Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference
2022 Schedule.
The 2022 Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference will take place at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Columbia, MO on September 23-25, 2022. Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to or newsletter for conference updates!
Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations is an approved provider of content which enhances professional competence and aligns with the Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) Exam specifications.
Up to nine hours of CE for veterinarians and technicians are approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board.
Download the full conference schedule in pdf format. - Coming Soon
Friday, September 23, 2022
8:00 AM
Check-In, Coffee, and Collaboration!
Check-in for Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference at Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center! Come early to enjoy a cup of coffee with fellow animal advocates!
9:00 AM
Demystifying Major Gifts
How to build and maintain a viable and successful fundraising (major gifts) program.
Sharon Krinsky Davis, Best Friends Animal Society
9:45 AM
Break
10:00 AM
Shelter and Rescue Liability
A discussion of commonly raised issues, real or otherwise, which may impact liability of your organization while implementing lifesaving programming. The discussion will cover issues for both private and municipal agencies, and provide a general guide to help identify potential pitfalls, solutions and protections to implement to keep your organization running at full potential.
Richard Angelo, Best Friends Animal Society
10:45 AM
Break
11:00 AM
Shelter Collaborative
For years, we have known about the benefits of collaboration between shelters but Best Friends' Shelter Collaborative program has been able to formalize lifesaving partnerships between shelters. Shelter fellows are matched with peer mentors based on organization type, program strengths and location. The partners utilize Best Friends' grant funding for 12 months towards the goal of getting the fellow to a 90% save rate. This presentation will talk about the program and it's success and learnings as well as benefits of partnering with other shelters in your own community to support lifesaving.
Carrie Ducote, Best Friends Animal Society
11:45 AM
Break
12:00 PM
Lunch and Exhibit Hall
Complete the Passport in your welcome bag to be entered in a raffle to win prizes! Winners announced during brunch on Sunday!
1:00 PM
Techniques Used to Handle Incompatible Dog Behaviors in the Shelter
Shelter staff and volunteers oftentimes experience similar behavior challenges when working with dogs in a shelter environment. Whether that be reactivity, jumpy/mouthy, leash climbing, or shy/fearful behavior. In this session we'll be discussing creative ways to manage and extinguish common challenging behaviors while also incorporating defensive handling techniques and out of the box enrichment ideas that can be included in our existing animal care daily routine.
Tierney Sain, Best Friends Animal Society
1:45 PM
Break
2:00 PM
Legal and Policy Frameworks for Community Cat Programs
Identify and solve for legal and policy issues which will provide immediate and long-term successes in TNVR programs. How can we save lives, money, and protect the community immediately and achieve long-term success of programming.
Richard Angelo, Best Friends Animal Society
2:45 PM
Break
3:00 PM
How to Prioritize When Everything is a Priority
Over the past few years, major nonprofits, including animal welfare organizations, have been pressed by their supporters and the public to add more community service programs to their work and embrace roles that are more social service oriented. However, even large organizations are struggling with staffing shortages, budget limitations, and unexpected operational challenges and costs. So, when everything becomes equally important, how do you allocate your resources? This session will tackle the dilemma of prioritizing the priorities. We’ll talk about how to maximize resources within the community, communicate with partners and other stakeholders about your decision-making and current needs, and decide what to scale back and for how long, knowing you might not have those answers yet.
Brent Toellner, Best Friends Animal Society
3:45 PM
Break
4:00 PM
Roundtable
Roundtable discussion.
Best Friends Animal Society
5:00 PM
Conclude. See you Saturday!
Saturday, September 24, 2022
8:00 AM
Check-In, Coffee, and Collaboration!
Check-in for Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference at Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center! Come early to enjoy a cup of coffee with fellow animal advocates!
8:30 AM
Mitigating and Responding to Threats, Bullying, and Harassment: A Leader's Guide
It is an unfortunate reality that harassment, bullying, and threats of violence against animal shelter leadership and staff have long been present in animal welfare. When this occurs, it is the responsibility of leadership and members of the Board to both address and protect the emotional and physical well-being of the team. In this session, participants will learn about ways shelter leaders can proactively and reactively address and manage these attacks from both a safety and public relations perspective.
Sarah Javier, APA Adoption Center
Compassionate Language to Support People and Pets
Have you ever been scrolling through social media and read through a post calling someone a horrible pet owner or even an A**hole during a time of need or crisis? The answer is probably yes - we've all seen this and dare I say probably even participated in using harmful language that can push those in need away.
Throughout this presentation, we'll wordsmith examples together and learn more about how we as animal welfare professionals can utilize human centered & human supportive language to save more lives and keep families together.
Shannon Glenn, My Pit Bull Is Family
Diagnosing and Treating FIP in a Shelter or Rescue*
FIP can be treated, but the diagnosis can be difficult to make, treatment costly to acquire, and veterinarians may be reluctant to help. Dr. Kennedy will provide helpful insight on every step of the process.
Dr. Heather Kennedy, Kansas City Pet Project
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
9:30 AM
Break
9:45 AM
Optimizing your website: Increasing impact through your online presence
Did you know that 97% of consumers use the internet to find services and information? If the internet is the first place that your community looks, having a strong online presence is critical in making sure that the services you offer are reaching those most in need. In this session, we will discuss powerful features from Google to bring more online visibility to your organization, the basic elements of a great website user experience and we will take a look at different online tools available for you to use right away! We will also give strategies on how to recruit volunteers to assist with your technology needs.
April Huntsman, Adopt a Pet
Identifying Limiting Factors: The most efficient way to improve save rate
Our overarching goal is always to save lives. However, it is easy to get caught in the day-to-day tasks and feel overwhelmed with where to start to increase your save rate. A limiting factor is the single reason preventing you from saving that next animal. While shelters and rescues could always use more staff, space, and funding, your limiting factor is the most critical need at any given time.
In this talk, we will cover:
1. The top 3 limiting factors.
2. How to identify your limiting factor.
3. How to work through your limiting factor to save more lives.
Kenzie Whalen-Dunn, Rescue Allies
A Happy Cat is a Healthy Cat: A Guiding Principal for Medical Care for Cats*
When should we use antibiotics for a cat with an upper respiratory infection? How long do we really need to treat for ringworm? Someone just dropped off a diabetic cat at the shelter! In this session, Dr. Kennedy will explain how a different mindset about medical care for cats can help shorten length of stay and improve your live release rate for cats.
Dr. Heather Kennedy, Kansas City Pet Project
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
10:45 AM
Break
11:00 AM
What do we do about our longstays?
As we wrap up the hardest summer in awhile, many organizations are facing longer stays than ever before. During this presentation we will look at some innovative ideas from across the country and how you can engage volunteers and the community to help save some of your most at risk pets.
Sarah Aguilar
Strong Public Speaking Can Save Lives
Many of us dread public speaking, yet do it begrudgingly as part of our jobs. What if we strengthened our speaking skills, ramped up our confidence, and learned how to capture people's attention - whether a supportive board, a contentious city council, or a skeptical staff or volunteer group? Presenting powerfully can save animals' lives. Beth will offer specific tips and tricks to:
- prepare all segments of a powerful talk - the ending, beginning, and middle (in that order)
- consider how to adapt your talk to various audiences, friendly or not-so-much
- overcome nerves, build confidence, and break bad habits.
Beth Wolfer, Best Friends Animal Society
Cutting Edge Controversy: Updates on Optimal Age of Spay and Neuter*
Early age sterilization of dogs and cats is a primary goal of animal sheltering and has been instrumental in population control. The discussion over balancing individual animal health with population needs has intensified in recent years due to research study results that show conflicting risks and benefits at different ages of dog and cat sterilization. This session will review recent updates about the impact of spay/neuter on long term pet health and how to apply these findings to the everyday work of shelters and rescues.
Dr. Amie Burling, University of Missouri Shelter Medicine Program
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
12:00 PM
Lunch and Exhibit Hall
Complete the Passport in your welcome bag to be entered in a raffle to win prizes! Winners announced during brunch on Sunday!
1:15 PM
How to put pet support services into the hands of your community with one click.
Throw out those spreadsheets full of free and low cost services in your community. Introducing pets.findhelp.com! This free, first-of-its-kind platform makes accessing pet support services easy. Your community’s entire database of free and low-cost pet services is now just a click away! Pets.findhelp.com changes the game for pet parents, many of whom previously thought their only option was to give up a loved pet to a shelter. This tool has client case management so you can connect your customers with the access to pet support services they need like pet food, veterinary care, behavior training and more through your network. Using the pets.findhelp.com platform, you’ll be able to see data about what people are searching for in your community—which will in turn help you gain information about your community's needs. But how does it work, and how is it free and how can we be a part of it? All that and more in this exciting presentation.
Jamie Case, ASPCA
Using Data to Tell Your Story
From Google to Amazon, Red Cross to Girl Scouts, everyone is using facts and figures to enhance their storytelling to build support and revenue. In this session you will learn why data matters, how to control the narrative with facts, and how you can enhance operations through data.
Sarah Aguilar
Leveraging Intake for Disease Prevention*
Many disease prevention strategies depend upon decisions made during animal intake processing. This session will update our current knowledge of opportunities at intake to improve outcomes. Bring your questions and we will discuss practical trouble-shooting strategies for common challenges at intake for both shelters and rescues.
Dr. Amie Burling, University of Missouri Shelter Medicine Program
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
2:15 PM
Break
2:30 PM
Is Your Shelter Cat-Friendly?
It can be challenging for cats to thrive in a shelter or rescue. But why is being sheltered so hard on cats, and what can you do about it? In this session, you'll find out! First, we will examine the fundamental behavioral needs of sheltered cats. Then we will evaluate and score how well your shelter or rescue is doing at meeting those needs. Last, and most importantly, you will leave with a greater understanding of how to bolster the well-being of cats in your care and a practical blueprint for doing so.
Pamela Hill, That Cat Girl, LLC.
Unicorn Foster Squad: How to reduce your length of stay for large dogs with behavior issues.
Session attendees will learn groundbreaking procedures for foster and adoption programs with an emphasis on behavior dogs. This session will be geared toward executive leadership and foster/adoption/training staff.
Brittany Fleming, Save the Unicorns Consulting
Updates In Infectious Disease For Shelters and Rescues*
This session will provide updates on canine parvovirus, feline panleukopenia, retroviral pathology and diagnostics, and uncommon respiratory diseases.
Dr. Chumkee Aziz, University of California Davis
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
3:30 PM
Break
3:45 PM
Getting Lost Pets Home Faster
The number of incoming strays never seems to go down - what we can do as shelters is increase the strength of programs helping them get home faster. Presenters Margaret and Emi will share what's worked best for HHHS including a no return to owner fee microchip deal, well-timed community microchip specials, Facebook page exclusively for stray pet posts (and how to handle the fear of social media backlash), staff staying active in local lost and found Facebook groups, ensuring reclaimed pets have a physical tag before walking out the door, and engaging volunteers in spreading accurate information about getting lost pets home throughout the community.
Emi Griess & Margaret Price, Helping Hands Humane Society, Inc.
Ending Puppy Mills through Education and Advocacy
This session will cover the status of the puppy mill industry in 2022 and will give action items for rescues, shelters and advocates to take in order to create lasting change in their communities.
Mindi Callison, Bailing Out Benji
Feline and Canine Upper Respiratory Disease For Shelters and Rescues*
This session will cover risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical disease, epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of upper respiratory disease.
Dr. Chumkee Aziz, University of California Davis
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
4:45 PM
Sessions Conclude.
5:30 PM
Evening Networking in the Exhibit Hall
Join the Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations for an evening of networking and complimentary appetizers in the Exhibit Hall! Don’t forget to complete your Passport before the raffle on Sunday!
Sunday, September 25, 2022
8:00 AM
Coffee and Collaboration!
Grab your morning cup of coffee with fellow animal advocates in the Exhibit Hall!
8:30 AM
Removing Barriers To Adoption: How Removing Adoption Barriers can Help People and Pets in Your Community.
Don't have a fenced in yard? Work an 8 hour day outside of them home? Live in a rented apartment? Join us as we deep dive into identifying barriers to adoption, how to remove them, and how a 63 year old organization almost doubled their annual adoption numbers by ridding their old ways.
Amanda Roos, Belleville Area Humane Society
Engaging Your Community to Make Lifesaving a Community Solution
To achieve greatness, we must all work together and this is particularly true in animal sheltering. In this presentation we will discuss how to engage your community and create a culture where you work collaboratively with your entire community to increase lifesaving, keep families together and maximize your resources.
Stacy Rogers, Best Friends Animal Society
Managing Ringworm In Shelters and Rescues*
This session will cover: the importance and relevance of ringworm; identifying suspects and confirming infection; population flow-through of infected animals; treatment, housing and behavioral care; and ringworm outbreaks.
Dr. Chumkee Aziz, University of California Davis
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
9:30 AM
Brunch and Raffle Drawing
Submit your completed Exhibitor Passport by 10 am in order to be entered in the drawing for prices! Winners must be present to receive their price!
10:30 AM
Big Dog Marketing Made Easier
Is your organization full of big dogs who would make wonderful pets, but just aren't getting adopted quickly enough? In this session, we'll cover how to market your big dogs more effectively, and get them into the homes they deserve. Among the topics we'll cover are: Reaching wider segments of your community; the good and bad of bio writing; effective storytelling; the importance of language; working with the media; the power of images and videos; creative marketing campaigns; what you can do to help pets stay out of the shelter and in their homes so you don't have to market so many dogs; and much more.
Kasey Spain, American Pets Alive!
Rebuilding Your Volunteer & Foster Programs Post-Pandemic
The pandemic created many challenges for animal welfare, including a loss of staff and volunteers which has some groups starting from scratch in these programs. This session is good for anyone looking to build for the first time, rebuild, or strengthen their volunteer and foster programs. It will include virtual and hybrid training, tiered animal handling programs, reworking your manuals, creating clear expectations, recruiter, and retention.
Margaret Price & Shelby Reich, Helping Hands Humane Society
Identifying, Preventing, and Addressing Canine Aggression - Part 1*
This 2-part session offers a crash course about canine aggression. What is aggression? Why does it occur? How can we prevent it? What can and should we do about it? Discussion will include background information about the ethology of aggression, how aggression manifests, physical and emotional etiology of aggression, prevention of aggression, and diagnosis and treatment of aggression.
Dr. Anna Delabar, Pet Wellness Alliance
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
11:30 AM
Break
11:45 AM
The Goldfish Approach - Lasso-ing Your Way To Success
"If the Lasso way is wrong, it's hard to imagine being right." In this session, humane society staff will share animal welfare lessons of success through the quotes of one of the most positive human beings out there - Coach Ted Lasso. From "be a goldfish," to "if you're comfortable while you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong," topics will include communication, motivation, and innovation when it comes to volunteer/staff relationships, community engagement, avoiding burnout, and gaining donors.
Emi Griess & Shelby Reich, Helping Hands Humane Society
Identifying, Preventing, and Addressing Canine Aggression - Part 2*
This 2-part session offers a crash course about canine aggression. What is aggression? Why does it occur? How can we prevent it? What can and should we do about it? Discussion will include background information about the ethology of aggression, how aggression manifests, physical and emotional etiology of aggression, prevention of aggression, and diagnosis and treatment of aggression.
Dr. Anna Delabar, Pet Wellness Alliance
*CE approved by the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
12:45 PM
Sessions conclude.
See you in 2023!
Schedule
Clear your schedule, and join your colleagues from all over the Midwest to learn and network! See the full conference schedule here.
Speakers
Expert speakers are traveling from across the country to present at MASC! See the full line-up here!
Travel
Travel around Columbia is easy and affordable! Find hotel, flight, and parking details here.
“What a great conference for shelter and rescue professionals in Missouri and throughout the Midwest. We've been in need of an educational opportunity like this for a while - full of practical information and inspiration. Thank you so much for hosting this. Hope to see you next year!”
— MASC 2019 Conference Speaker