Social media is also a great source of information for what is occurring in the field, and can help your agency or group monitor developing situations that may need your response.  As a growing means of how people communicate, the public expects that agencies and non-profit organizations use social media during crisis situations.  This entry level course discusses the basis of social media: what it is, how to best use it during disaster responses, and how to develop your social media plan before a disaster strikes.

Five Freedoms

Lights, Camera, Adoption!, Beth Mersten Cruz, Shelter Showcase, Beth Burstein, Beth Burstein Photography - Tips and tricks to help your adoptable animal’s online profiles attract great adopters!   Learn photo tips from a professional pet photographer and writing and social media tips from a seasoned shelter director, plus super easy ways to start using video.  Does video really make a difference?   Find out how a few simple changes in one pet’s description and photo help one dog receive 3 good adoption applications in 3 hours, after no interest for 2 weeks.  

Medical Issues Disguised as Behavior Problems, Dr. Emily Levine - There are many dogs who have behavior problems simply as a result of mismanagement or lack of training and or structure. Qualified trainers are instrumental in helping these dogs and their families get on the right track. For other dogs, their behavior problems can be the result of or exacerbated by medical conditions. Some of the more common medical conditions that can be seen are partial seizures, pain, sensory decline, endocrine disorders, and CNS disease. A discussion of red flags for cases which need to be seen by a veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist immediately will be given as well as some video demonstrations of pets presented for behavior problems which had medical components/causes.

Opening Our Mind and Our Adoptions to Save More Lives - Todd Cramer, PetSmart Charities, Inc. - Because we care so deeply about the animals we shelter, we want to be able to assure them a loving future. Adoption is seen as a flood gate we tightly control to guarantee the pets next life is a good one. In this session, we will use the PetSmart Charities Report on Adoption Forum II to explore the principles of less-restrictive adoption screening and you will learn what the experts say about the Five Essenials of a Successful Adoption, the best adoption process, and what the effects of a good adoption program are on the organization, the community and the animals.

Pediatric Spay/Neuter and Achieving 100% Neuter Before Adoption - Jane Guillaume and David Croman, VMD, People for Animals, Inc. - Join PFA for an in-depth discussion of pediatric spay/neuter including tips to help you implement a 100% Neuter Before Adoption (NBA) policy. Learn how to lobby your organization to adopt a policy to neuter all animals prior to adoption and how to overcome resistance to pediatric spay/neuter. PFA’s Director of Veterinary Services will describe pediatric SN including long & short term effects. Q&A period. WARNING: Photos or videos of actual surgery may be used.

Pets for Life, Ashley Mutch, - Information on how to reach pet owners in under-served areas, use pieces of the Pets for Life approach in your work or implement a complete Pets for Life program in your community.  Learn how to conduct a community assessment, the importance of and how to collect data to guide your work, how to organize and hold a successful community outreach event, how to conduct grassroots, door to door outreach, effectively talk spay/neuter and more!

Reading Anxious Dogs and How to Address Their Behavior, Dr. Emily Levine - This talk will be divided into 4 areas. The first part will review identifying basic body language of anxious/fearful dogs. The second part will review the underlying physiology of the fear-anxiety spectrum. The third part will review basic learning concepts and the fourth will review the dangers and pitfalls of using some of these learning concepts.

Shelter and Rescue Liability Issues

Shelter Enrichment on a Dime (or a dollar maybe), Lanie Anton, ASPCA - Providing enrichment for shelter pets is a very important component in keeping the dogs and cats happy and reducing stress-caused health issues. This interactive workshop will look at the species-specific needs of cats and dogs and provide easy-to-do enrichment to keep your shelter  pals happy and increase their adoptability.

Simple Steps to Identify, Promote and Place Overlooked Cats, Linda Reider, Michigan Humane Society - Look around your shelter! Are old cats, black cats, and grouchy cats plugging up your adoption program? Never fear, there are ways to identify and move these overlooked cats (and other animals) into adoptive homes. The first step is to know who they are, and the second is to have a plan in place which focuses on their special attributes to find the right adopters! Come learn both and share ideas, too.

Smile, You’re Saving Lives! - BJ Rogers, ASPCA - Stellar customer service is a primary means to a desirable end; and to fulfilling a key element of our organizational mission, namely, saving more lives. No matter whom you consider your customer to be, this workshop will focus on why good service matters and encourage participants to consider their own experiences as relevant and useful. Participants will explore ways to improve service by applying proven concepts to what they already know. All with an eye or two fixed keenly on the prize: saving more lives.

Special Events that Rock - David Drake, Maryland SPCA - Is your organization trapped in the cycle of endless special events? Learn when and how to do an event and when to say “no.” Keep staff and volunteers sane with some helpful guidelines about who should be doing what. Also, learn how by tying your event to your mission, you get more mileage from your events.

Starting, Expanding and Strengthening Your Spay/Neuter Program, Aimee Christian & Carolyn Brown, ASPCA - Are you planning on starting a spay/neuter clinic to serve your community?  What type of clinic—stationary, MASH or mobile—is best for your needs?  How many animals and which animals do you need to s/n in order to make an impact? How do you prepare a budget?  What types of medical protocols must you have in place to start?  If you are an ongoing program, how can you become more efficient? Handle human resources issues?  Grow to meet increasing demands?  In this interactive presentation, experts from ASPCA Spay/Neuter Operations will discuss how to start, expand and keep your program strong.

Targeted TNR: Why, How & Applying for Funding, Bryan Kortis, PetSmart Charities - Trap-Neuter-Return works - if it’s done correctly.  One key to success in lowering free-roaming cat populations is to properly target available resources, including spay/neuter surgeries, volunteers and funds.  In this workshop, we’ll discuss why targeting is now the cutting edge of TNR, how to target effectively, and how to apply for funding from PetSmart Charities’ Free-roaming Cat Spay/Neuter grant program.

Working with Challenging Volunteers, Hillary Hager, HSUS - One of the scariest parts of including volunteers in our work is the potential for things to go badly if we select the wrong person for the job. This workshop will examine the various steps organizations can take to both prevent the emergence of so-called “rogue” volunteers in their volunteer group, as well as how to handle situations when they occur. Letting volunteers go and redirecting them to opportunities that are better suited to their needs and wants isn’t the worst thing in the world. We’ll look at ways to do this that leave everyone feeling relieved…including the volunteer who is leaving.
Please click here for the Conference Schedule.

Please click here for speaker biographies.