Upcoming

Shelter Traffic Jam: Quick Wins to Clear the Way and Keep Animals Moving

October 29, 2025 10–11:30 a.m. PT

Presenters: Dr. Cindi Delany, DVM, KPA-CTP, FFCP and Dr. Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, DABVP

Different shelters, same traffic jam: Too many animals, not enough exits, and teams fighting burnout in the gridlock. Overcrowding compromises care. Stress shoots up and decision-making stalls. But you’re not powerless—whether you’re frontline staff, a volunteer, in a leadership role, or a veterinary professional, you can drive real change. This session will equip you with immediate steps to reduce harm and break up traffic jams today. 

With Drs. Kate Hurley and Cindi Delany, you’ll explore balancing intakes and outcomes for better welfare, using daily monitoring and pathway planning to move animals faster, and making tough euthanasia decisions when no safe live outcomes exist.

After this session, you’ll be able to:

• Understand Capacity for Care basics, your roadmap to getting every animal the right outcome at the right time.
• Spot warning signs that put animals and staff at risk.
• Use proven harm-reduction strategies to protect health and well-being.
• Make confident, humane decisions to guide animal outcomes.
• Implement quick wins to improve flow, outcomes, and support your team’s morale and mission.

Whether you're trying to survive another overwhelming week or map your way to more sustainable practices under pressure, this is for you. Because when you're operating beyond capacity, every decision matters.

Ready to take back control? Register now.

This webinar has been approved for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit by RACE, CAWA, and NACA.

Can't make it live? Register to receive the recording and resources after the event, accessible through the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program Shelter Learniverse, #ThanksToMaddie!

Upcoming

Small Patients, Big Procedures: Weighing Pediatric Spay and Neuter Considerations

October 15, 2025, 4 to 5:30 p.m. PT

Host: Dr. Jennifer Bennett, DVM, MS, CAWA
Guests: Dr. Brian DiGangi, DVM, MS, DABVP and Dr. Emily McCobb, DVM, MS, DACVAA

Shelter medicine bridges gaps in veterinary care access, ensuring animals are sterilized, vaccinated, and healthy before going home to the people and communities who care for them. Shelter Med Live is the place where vet professionals connect around what it takes to make shelter medicine happen every day—from intake triage to MacGyvering creative fixes. Every third Wednesday, join your UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program outreach veterinarian host and special guests for real talk and real solutions. Ask questions (or send them in ahead of time) . This isn’t a lecture—it’s a conversation for everyone who wants to nerd out on shelter medicine. Kick back and recharge with your colleagues in the middle of a long week!

On this edition, we’re diving into pediatric spay and neuter—what’s new, what’s still misunderstood, and how to make it work in a shelter context. Hosted by Dr. Jennifer Bennett (DVM, MS, CAWA) with guests Dr. Brian DiGangi (DVM, MS, DABVP) and Dr. Emily McCobb (DVM, MS, DACVAA), the discussion will cover everything from pre-surgical candidate considerations, anesthesia tweaks, and recovery, to barriers and implications for shelters and access-to-care programs. Expect the kind of practical wisdom you can only get when you’ve been there, spayed that, plus plenty of “wish I’d known that sooner” takeaways. You’ll find a conversation that’s as accessible as it is evidence-based.

This event has been approved for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit by CAWA and NACA. Can’t make it live? Register to receive the recording and resources after the event, accessible through the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program Shelter Learniverse, #ThanksToMaddie!

Featured - Available On-Demand

Before Four Weeks: Updated Vaccination Recommendations for Neonatal Puppies and Kittens

Presented by Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, DABVP and Sandra Newbury, DVM, MS, DABVP

We know that the single best way to protect neonatal and juvenile animals from infectious disease is to care for them in an environment where exposure to disease is low, but those environments can be hard to find! Despite efforts to find low-risk housing options for these vulnerable animals, underage puppies and kittens still sometimes end up being housed in animal shelters or other environments where exposure risk is real. Previous recommendations have been to wait until 4 weeks of age to begin vaccination, potentially missing opportunities to provide protection as early as possible.

In this webinar, we'll explore updated recommendations for early vaccination of neonatal and juvenile puppies and kittens in environments that present meaningful risk. We'll cover the science, the supporting literature, and most importantly, how to apply these new guidelines in a shelter setting.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the immunological basis for vaccine protocols in neonatal animals
• Summarize the literature supporting early vaccination in high-risk environments
• Identify scenarios where early vaccination is recommended due to disease risk
• Apply updated vaccine protocols in animal shelters
• Adapt vaccination strategies for use in other high-exposure settings

This webinar has been approved for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval, as well as 1.5 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) continuing education credit by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA) and National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA).

Featured - Available On-Demand