Conference Schedule
Friday, October 17, 2008
8:30am - Welcome and important announcements for the conference - Esther Mechler
8:45am - 9:15am - Keynote Address - Dr. Brenda Griffin
Over the past 20 years, we have reduced our shelter euthanasias by about 80%. Some of the lessons that we have learned have to do with cooperation and forming coalitions, some to do with the timing -- WHEN we spay or neuter -- with targeting the neediest areas and guardians, and with the development of newer techniques, systems and other tools to ensure that every kitten or pup is a wanted kitten or pup!
9:15am - 9:45am - A Road Map - Peter Marsh
Where have we come from? Where are we headed? What are the lessons learned, the shortcuts, the dead-ends, and the fast tracks? How can we work smarter, not harder, to get to our destination -- no more homeless pets --- in the shortest possible time?
9:45am -10:15am - Tracking, Tallying and Targeting - Aimee St. Arnaud
How do we decide which road to take, how to maximize our miles per gallon and target our resources? An assessment does not have to be difficult. Learn about successful communities where doing a simple assessment has helped save thousands of lives!
10:15am - 10:30am - Break
10:30am - 11:00am - A Public Problem needs Public Funding! - Rick DuCharme and Susan Hall
Though the cost of preventing high numbers of shelter euthanasias is only a third the cost of "traditional" animal control, we really need the help of public funding to assist people who cannot afford to s/n their cats/dogs. Learn about successful public state and local programs that fund spay/neuter.
11:00am - 11:30am - We must connect with the public - Jill Lancon
Agencies such as animal control and public health can be our connection with government and the public. Our speaker has worked with the government to develop a highly effective program bringing s/n services to those most in need using animal control as "the vehicle."
11:30am - 12:00pm - Are we talking to ourselves? - Heather Cammisa
Exciting, groundbreaking research is presented on the messages, messengers & media found most impactful to change spay/neuter attitudes. What phrases should you not include in your promotion - but probably do? Practical tips and easy-to-implement ideas to get your message delivered and drive behavior.
12:00pm - 1:00pm - Luncheon
Beginners Track Friday:
1:30pm - 2:15pm - Making the Most of Your Resources - Aimee St Arnaud
How to get things donated, in-kind help, recruit business help and build partnerships with the community; learn ways to stretch your resources further than you dared to dream! Our speaker has worked with local, regional and national groups to maximize resources for their spay/neuter efforts.
2:15pm - 3:00pm - Basic Management for Nonprofits - Karla Kamstra
Many animal welfare organizations rely on volunteer and pro-bono work to get the job done. This session will show you the realities of needing a good organizational structure and the responsibilities of each position to maintain efficient operations. From the receptionist to the board president, each plays a vital role in ensuring your clinic's success.
3:00pm - 3:30pm - Break
3:30pm - 4:15pm - Basics of Fundraising - Paul Jolly
Don't be hog-tied when it comes to raising money for your spay/neuter organization. This grassroots fundraising conversation is rooted in having everyone win and loving the outcome whether you are a small or large organization. Learn foundational money-sourcing basics, money-generating strategies and money-causing key players as well as the basics of event planning. The PETCO Foundation will award 2-$1000 sponsorships for the most creative ideas for fundraising events. Share your ideas and win $$$
4:15pm - 5:00pm - Hands-on (er...off) Feral Cats - Bryan Kortis
Learn the basics of starting a successful TNR "Coach Program" for feral cats. Our speaker has set up a comprehensive program which recruits expert volunteers as TNR coaches, sets up trap banks and arranges for affordable s/n services, creating networks for caretakers throughout the community.
Intermediate Track Friday:
1:30pm - 2:15pm - TNR Policy and Programs - Bryan Kortis
Learn how to address animal control, public health and wildlife concerns on a community level, and make presentations to boards and committees. Real life program case studies will be discussed such as the New Jersey Feral Cat and Wildlife Coalition.
2:15pm - 3:00pm - The Mobile Spay Clinic - Jill Lancon
A mobile clinic can take spay/neuter services into the community as needed. Learn from a talented, progressive Animal Services Director how she presented the need to local officials, obtained and set up a mobile spay clinic, and has been running it successfully now for nine years.
3:00pm - 3:30pm - Break
3:30pm - 4:15pm - Clinic on a Shoestring - Dr. Stephen Kinney
If you don't live in a metropolitan area that can support a large spay/neuter operation, or if you simply would like to open a small spay/neuter clinic but don't have much money, then come and hear how a veterinarian opened a clinic for about $10,000 in a small city shelter in Maine. This clinic serves both the shelter's animals and the public's. Questions are welcome.
4:15pm - 5:00pm - Bridging Supply and Demand: The State Information and Referral Program
Our panel will explain the process of setting up a statewide information and referral program, from assessing need, to recruiting clinics and programs, publicizing the program and finding colleagues and sources of funding.
Veterinary Track Friday
Moderator: Dr. Griffin
Note: Although this track is designed especially for veterinarians, we welcome anyone to attend these sessions with the exception of the Surgical Techniques Dry Lab, which is for veterinarians only.
1:30pm - 3:00pm - Standards of Care for High Quality, High Volume Spay/Neuter Drs. Brestle, Griffin and Bushby
High-quality, high-volume spay/neuter programs are efficient surgical initiatives that provide accessible, targeted sterilization of large numbers of cats and dogs in order to reduce their overpopulation and subsequent euthanasia. The proliferation and diversity of these programs has created a need for standards of care in this practice area. For this reason, a national task force of veterinarians convened in December 2006 to establish recommended preoperative, anesthetic, surgical and postoperative practices. In this session, we will review these standards of care that are attainable in HQHVSN programs.
3:00pm - 3:15pm - Break
3:15pm - 4:30pm - Efficient S/N Techniques Dr. Bushby
Higher volume and lower cost are NOT obtained by lowering quality. Support teams, equipment, and protocols are geared towards safety, efficiency and humane quality care of large numbers of companion and feral cats and dogs. In pursuit of this effort, surgeons become extremely proficient at performing sterilization procedures and develop techniques unique to the field or utilize existing less well-known techniques that lead to increased efficiency. In this session, timesaving techniques will be presented that will improve your surgical efficiency and enable you to care for more animals in your clinic.
4:30pm - 4:45pm - Break
4:45pm - 6:30pm - Surgical Techniques Dry Lab and Wine and Cheese Social Drs. Brestle, Griffin, Bushby, Janeczko and DiGangi
In this laboratory, veterinarians will have the opportunity to practice surgical techniques including the ovarian pedicle tie and Miller's knot. Knott tying stations will be utilized for demonstration and practice of these techniques utilizing props and models. Veterinarians will have the opportunity to network and share techniques and practice tips in this unique interactive session for veterinarians only. Refreshments will be served.
6:00pm - 8:30pm - State Pizza Parties for Beginners and Intermediates
Meet other attendees from your state and learn what they are doing, how you can coordinate, who may be interested in working on a state conference, where the vacuums are in spay/neuter programs and clinics, and other topics of interest to you. Several dynamic, effective state networks such as Mississippi SPAN, Spay Florida, Spay Alabama and Spay Texas started at these conferences.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
9:00am - 9:30am - Rural and poor areas require a special set of delivery systems and leadership skills - Ruth Steinberger
When the roads aren't paved and gas stations are far between, travelers must be prepared. Our speaker will share her experience in a very impoverished region of the country, setting up programs and clinics as well as motivating people to bring in their dogs and cats.
9:30am - 10:00am - Surely The superhighway of urban areas and their surroundings are the High-Quality, High-volume S/N clinics - Quita Mazzina and Dr. Karla Brestle
Successful beyond all initial hopes, these clinics can do 20,000+ quality surgeries annually, operating in the black, and raise the status of companion animals as the surplus numbers diminish throughout the region.
10:00am - 10:15am - Break
10:15am - 10:45am - We cannot forget the ultimate underdogs: the feral cats - Bryan Kortis
Too often stray, homeless and feral cats do not register on the radar except to be targets of individual or public eradication campaigns. While dog euthanasia rates in many parts of the country have been going down, the percentages of cats who die in shelters or on the streets remains very high. How do we tackle this difficult problem?
10:45am - 11:15am - We need to Bridge Supply and Demand - Paul Jolly
We have twin goals - to create appropriate delivery systems for s/n surgeries that reach throughout each state, and to ensure that every guardian of cats/dogs knows about these resources and makes use of them if needed. A good information and referral program can map out the state, be The Bridge, and refer callers from every location to an appropriate clinic or program.
11:15am - 12pm - Karla Kamstra and three others
Four statewide program coordinators will share their experiences creating a state information and referral program - a true roadmap to reducing shelter intake and euthanasias in their states.
12:00pm - 1:00pm - Luncheon
Beginners workshops Saturday
1:30pm - 2:15pm - NO MORE BAKE SALES: Budgeting for Sustainability - Quita Mazzina
Bring your budget and sit with a skilled administrator who will show you how to work out a budget that balances expenses and income in a realistic way. A smash hit at previous SPAY/USA conferences, this lively workshop will save you many headaches and much time and energy.
2:15pm - 3:00pm - Developing Programs for Rural and Low Income areas - Ruth Steinberger
Working in a region which had very few resources, Ruth tackled one county at a time, and systematically built a network of spay clinics and programs that now cover the eastern half of Oklahoma. Come and learn what has worked in areas that are rural and low-income; these are the places that most need our help.
3:00pm - 3:30pm - Break
3:30pm - 4:15pm - "Taking off" to the Future - Joyce Briggs and Karen Green
Why use only well-worn roads if we can chart new pathways to save lives? Once air travel was a remote possibility, but the challenges and risks were discouraging. Now our ability to ‘fly' regularly has changed everything. Come learn what's on the horizon for non surgical ways to prevent the birth of litters. A new study shares what veterinarians think. News on product availability for 2009! Join us to see how, if we all join together, we can gain wings for our lifesaving work!
4:15pm - 5:00pm - In-Clinic Clinics: Using Local Resources - Ruth Steinberger
Here is a way to have a clinic without building one! Working with existing vet clinics, groups organize spay days on a regular basis . This model uses local clinics on days they are normally closed to provide the exact same services as a mobile clinic would provide.
Intermediate Workshops:
1:30pm - 2:15pm - Mandatory Workshop - Dianne Sauve
Learn about the pros and cons, the ups and downs, and the potential pitfalls of mandatory spay/neuter. Before you consider proposing such legislation, you MUST attend this session! Your workshop leader led the way in her county, Palm Beach County, Florida.
2:15pm - 3:00pm - Intermediate Fundraising - Ideas that work! - Sharon Harvey
Bake sales, garage sales and donation jars aren't enough anymore? This session will explore approaches to raising even more money through relationship building and effective communication of your organization's message to potential donors. Areas of focus include: designing and writing publications, such as newsletters, brochures, and appeals, effectively using the media to promote your mission, implementing and promoting programs that attract donors, taking special events to the next level, and cultivating donors.
3:00pm - 3:30pm - Break
3:30pm - 4:15pm - Addressing the Pit Bull Overpopulation Problem - Amelia Funghi
This workshop will focus on addressing the pit bull overpopulation problem by providing free spay neuter surgeries. It will also cover various strategies for outreach including vaccine fairs (where coupons for free s/n surgeries are given out) in urban areas with high concentrations of pit bulls.
4:15pm - 5:00pm - The PAWS Spay/Neuter Program in Chicago - Rochelle Michalek
Come and learn about the Lurie Family Spay/Neuter Clinic -- Chicago's largest free and low-cost s/n clinic located in and serving Chicago's most disadvantaged communities. Free spay/neuter is offered for the pets of residents in Chicago that are on public assistance, and the targeted program provides low cost surgery for pets living in the local zip codes that have the highest number of strays. Since opening in 2001, over 60,000 pets have been sterilized in the PAWS clinic.
Veterinary Track Saturday:
1:30pm - 2:45pm - Antibiotic Use in the S/N Clinic and Shelter Dr. Janeczko
Judicious use of antibiotics is essential to best serve patients and prevent the development of antimicrobial resistance. Indications for antibiotic use, appropriate selection, use and misuse will be discussed in relation to the S/N clinic and shelter where some patients may be at higher risk of infectious disease.
2:45pm - 3:00pm - Break
3:00pm - 3:45pm - Cleaning and Disinfection Protocols in the Spay/Neuter Clinic Dr. DiGangi
Prevention of infectious disease transmission is always a goal in practice. In high volume surgical settings, effective protocols are essential and must be carried out on a regular basis to ensure patient and staff safety. In this session, learn the recommended practices for ensuring proper sanitation in the S/N clinic including that for anesthetic equipment.
3:45pm - 4:15pm - Is She Spayed? Is There Another Testicle? Dr. Griffin
Pets with unknown histories are commonly presented to veterinarians and animal shelters for determination of reproductive status. In many instances, cats and dogs undergo unnecessary anesthesia and surgery, only to reveal that previous ovariohysterectomy has been performed. Tips for differentiating reproductively intact patients from cryptorchid and spayed animals will be discussed.
4:15pm - 5:00pm - Complications of S/N Surgery: Prevention and Management Dr. Bushby
Surgical complications are always a possibility, but certain practices can help minimize problems. When problems do occur, early recognition and effective management are the keys to ensuring excellent patient care and client satisfaction. Relevant practice principles and pearls will be shared in this session.
Sunday Morning: 9:00am - 12:00pm
- State meetings
- Tour of the PAWS clinic for those signed up
- Individual meetings as scheduled with speakers
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