Dr. Brian Di Gangi, a clinical assistant professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida, wants you to add something to your imagined definition of animal shelter ‘daily rounds’: facility rounds.

When you hear the phrase “daily rounds,” you probably imagine a veterinarian or veterinary team member checking on the health and welfare status of the animals in the shelter. And you’d be right. But Dr. Brian Di Gangi, a clinical assistant professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida, wants you to add something else to your imagined definition: facility rounds.

“Facility rounds might be when people go around the shelter and make an assessment of the general building,” he told attendees at the Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Conference at the University of Florida. “Are there doors that are broken or need to be fixed? Are the aisle-ways clear of clutter? Is it safe for people to walk through?”

Of course, veterinary team observations of animal health will always form the heart of daily rounds, but don’t forget to do a daily check of your shelter, too!

Watch a video of Dr. DiGangi’s presentation, and read a transcript of it.