Expo Studio Sessions

The time is now to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the veterinary profession. It is important to realize and understand how the lack of DEI can negatively impact interpersonal interactions, delivery of services and professional fulfillment, and can contribute to stress and anxiety for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) veterinary professionals. Join our speakers as they share their experiences in the field, and hear about work to achieve greater representation within the veterinary community and to increase cultural humility in veterinary medicine. Please join us for this important conversation.

Shelter workers need to be very skilled at dog handling: We want every dog to behave better when we put them back in the kennel than when we took them out. This talk will discuss how to handle those moments when things don''t go quite right, and those tools and techniques to use when a dog you''re handling becomes fearful, anxious or aggressive.

No state in the U.S. has sufficient affordable, pet-inclusive housing. Surveys and shelter intake data show that housing insecurity is one of the top reasons for pet relinquishment. In response, animal welfare must have programs and policies that keep families (particularly low-wage households) together. You will learn what animal advocates and services providers can do to address the affordable housing crisis, including programs to serve unhoused populations, services to support families facing displacement, research on barriers to accessing housing, and policies that protect the families most at risk of experiencing housing insecurity.

Veterinary and shelter team members often express doubt about handling cats. The best way to know a cat''s emotional state and whether they are relaxed enough to cope with the stress of veterinary procedures is to watch their body language. This session will help you understand how cats communicate with us and determine how to tell when they are fearful, stressed, anxious or happy.

Trauma, compassion fatigue and mental health crises are mounting amongst animal welfare staff and leaders. How can our organizations respond to staff trauma in an organized and coordinated way? In this session, you will learn real example programs built to support our people. Attendees will leave with tangible approaches for supporting our staff through education and training. We can nourish our staff with tactics to teach de-escalation, mental health awareness and peer-to-peer support. Open to anyone interested in collaborating and transforming animal welfare culture from crisis to healing.

Millions of potential adopters visit Adopt-a-Pet.com every month, and Shelter Animals Count recently completed a two-year study on animal level data, and we?re ready to share what we''ve learned! In this session, we will provide insights into how a pet seeker searches for a pet, a full analysis of supply and demand by state and strategies your organization can take to increase the interest in your available pets.

Are you ready to revamp your foster program? How can you increase the number of foster homes you have available? Do you want to improve your foster materials? By developing a model like "foster tracks," foster parents get the chance to specialize in areas of interest and become better equipped to take on those hard-to-place cases. No matter what your program size or budget, this session will teach you how to build engaging learning materials. We will also discuss creative ways to support and engage foster parents so you keep them coming back for more! 

Reuniting lost pets with their families is the single most important service shelters provide to their communities and represents significant life and resource-saving opportunities. Yet nationwide, reunification rates have remained flat over the last decade. This session will explore innovative advancements in policies, procedures, and perceptions of lost pet parents that yield greater return-to-home results.

Attendees will leave inspired to Do the Reunite Thing!, pledge to increase lost pet reunions in their organizations, and learn how Petco Love will prioritize return-to-home in future grant opportunities. Attendees will receive a free Petco Love Lost tee shirt and a chance to win prizes such as $2,500 grants (six available), Pethealth microchip scanners, Ring video doorbells, Tractive GPS collars, and BOBS from Skechers gift baskets!

The United States faces an acute and systemic shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians/nurses. This shortage has an outsized impact on shelters and rescues. We will explore how we arrived at these circumstances and practical solutions for rescues and shelters. We’ll conclude with how to implement these solutions as quickly as possible.

This trailblazing keynote speaker will share her experiences moving the needle forward to improve and save the lives of homeless animals and discuss some of the key issues we face in order to make true progress in improving the lives of animals and humans. Live Q&A with Dr. Miller will follow.