dog running

Will we see you at the 2017 Annual Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) Conference in Miami, FL, this weekend? The conference will run from November 12-15, with a Research Symposium Day on the 15th, sponsored by yours truly. Online registration is still open if you’re thinking about it, and they also accept walk-up registrations once it starts!

While there are many fantastic sessions to choose from, we’d like to give a special shout out to three Maddie’s® Idea Lab Grant recipients, all of whom have their own sessions. See below for more details on each, and be sure to check them out! (Also, don’t forget to stop by our Maddie’s Fund® booth!)

On Monday, November 13, from 1:45-3 PM (Leadership Track 1), catch Employee Engagement and Leading People Effectively with Steven G. Rogelberg, PhD, Chancellor’s Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Rogelberg will be discussing how to:

  • Leverage data from shelter employee engagement diagnostic work.
  • Learn about employee engagement from over 3,500 employees in both municipal and not-for-profit humane organizations.
  • Find out the biggest areas of concern and strengths.
  • Review best practices work targeting top problem areas for shelters.

Then on Tuesday, Nov. 14, from 11 AM – 12:15 PM (General Session), Dr. Blackwell will be on a panel moderated by Jim Tedford, CAWA, President & CEO, SAWA, called Access to Veterinary Care: A Critical Animal Welfare Issue.

You’ll hear from three experts in the field about how the lack of access to affordable veterinary care is a major contributor to animal relinquishment, as well as neglect. The panel will specifically discuss:

  • Lack of veterinary care as a social issue
  • The role of animal welfare organizations, animal care and control agencies and the veterinary profession in addressing this crisis
  • How to reach underserved populations
  • The potential role(s) of pet health insurance
  • How to strengthen programs to keep pets and families together
  • Working with private practitioners in partnership to provide affordable, accessible vet care

Finally, on Wednesday, November 15 (Research Symposium Day!) at 11:15 AM, you can hear Alexandra Protopopova, Assistant Professor Of Companion Animal Science at Texas Tech University, discuss her Maddie’s® Idea Lab research during her session called Multi-Site Validation of a Structured Adopter-Dog Interactions (SADI) Intervention to Increase Adoption Rates in Dogs.

You can find more information about the sessions on the SAWA website. We hope to see you there!

Can’t make it this year? A few select sessions will be streaming via Facebook Live, so stay tuned for more details as we receive them!