Featuring  presentations on various issues that shelters deal with on a daily basis from adoption promotion to hands-on animal care.   Please check back as details will continue to be added as we near the conference.

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Itinerary

Just Do It! – Super Adoption Events & Successful Adoption Promotions!
Zachary Black, Greater Androscoggin Humane Society, Lewiston, ME

Learn how we successfully pulled off Maine’s 1st ever 24 Hour Super Adoption Event and how you can do it too! Also included are lots of ideas on how to throw together catchy one-day adoption promotions! Ever wish you could wear your pajamas to work? Throw an adoption promotion and you can! 

**In 2011 Greater Androscoggin Humane Society took part in the ASPCA 100K Challenge. After the 3 month journey they had placed 629 more animals than the year before during the same time period, ranking them number one in the region and third in the nation.

Bio-Black started with the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in 2009 as a kennel technician. He was promoted to Operations Manager in 2011 and is responsible for making decisions on the appropriate animal care for each of the 5500 animals that GAHS takes in each year, the day to day operations of the shelter, running the shelter's foster care program and dealing with out- of -state transfers. When space is available, Black works with a shelter in Alabama and transfers highly adoptable and healthy dogs to Maine in hopes of giving them  a new start to life. Black is currently going to school for Animal Science and resides in Auburn with his two adopted shelter dogs, Burt and Parker. 

The adoption process gets people off on the right paw toward enjoying a responsible, loving and long-term relationship with an animal. It should also be the beginning of another important relationship – between the adopter and the adopting organization. This workshop will discuss effective tools for making adoptions and building relationships with so that we can both help them now and ensure they will always come back to us. 

Bio - Humane Logic was started by Nicholas Gilman who has spent his entire professional life in animal welfare. Nicholas Gilman has been working on behalf of animals for over 22 years. He has worked at the local level at animal shelters doing everything from direct care of animals to executive director. His work experience ranges from national disaster relief to cruelty investigation, consulting and shelter design. He worked for three years for the Humane Society of the United States, and for seven years for the American Humane Association where he served as Director of Animal Programs. Gilman has appeared on the NBC Today Show, CBS This Morning and National Public Radio. He has authored numerous articles in humane trade magazines and has presented hundreds of workshops on humane issues both in the United States and abroad. 

    Gilman was also presented the 2006 Humanitarian of the   Year Award by the Wisconsin Federation of Humane Societies.

Gilman's handlers are Nautic and Simon who wish to make it clear they were not consulted on whether Gilman deserves any awards. 

Evaluating Dogs - Creating Behavioral Wellness in the Shelter Environment Pia Silvani, St Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center,  North Branch, NJ  

Wellness is a balance between medical, physical, emotional and behavioral fitness. Living in a shelter environment or moving from foster home to foster home can be very stressful for some animals. As a result, behavior problems can develop or get worse. Maintaining balance in behavioral health is critical. The mind and body are not separate entities but thoroughly interwoven and connected. The dog’s mind and body produce a whole dog. Pia will show videos on demonstrate how to evaluate the needs of shelter dogs as individuals in order to enhance
behavioral wellness, address common behavior problems and increase adoptability.  

 Bio - Pia's love of teaching began over 30 years ago as a private trainer, dance instructor, track, field and swimming coach for the Special Olympics and Regional Clinician for an international aerobics corporation where she trained new instructors in the field. After 13 years of para-legal/office management work, she decided to make her part-time teaching career a full-time dream. She combined her love of teaching people with her other fondness, dogs.

Pia is Director of Training and Behavior at St. Hubert's Animal WelfareCenter, Madison, New Jersey. She has developed various courses focusing on positive, reward-based techniques, which are extremely effective in the enhancement of the bond and relationship of the dog and her human companion.

The result of her efforts is an astounding 100+ classes per week, which includes 8 levels of pet training classes, specialty courses designed for dogs with extreme behavioral problems and much more. She has written six training manuals, which are being used around the country as a resource guide for other trainers.

Pia also developed a behavior department and conducts private consultations specializing in aggressive and anxiety-related problems for dogs and cats. She writes behavior articles for the shelter's newsletter and library; has been written up many times in national, State and local newspapers and made numerous guest appearances on television and radio. She has spoken at various conferences and forums internationally (from Belgium to Japan) and routinely consults with various shelters to assist them in improving and expanding their programs. Her newly published book "Raising Puppies and Kids Together - A Guide for Parents" for a Franklin Roosevelt Award by being voted into the top 3 for parenting books for 2005. She is co-author of "Professional Standards for Dog Trainers: Effective, Humane Principles, sponsored by Delta Society. and contributing author to APDT's first published book "The Dog Trainer's Resource" as well as The Dog Behavior Answer Book by Arden Moore. 

Red Cross Certified Pet First Aid/CPR   
Bobby Silcott, The Maine POM Project

Taught by The Pom Project's Bobby Silcott, this class meets CART requirements (certified Red Cross CPR Training).     Each student will receive a book, DVD and certificate. The fee is $75 and includes lunch. This is separate from the main conference, but registrants for this training may attend the remainder of the MFHS Conference at no additional cost.  The class runs from 8:45am-11:45am.  

The Project's mission is to equip all Maine rescues with pet oxygen masks.  Register for POM Project Training now as space is limited. 

BIo- Bobby Silcott-ACO for 5 western Maine towns, HHAS-BOD, MEFED-BOD, Member Cumberland County CART, TLAER Certified, Founder-Maine POM Project and Naples Volunteer FF/EMT. 

Kids & Critters, Classrooms & Community:  How Humane Eduction and Unlikely Partnerships Create Kind, Safe Homes and Communities for All Living Beings

Kathleen Fobear, Tonya DiMillo, Katie Lisnik - The Linkage Committee

Humane Education, the process of teaching compassion, empathy and respect for all living things, can be an invaluable tool for animal and human welfare organizations.  We will examine:

The Linkage Project began over five years ago, with a goal of transforming the way in which concerned professionals and the communities they serve would address the link between animal cruelty and people violence. We teamed with a wide variety of public agencies and community organizations to change Maine laws and the way the animal welfare and human service agencies do their work. As a result, animal protection and human service providers are working together to prevent future violence and intervene when violence exists. Individuals and organizations are recognizing how closely the lives of people and their pets are intertwined. We will examine:

• -the successes and the challenges of collaborative efforts underway here in Maine
• - review the unlikely partnership between a local humane society, and the Community Partnership for Protecting Children, CPPC.
• -how to build collaborative efforts in your community.   

   

 Bio - Kathleen Fobear is a Certified Humane Education Specialist and has over fifteen years experience in education.  She is currently the Humane Education Director and Spay/Neuter Program Administrator at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland , where she has been for nine years. In addition to her work with children promoting humane treatment of all animals, Kathleen has developed training for a variety of adult groups including human welfare workers, teachers, parents and animal control officers.  She implemented and manages the ARLGP’s PAST Program, which temporarily houses pets for victims of domestic violence while they are in shelter.  Kathleen has been involved with the Linkage Project for seven years.  

Bio - Tonya DiMillo joined the Linkage Project in 2009 as the project coordinator. Tonya brings a wealth of experience in child welfare in both the public and private sector. She is an advocate for animals as well. Tonya’s role has been to integrate the link within the Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC) model program. CPPC operates in Cumberland County and represents the future of Child Welfare. Myriad partners exist within CPPC which provides an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and change practice at the local level.   

BIo  Katie Lisnik - Director of Cat Protection and Policy HSUS

Katie joined the Humane Society of the United States as the Maine State Director in April of 2007. A life-long animal lover, Lisnik pursued an academic career path with the intention of becoming a veterinarian. During her college years studying animal science and wildlife biology, she took an animal welfare class and was re-energized to devote her life to improving the lives of animals through public policy. After receiving her Bachelors of Science, she went on to Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and obtained her Masters of Science in Animals and Public Policy. After school, she went to work at a large animal shelter in Southern Maine as their Program Coordinator, then moved on to The HSUS. She has or is currently serving on the Boards of The Linkage Project, The Maine Federation of Humane Societies, The New England Federation of Humane Societies and the New England Animal Care and Humane Academy.   As of December 2011, Katie accepted a brand new position with The HSUS, as the Director of Cat Protection and Policy, in the Companion Animals Department.   Katie lives in the Portland area with her husband, 2 shelter cats and an adopted Amazon Parrot. 
*Katie will also be leading the Morning Break Ice Breakers Exercise.

 Paving the Way to a Healthier Shelter