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Welcome to the ShelterMedPortal,

Your Gateway to Professional Growth in Animal Sheltering!

Free #ThankstoMaddie and the Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge.

Shelter Learniverse Has a New Home

At the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, we’re dedicated to supporting you in your work within the animal sheltering industry. As part of the Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge, we proudly re-introduce the Shelter Learniverse in its new home – www.shelterlearniverse.com.

Explore our new home and discover how we can assist you in your work and career.

Shelter Care Specialist Certification

The Koret Shelter Medicine Program recognizes the profound Access to Care challenges faced by animal shelters across the nation. To bridge this gap, we are excited to introduce our new certification program aimed at elevating the expertise and readiness of frontline shelter team members. Our Shelter Care Specialist Certification Program is designed to address the challenges associated with access to care in shelters by empowering shelter staff with comprehensive training that extends to medical care, best practices in shelter operations, animal shelter population management, and behavior, training and enrichment for animals in shelters.

Introducing our Shelter Care Specialist Certification Program: a game-changing professional development program for shelter team members. Elevate your professional skills and credentials, positioning yourself for a fulfilling career in animal welfare. Learn more now!

Self-Paced, On-Demand Learning

Learn what you want, where you want, when you want.  Check out our bite-sized, self-paced, on-demand learning options to help you level up in your current job and prepare for future opportunities in the animal welfare industry. Dive in now!

Shelter Industry Events Calendar

Go to the animal sheltering's most-used calendar of upcoming in-person and online events from across the industry.

Shelter Medicine Resource Library

Visit sheltermedicine.com's resource library for answers to your shelter medicine questions.

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Sheltermedicine.com

Visit sheltermedicine.com for more information about the programs and services offered by the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Recently Announced Upcoming Industry Events

The Future of Post-Adoption Support

Webinar – 9/25/24 – The Future of Post-Adoption Support – University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program

University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program Presents: Are you an animal welfare professional looking to enhance your organization’s post-adoption support? Could your return rates for adoptions decrease if your adopters could get real-time answers to the most common settling-in issues for a new pet? Petszel can lighten this load for you. Join us for a webinar to explore how Petszel can help your organization make more adoptions stick and see examples from other shelters that are using this app.

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Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection

Online Event – 10/24/24 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection – Play Aggression in Cats: Taming the Too-Frisky Kitty – Maddie’s Fund

Maddie’s Fund Presents: This presentation will explain the overlap between play and predatory behavior in cats, and why some cats take their predatory behavior too far. I’ll discuss how to distinguish play aggression from other forms of feline aggression. I’ll also present several humane ways to help prevent and stop play aggressive behavior, while channeling all of that feline energy in positive directions!

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Maddie's Monthly Foster Connection

Online Event – 10/3/24 – Maddie’s Monthly Foster Connection: Foster Volunteer Retention – Identifying Practices That Support Healthy and Satisfied Volunteers – Maddie’s Fund

Maddie’s Fund Presents: This presentation, based on surveys of over 900 foster volunteers, identifies the factors related to volunteer satisfaction and their intention to continue providing foster care.  It examines the emotional needs of volunteers, the types of support that they would most like to see provided by their organizations, and the shelter and rescue practices that lead to greater satisfaction among foster care volunteers.

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All Call

Online Event – 9/17/24 – All Call – From Policy to Practice: Addressing Gaps in Emotional Support Animal Documentation for Vulnerable Communities – California for All Animals

California for All Animals Presents: Have you submitted your housing-related questions for tomorrow’s All Call presenters? Heart LA’s Zaira Bernal (Paralegal) and Diana Cruz (Program Director/Law Clerk) will explore common challenges individuals with disabilities face when seeking the required documentation for Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), focusing on the limitations of current policy and real-world hurdles.

Read More »

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Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive a list of upcoming webinars, new Shelter Learniverse courses, and blog posts worth your valuable time. You'll also receive occasional emails from Maddie's Million Pet Challenge. If you're interested in receiving additional details about new Shelter Learniverse courses and certification program, be sure to check the boxes at the bottom!

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