To promote and protect the health, safety and welfare of animals and people in the state of Tennessee, through proactive education and representation. |
Resources |
Animal Farm Foundation has guides for marketing, adoptions, and kennel enrichment, along with other resources for shelters and rescues.
American Humane provides operational guides to shelters on a variety of topics.
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has many excellent resources available on their website, such as
Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) is a professional organization that offers helpful resources and position statements.
Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters is a highly recommended resource to help guide all aspects of shelter operations.
ASPCAPro has created a checklist form of the above guidelines that is easy to follow. They also have an excellent webinar series archived that covers the different chapters of the Guidelines.
ASV Veterinary Medical Care Guidelines for Spay-Neuter Programs
Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2016
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has many excellent resources available on their website, such as
Maddie’s Fund provides training, educational resources, and grants toward increased community lifesaving, shelter medicine education, and pet adoptions across the United States.
The Million Cat Challenge is a shelter-based campaign to save the lives of 1 million cats in North America over the course of five years. The core strategy of the campaign is centered around five key initiatives that offer every shelter, in every community, practical choices to reduce euthanasia and increase live outcomes for shelter cats. Learn more about the five key initiatives, including alternatives to intake, managed admission, capacity for care, removing barriers to adoption, and return to field.
National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA) has a variety of resources and guidelines available.
National District Attorneys Association resources for prosecution of animal abuse.
The National Link Coalition is working together to stop violence against people and animals.
Shelter Animals Count is a collaborative initiative to create and share a national database of sheltered animal statistics, providing facts, and enabling insights that will save lives.
Association of Animal Welfare Administrators Best Practices for Companion Animal Transport Programs
Tennessee State Resources:
The University of California Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program and the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Medicine Program have partnered to create Virtual Consultant: a free web-based tool that enables animal shelters to assess their everyday practices. Access multiple short surveys about a variety of topics, including vaccination, sanitation, behavior, monitoring, ASV Guidelines, and personnel/staffing concerns.
There are many excellent online resources for a variety of animal sheltering topics, along with free webinars and newsletters to keep staff and volunteers up to date on new ideas and progressive strategies: