It happens to all of us in animal welfare: A problem arises, and for the life of you, you just can’t figure out a solution. Thanks to Maddie, help is here — and it’s free!

“Maddie’s^® Pet Forum is an exciting new virtual place where you can join with other shelter and rescue organization professionals and volunteers to communicate, collaborate, ask questions and share expertise publicly,” said Kim Domerofski, Manager of Partnerships and Collaborations at Maddie’s Fund^®. “You can communicate publicly in the forum and also privately within communities and groups created in the forum.”

When might Maddie’s^® Pet Forum come in handy?

Let’s say your shelter is not happy with its current shelter management software. Now you can put out a message to your fellow shelter professionals and receive feedback. Or maybe you have a rule-breaking volunteer and aren’t sure how to handle the situation. You’ll be able to talk with people who have been there. Or you have a sweet pup who has been at your rescue organization for a year and you’ve tried everything to get her adopted. Now you can get help from hundreds of other adoption pros who can share what’s worked for them.

“Often times the only time we connect with others in our field are at conferences,” Domerofski said. “Now we can keep those connections going and help each other out when we need it the most.”

Is Maddie’s^® Pet Forum customizable?

When you sign up for Maddie’s^® Pet Forum, you’re given the option of which topics you’d like to follow so your feed will be tailored to your interests. The forums are public, but if you have a topic that requires privacy, you can make a private group to discuss more sensitive matters. And thanks to your feedback, the platform is constantly evolving to give you more options.

What’s is coming down the road in Maddie’s^® Pet Forum?

For now, Maddie’s^® Pet Forum will primarily contain folks from the animal welfare space, but this summer, pet owners will join in on the fun. Pet owners and animal welfare professionals generally have different interests, so there may not be a lot of crossover, but we think it will be a very good way to teach pet owners about the tough decisions and situations shelters and rescue organizations face.

Register for Maddie’s Pet Forum today. We can’t wait to hear from you. Because lifesaving is unstoppable when we put our heads together.