Social Workers Advancing the Human Animal Bond (SWAHAB)

07/24/2026

For Veterinary Social Workers--a volunteer opportunity.
This message is being forwarded on behalf of Dr. Tara Czepiel, leadership team member of the CVMA Pet Loss Helpline.

Hello!

The Pet Loss Helpline (housed under the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association) is looking for volunteers!

The Helpline was founded by a handful of caring individuals in 1993 and, for the past three decades, volunteers from diverse backgrounds have answered thousands of phone calls from grieving owners across the country navigating the loss or impending loss of their treasured pets. For many callers, this phone call with the Helpline is their only opportunity to speak freely about their grief. This service has always been free and open to anyone who calls.

Due to decreased volunteer numbers in recent years (related to retirement of long-term volunteers, changes in volunteerism patterns during/after the pandemic, etc.), the Pet Loss Helpline is at risk of closure in the upcoming months unless more volunteers come forward. We believe this is a valuable service and would hate to see it be discontinued.

As a veterinary social worker, you have a unique perspective on the human-animal bond and understand the value of supporting pet owners during their time of loss. Are you interested in being part of the Helpline, or know anyone who may be? If you think that there may be interest from your students, house officers, faculty, or outside colleagues in volunteering for or partnering with the Pet Loss Helpline as part of a communication course, student club, etc., please let us know or feel free to share/distribute this email!

Although the Helpline is currently based in Chicagoland, anyone is welcome to join - all of the calls are answered remotely. Shifts occur about once a month for 2 hours. Calls last for 20-30 minutes and involve active listening along with providing a "grief packet" of literature.

Thank you again for considering sharing your compassionate heart to help others on their healing journey. Please contact Dr. Tara Czepiel, DVM, DACVO at [email protected], [email protected], or 6304793066 if you are interested in learning more or volunteering!





Stephanie Coco LMSW

Veterinary Social Worker

Cornell University Hospital for Animals

Pet Loss Resources and Support

Hours and days of work vary

03/29/2026

Our SWAHAB member, Christine Kim, presents at meeting to encourage shelters to allow pets.

Babygirl, a young dachshund and chihuahua mix with long, golden hair, became homeless during the pandemic. So did her owner, and he searched far and wide for a shelter that would take the two of them. Yet many programs in San Diego County only accepted humans. “That was my deal breaker,” said Be...

11/05/2025

Meet “Splash”, Florida’s first Search-and-Rescue otter. He boldly goes where no human, dog, or robot has gone before. https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=Search%20and%20rescue%20otter%20named%20splash%20in%20Florida&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5 =ive&vld=cid:b85e9894,vid:ui1uiD1Joj0,st:0

04/17/2025

Janet Hoy-Gerlach suggested that we share this link to free Ethics Courses for Social Workers, Health, Mental Health, Human Service Clinicians. Here they are:

⚡🐾 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝟭.𝟱 𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗖𝗘𝗨 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦
𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 — 𝟯 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺!

𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵, 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 - administrators, and others who are interested are invited, please share!

❗𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝘀: 𝗔𝗻 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Presented live by 𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘆-𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗵, LCSW, LISW-S (that’s me 😊🐾)

𝗛𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆:
Open Door Veterinary Collective & the International Association of Veterinary Social Work (IAVSW)

𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 — 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:
📅 Tues, April 22 | 12–1:30pm EST → https://lnkd.in/eBt_ZxCR
📅 Thurs, May 22 | 5–6:30pm EST → https://lnkd.in/eXj-uPiq
📅 Sun, June 29 | 9–10:30am EST → https://lnkd.in/es5sBP_s

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱:
🐾 66% of U.S. households report having at least one pet—and most consider them family.
🐾 Pets are invisible in most human health, mental health, and social service systems—and are rarely included in assessments, charts, or care planning.
🐾 Pets impact people’s healthcare decision-making, access to services, and well-being!
🐾 The webinar explains the import of routinely asking about pets—and gives tools to quickly integrate in service delivery.

**Over the next 3 months, I’ll be sharing peer-reviewed research that illustrates these impacts across populations and practice settings—follow along for the series.**

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

02/21/2025

Need a place to do your HAI research? Check out this opportunity.

Dr Rebecca Niemiec and Dr Lori Kogan are recruiting a master's or PhD student starting in Fall 2025 to conduct social science research on animal-human interactions as part of the Animal Human Policy Center. The CSU Animal-Human Policy Center (AHPC) was founded in 2024 and focuses on conducting social science research to help policymakers and government agencies facilitate positive relationships between animals and humans.

Potential topics of PhD/master's projects may include: 1) understanding public perspectives on key animal welfare issues among farmed animals and wildlife (including fur farming, factory farming, and carnivore hunting); 2) examining how the perspectives of the public and animals can be integrated into deliberative, participatory processes for decision-making about wildlife; or 3) examining the challenges preventing families from keeping and caring for their pets and the human health and animal welfare impacts of keeping bonded human-animal families together. Please review the list of current AHPC projects here before applying and indicate which projects are of most interest in your application. https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/animalhumanpolicy/home/projects/

The selected student will be getting their degree via the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department in the Warner College of Natural Resources and will have guaranteed funding for 2 years via a graduate teaching assistantship.

Please email your CV, letter of interest, and a writing sample to Dr Niemiec ([email protected]) and Dr Kogan ([email protected]) by March 1st to apply.

09/27/2024

Free animal welfare research forum.

Research Forum is a signature virtual event that brings animal welfare professionals and researchers into a unique space to discuss cutting-edge research that can change animals’ lives. Explore past sessions on demand at learn.aspca.org This free, live forum is open to professionals including but ...

09/25/2024

Had to share this one: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/bSiXVzpJnjiWgfPD/

08/21/2024

Woman with emotional support parrots wins her case to keep her apartment . . . and her birds.

A New York landlord tried to evict a tenant over her three emotional support parrots. Now she’s won $165k - The tenant has kept three parrots — Layla, Ginger, and Curtis — ‘to ameliorate the effects of anxiety and depression,’ according to court filings

08/15/2024

Tale of how pets can save us from overloading ourselves emotionally.

05/14/2024

Thanks to HAI researcher, Elizabeth Ormerod, for posting this.

As Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 (13–19 May) kicks off, with a theme of ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’, Dr Émilie Crossley from the Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) explores how dog walking can help us to move more and feel better. https://www.scas.org.uk/the-mental-health-benefits-of-dog-walking/