Draw, Color or Paint Your Way to $5k for Your Shelter

Illustrations by Ann Liu depict scenes of people returning home and being greeted by their happy dogs, cats, and birds. Each scene conveys a strong sense of family, joy, and belonging.

What’s possible when we all work inside and outside shelter walls to keep and bring more pets and people together and root out barriers that come between them? What does More Pets and People Together mean to you? Answer these questions with art, and you could win a $5,000 grant for your local shelter!  As […]

Tackle Disease and Barriers with August Events

As intake numbers rise in many shelters, making sure animals receive the right care, in the right place and at the right time is critical to combating crowding, curbing disease and ensuring positive outcomes. Two upcoming events will highlight tried-and-true tips for managing infectious disease and creative approaches shelter teams are taking to keep more […]

Sniptember Partnerships Add HQHVSN Throughout California

Fresno Humane Animal Balance HQHVSN dates

Up and down the Golden State, shelters and their partners are expanding high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter surgeries and training. Animal Balance Brings HQHVSN to Fresno Thanks to a Sniptember grant and global NGO Animal Balance, Fresno Humane will be spending the second half of 2023 clearing their spay/neuter backlog of hundreds of shelter animals. […]

California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative Awards Grants to 24 California-Based Organizations

This Year’s Recipients Are Working Towards Keeping People and Pets Together  $300,0000 Granted in an Effort to Break Down Barriers That Are Causing California Shelters to Remain Full Two dozen animal shelters across California will receive grants through the California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative (CAWFC). The collaborative, launched in August 2019 by Best Friends Animal […]

Online Kitten Guidebook Fully Revised and Updated

cute gray kitten with fluffy white chest

The most popular page on Sheltermedicine.com is “Caring for Kittens from Birth to Eight Weeks,” Chapter 2 of the online Guide to Raising Unweaned & Underage Kittens. The guidebook is part of the shared resource library developed and maintained jointly by veterinarians in the UC Davis KSMP and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Shelter Medicine Program. […]

When the Heat Rises, Blythe ACO John Bush Has Your Back

Approximately 225 miles east of Los Angeles and 150 miles west of Phoenix, located inside of Riverside County and flanked by the Colorado River, you’ll find Blythe, California, a rural desert town named after the San Francisco financier who established water rights to the region. You’ll also find John Bush, sole animal control officer for Blythe’s animal shelter, collaborating with residents and visitors to craft solutions for challenges both anticipated and unexpected.

Assembly Bill Seeks to Advance Veterinary Telemedicine

Cat sitting on woman's lap looking at veterinarian on laptop computer

The San Diego Humane Society and the ASPCA are advocating for Assembly Bill 1399, legislation that seeks to increase access to services in the face of a critical shortage of trained veterinarians in California by lifting state regulations restricting provision of veterinary care via telemedicine. The bill was revised and sent back to committee on […]

After the Summit, It’s Fast Tracks Time

Spring 23 Shelter Summit + Fast Tracks promotional banner

Over 800 people attended the Spring ’23 Shelter Summit live on March 14. It is now available on demand at Maddie’s® University, where you can view each of the presentations and Q&A sessions. Those presentations offered tantalizing suggestions to meet some of shelters’ greatest challenges. But change is hard. You need hope, help and time. That’s […]

Open Arms Shelters Pilot New Approaches to Increase Adoptions

Open Arms Challenge promotional image of a family sitting on a couch with a cat

108 California organizations applied for the Open Arms Challenge this year. They spent last month preparing—updating procedures, training staff and volunteers, engaging translators to reach more people in more languages, etc.—and are implementing their welcoming practices this month. At a recent Open Arms Office Hours call, we heard how a  rescue is thinking of new ways to […]

California for All Animals Legislative Report 2023 Released

California for All Animals Distributes $15.5M in Grants in First Year In accordance with the language set forth in Article 6.4. Animal Shelter Assistance Act, KSMP set out to design a program that provided outreach, in-person assessments, training on current best practices, and grant monies to California city, county, or city and county animal control […]