Resources

The internet is bursting with ideas on animal sheltering. You don't get to say you're "doing the best you can" until you've implemented them all.

(This page is a work in progress, if you have suggestions for links or info to be added, please let me know)


Best Practice Manuals for Animal Shelters:

There is no single book or set of policies, but all of the major animal sheltering organizations agree on almost everything:

Here is a short article from Petside.com that summarizes some info. Consider it a primer.

Association of Shelter Veterinarians (pdf) - This is my personal favorite, from a very reliable and well-researched source of experts. If you only read one, read this one.

American Veterinary Medical Association - A complete booklet of their Animal Welfare Policy Statements

The Humane Society of the United States - Fairly comprehensive

American Humane Association - Extensive list of articles

Animal Farm Foundation - Although they focus on "pit bull" type dogs, their website is a wealth of general information for all animal rescues.

Road to Rescue: Animal Rescue Best Practice Manual - A printed book researched and published by a non-profit animal rescue organization called Up For Pups.


General information, myths, and statistics about animal sheltering and adoption:

The Economic Benefits of "No-Kill" Animal Sheltering. (pdf)

The Asilomar Accords - From their website: "[a] set of Guiding Principles, standardized definitions, a statistics table for tracking shelter populations and a formula for determining shelter live release rates. The purpose of the definitions, table, and live release rate formula is to produce a uniform system so that shelters and other stakeholders can get a better understanding of lifesaving progress nationwide."

No-Kill primer for public officials (pdf)

No-kill primer for anyone (pdf)

The No-Kill equation in list form. This list applies to every animal shelter in the US. Everyone should follow the steps. Even if you don't like the term "no-kill".


Defining No-Kill sheltering. Clarifications on some of the myths surrounding the term "No-Kill"

 Save them all, kill the excuses. An essay from Shirley Thistlethwaite on why shelters need to stop giving excuses for euthanizing adoptable pets.

The "Ninety Percent Club": Today, shelters collectively representing about 500 cities and towns across America, including those in Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, Utah, California, New York, Texas and elsewhere, are saving roughly 90%* of all animals and as high as 99%

Mandatory spay/neuter doesn't work (No-Kill Advocacy Center)


Shelter animal handling and training



Handling felines in the shelter so they look and feel their best (Alley Cat Allies)

Faux Ferals: How to soothe a scared stray to increase her chances of adoption (Alley Cat Allies)

Cheap/free toys to occupy bored shelter dogs (ASPCA)

Networking with other animal rescue organizations


Networking with other organizations is a very important part of saving pet lives. Transporting, advice on special or difficult cases, having relationships in place can mean the difference between life and death:


Freedom Train Animal Rescue Transports (US)

Pendleton PAWS
Oregon Humane Society, Portland, OR
Safe Haven, Albany, OR
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary,



Marketing, why it's important, creative ideas, etc.


 Marketing best practices - a great list of resources for shelter managers
How to promote shelter pets for adoption, (pdf) from Best Friends Animal Society
How to find homes for homeless pets (pdf)
Show the positive side of shelter pets: increase adoption rates
Why people aren't adopting (Petsmart Charities/Ipsos study)
The where and why of adoption (Petsmart Charities/Ipsos study)
Using Facebook to increase adoptions
The care and marketing of long-term resident shelter pets (success stories from MI)
The life-saving equation
An entire Facebook page on the subject - tips and ideas
Unconventional marketing ideas for many kinds of businesses - lot's of ideas


Websites for adoptable pets, and lost/found pets
Petfinder
Adopt-a-pet
Pet Harbor
Pet Tango


Photography:
The internet is just bursting with tips on photographing shelter animals. Here are a few of them:

How to take better photos of shelter pets, step-by-step
How photography can save pets' lives, from Petfinder.com
Ten simple steps that improve animal shelter photos
Taking great photographs of shelter animals
Five non-conventional tips for creating compelling images of shelter animals

Success Stories:
(they did it, so can you, Pet Rescue!)

List of open-admission shelters saving 90% or more
UPAWS: Doing it (MI)
Some choice quotes (from multiple shelter managers)
Austin Pets Alive (TX)
KC Pet Project (Kansas City, MO) - an open-admission shelter that increased adoptions by over 100% in six months

You're a charity! Get free stuff!

Kuranda shelter beds. They are chew proof, water proof, easy to clean and disinfect (washer and dryer not needed), comfortable for the dogs, and shelters can get them for free. Every single shelter in the US should be signed up for this program.

Zoetis for Shelters - a program through the drug manufacturer (formally Pfizer Animal Health) to offer vaccines and medicines to shelters for discounted prices

Discounted Kong toys for animal rescues



Learn from the mistakes of others
Other  shelter managements around the country have made poor choices that hurt the animals and their public image. Learn from them:

Animal advocates blast shelter's euthanasia rates, policies (IN)
Fired from a shelter after photographing the animals (NY)
Shelter's high euthanasia rate criticized (AL)
Woman whose kitten was euthanized suing MCAS (AL)
Family, Facebook fight to save Rufus the beagle (FL)
Memphis pound refused local rescue willing to save pregnant dog and pups (TN)
Shoddy records and contagious disease suspend animal shelter (GA)
SPCA kills family dog by accident (CA)


Misc.
FOIA requests: samples, info, and examples
Using Freedom of Information Laws to get records & statistics from animal shelters

When the public trusts the local shelter to do its job, they will come out in droves to support it.