Does your animal organization have a successful foster-to-adopt program for individuals who want to “foster” an animal before committing to adoption, to ensure it’s the right fit for their home? Or are you looking to start one? Kelli Jordan of Tallahassee Animal Services recently shared on Maddie’s® Pet Forum that they’re looking to start one,… Learn More

Curious about how artificial intelligence (AI) might help your animal organization? We asked folks on Maddie’s® Pet Forum to share how they’re using it to help pets and people (and themselves!). Here are a few answers below. Writing anything and everything from adoption biographies (bios) to newsletter stories, thank you notes and even grants “As a… Learn More

During the 2023 Open Arms Challenge, Grand Prize winner Harris County Pets of Houston, TX, (HCP) did its very best to ensure the practices and services offered were easily accessible and did not exclude anyone. Equipped with information from Community Conversations and Maddie’s® Pet Forum, they were able to make a number of changes that… Learn More

This post was originally published in 2019. We are republishing today as foster care is as important as ever.  Button had been at the Kansas City Pet Project for about a month, and he wasn’t doing well. He was displaying alarming signs of kennel stress, including pacing, spinning, vocalizing and jumping up and down over… Learn More

At a time when animal shelter intake is up, this post on long stay pets is as relevant as ever. This was originally posted in March 2022. Since winning the Get ‘em Home Challenge in 2018, Jacksonville Humane Society (JHS) continues to innovate, whittling days off the average length of shelter stays for both dogs… Learn More

This blog post originally ran in early 2020. With the Open Arms Challenge starting in November, we wanted to give you a little head start.  We’ve put together two brand new courses on Maddie’s University® — Dog Adoptions: Eliminating Roadblocks to Positive Outcomes and Open Cat Adoptions: Keep Them Moving, Get Them Home. We suggest taking them both, even… Learn More

Want to increase adoptions? One way to do so may be thinking about what pets you aren’t allowing to go home, and revisiting your policies. Is it time we start empowering adopters to take home pets with illnesses, injuries and behavioral problems to allow them to grow, heal and recover? Monica Frenden from Austin Pets… Learn More

Over the past several months, the animal welfare industry has joined together to collaborate about reimagining the future of sheltering. This new vision focuses on animal shelters and rescue organizations transforming into resource centers to support their communities. Organizations across the nation have been pivoting to find ways to keep more pets and people together… Learn More

Perhaps your organization has already embraced virtual adoptions or are still deciding if you want to go that route. We’ve rounded up some resources to help guide you as you navigate the new world of Zoom adoptions. First, the boring stuff. Get your ducks in a row with shelter and scheduling software, electronic document signing,… Learn More

Customer service is a crucial component of pet adoption. Which is why we are rerunning this story from June 2017 on the very topic. Treating potential adopters with warmth and positive attitude can go a long way and will help increase lifesaving.  As pet adoption increases in popularity and social cachet, and national campaigns like… Learn More