Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida

10/23/2026

It’s National Veterinary Technician Week, so let’s all show our gratitude for the techs who keep shelter medicine going!

10/22/2026

Registration is now open for 2027’s Animal Care Expo, happening May 6-9, 2027, in Grapevine, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Expo is the largest animal welfare conference and trade show, and a great opportunity to learn from experts and connect with your peers.

More info and registration is at https://humanepro.org/expo

HumanePro

10/21/2026

From Maddie's Million Pet Challenge:

Veterinarian of Record Relationships (VORRs) can provide shelters the ability to obtain and use medications and apply authorized medical protocols to expand veterinary services across organizations without regular veterinarian access.

Join Dr. Jenn Bennett and guests Julie Bank, Bruce Wagman, Dr. Sarah Mantovani, and Mal Schwartz in a webinar series on building stronger lifesaving partnerships from the jump. The series includes:

🐶 Start Smart - Understanding & Preparing for a Veterinarian of Record Relationship. October 29, 1-2 pm ET.

😻Set Standards - Foundations of the Veterinarian of Record Relationship. November 19, 1-2:30 pm ET.

🐾Stay Strong - Sustaining a Successful Veterinarian of Record Relationship. December 10, 1 -2:30 pm ET.

You can get more information and sign up at https://sheltermedicine.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G7YghenHTju9eiMk75Hs7g #/registration

10/19/2026

The Summerlee Sustainable Solutions Grant Program is returning and applications open November 8. The full application is available now as a PDF, so you can review the questions and start preparing before the portal opens. Take a few minutes now to:

• Confirm eligibility. Applicants must be a 501(c)(3), a municipal entity, or have a fiscal sponsor.
• Update your GuideStar (Candid) profile. It must be claimed and current to apply, and it can take time, so start now.

Selected grantees will receive:
• $4,000–$8,000 in grant funding for community cat programming
• Full tuition for one representative to complete the nationally recognized 8-week University of the Pacific-Benerd College Community Cat Program
• Management Certification Course
• Mentorship and peer learning through a collaborative cohort
• Templates, tracking tools, and fundraising resources to help strengthen your program

In the meantime, learn more about the program, eligibility requirements, and what you'll need to apply at unitedspayalliance.org/summerlee-grant/

10/15/2026

Caring for animals can take a real toll on the people who do the work. But learning to recognize and navigate these challenges, with the right skills and support, can make a difference.

For 10 years, Jessica Dolce taught her Compassion Fatigue Strategies (CFS) course through the UF Shelter Medicine program. She’s now offering an updated version independently, and UF Shelter Medicine followers can receive 50% off registration with code CFS4UF.

This eight-week online self-paced course is designed for animal care, protection, and welfare professionals who want to make sense of what they're experiencing and figure out how to do this work sustainably.

Topics include empathy fatigue, burnout, grief, moral distress, stress management, boundaries, peer support, and how leaders can create healthier working conditions. CEUs are available.

Class starts on October 26!

Learn more and register: https://www.jessicadolce.com/compassion-fatigue-strategies

Use code CFS4UF at checkout for 50% off

10/13/2026

Dr. Mike Greenberg just dropped the newsletter we've all been waiting for. “The Capacity” is a concise weekly digest of national activities, research, and on-the-ground initiatives in animal sheltering, spay/neuter, and access to veterinary care. It's an insightful digest of current events, data, and evidence-based veterinary medicine seen through a clinician-scientist lens.

Dr. Greenberg is a clinic consultant in our Maddie's Million Pet Challenge project. He co-founded the Veterinary Care Accessibility Project, a nonprofit organization developing data-driven tools to help shelters, clinics, and policymakers understand and address gaps in veterinary access.

"The Capacity" is available with paid and free subscription options. Subscribe at https://thecapacity.substack.com/

10/09/2026

When the traditional care plan is out of reach, what can we do to help animals who might otherwise receive no treatment at all?

A new study published in the Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health explored that question in 56 small-breed dogs with significant dental disease whose owners faced financial barriers to care.

Researchers evaluated a lower-cost approach in which veterinarians performed dental procedures based on clinical examination without access to dental radiographs taken before treatment. Those radiographs were subsequently evaluated independently to compare the treatment provided with radiograph-based recommendations.

The findings were encouraging, but also highlighted important limitations:

- Treatment decisions agreed with radiograph-based recommendations for approximately 85% of evaluable teeth.
- Owners reported significant improvements in their dogs' health and quality of life.
- However, post-extraction radiographs identified retained roots in 47% of dogs undergoing extractions, underscoring the clinical value of dental imaging.

The takeaway: This research isn't an argument for abandoning dental radiographs. It raises an important question about access to veterinary care: When comprehensive dental treatment is financially inaccessible, can carefully selected, lower-cost approaches still provide meaningful welfare benefits?

For dogs who might otherwise go without dental care entirely, the findings suggest that the answer may be yes, while reinforcing the need for appropriate case selection, informed consent, and further research.

Read the complete study: https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/170/520

10/07/2026

Come have fun, meet the veterinary students, and see the great things Operation Catnip is doing! We're proud to partner with them to train new veterinarians in HQHVSN!

Our Open House is THIS FRIDAY! 🙀

Please tell your friends, family, your significant other, your exes, your cats and all your neighbors! 😻📣📣

FREE B**R & W**E, Food Trucks, and so much more!💟🐾

We hope to see you there! 🥰🥳

10/05/2026

Contagious respiratory infections are the most common cause of illness in dogs in shelters. These infections represent a significant and frequent drain on shelter resources, including treatment costs, staff time, and staff morale.

Dr. Cynda Crawford has created a document providing a basic overview of:

1) common canine respiratory pathogens in shelters
2) incubation times, clinical disease, duration of pathogen shedding, modes of transmission
3) diagnosis
4) strategies for management and prevention in shelters

View, download, and share here:https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/wordpress/files/2022/03/Canine-Respiratory-Infections-in-Shelters.2021-2.pdf

Struggling with a different type of disease outbreak? Check out our whole library here: https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/shelter-services/disease-management/

09/30/2026

Richard Avanzino spent his career asking the animal welfare field to imagine things that did not yet exist.

When Rich began his career, Shelter Medicine as we know it today didn’t exist either. But he understood that if shelters were going to save animals who were sick, injured, or behaviorally challenged, they needed veterinarians with specialized knowledge of the unique challenges of shelter populations.

Under his leadership, Maddie's Fund invested in building that expertise, supporting Shelter Medicine education at veterinary colleges across the country, including the University of Florida.

UF's Dr. Julie Levy, who first met Rich when she was a veterinary student, reflected on the generations of veterinarians and shelter professionals who have carried that work forward:

“Rich dropped a pebble, and its ripples will compound his impact for generations to come.”

Rich Avanzino died Sept. 20 at age 84. We remember a visionary who saw what Shelter Medicine could become, and helped build the systems needed to make that vision possible.

Read our tribute to Rich and his extraordinary legacy: https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2026/09/30/richard-avanzino/