2025 Fall Seminar
Please join us Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at Bubolz Nature Preserve in Appleton, WI for another exciting day of inspirational presentations, professional networking, informative vendors, prizes and great learning opportunities! This year's fall event will feature educational presentations led by nationally recognized animal welfare experts sharing what they have learned and done over time to improve the lives of shelter animals and the professionals who care for them. Lunch and snacks will be provided.
Seminar Details
Event Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Event Time: 8am - 4:00pm
Event Location:
Bubolz Nature Preserve
4815 N Lynndale Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
Event Time: 8am - 4:00pm
Event Location:
Bubolz Nature Preserve
4815 N Lynndale Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
Featured Presentations
Population Management: The Why and How
Dr. Lauren Overman, DVM
Learn more about how to perform active population management in your shelter, utilizing pathway planning and population rounds to minimize unnecessary waiting times, right size your length of stay and operate within your capacity for care.
Dr. Lauren Overman, DVM
Learn more about how to perform active population management in your shelter, utilizing pathway planning and population rounds to minimize unnecessary waiting times, right size your length of stay and operate within your capacity for care.
Outbreak Management: We All Have a Role
Dr. Lauren Overman, DVM
Infectious disease outbreaks are challenging. In this session you will learn more about how all shelter staff can contribute to managing an outbreak. We will walk through the steps of outbreak management while learning the ways different teams can help to support through this difficult time.
Dr. Lauren Overman, DVM
Infectious disease outbreaks are challenging. In this session you will learn more about how all shelter staff can contribute to managing an outbreak. We will walk through the steps of outbreak management while learning the ways different teams can help to support through this difficult time.
Accessing Spay & Neuter Surgeries: Fall 2025 Update
Jamie Case
According to the Veterinary Care Accessibility Score Map, 47% of Wisconsin counties have nearly inaccessible or difficult access to veterinary care. In some cases, only one veterinary clinic serves the entire county. This inaccessibility has led to a crisis in Wisconsin shelters. The community’s lack of access to veterinary care is a contributing factor to rising shelter intake. Long lengths of stay, slow adoption rates, and disease outbreaks have compounded the shelter crisis. Through NTSI’s work in Wisconsin, we’ve had a front seat view of the hardships shelters face daily trying to locate and access affordable spay/neuter for adoptable animals and community cats. Oftentimes in rural communities, shelter employees transport animals in their personal vehicles to a costly offsite facility. This significantly cuts into productivity and animal care, while also increasing costs for the shelter. During this session, we will review the latest data submitted by shelters in Wisconsin regarding spay neuter accessibility. After looking at accessibility components like cost, driving distance and backlog, we hope that you will collaborate with others in your region to improve access. After the 2-year pilot project in Wisconsin, the ASPCA team found that connections and collaboration are key to begin solving accessibility issues.
Jamie Case
According to the Veterinary Care Accessibility Score Map, 47% of Wisconsin counties have nearly inaccessible or difficult access to veterinary care. In some cases, only one veterinary clinic serves the entire county. This inaccessibility has led to a crisis in Wisconsin shelters. The community’s lack of access to veterinary care is a contributing factor to rising shelter intake. Long lengths of stay, slow adoption rates, and disease outbreaks have compounded the shelter crisis. Through NTSI’s work in Wisconsin, we’ve had a front seat view of the hardships shelters face daily trying to locate and access affordable spay/neuter for adoptable animals and community cats. Oftentimes in rural communities, shelter employees transport animals in their personal vehicles to a costly offsite facility. This significantly cuts into productivity and animal care, while also increasing costs for the shelter. During this session, we will review the latest data submitted by shelters in Wisconsin regarding spay neuter accessibility. After looking at accessibility components like cost, driving distance and backlog, we hope that you will collaborate with others in your region to improve access. After the 2-year pilot project in Wisconsin, the ASPCA team found that connections and collaboration are key to begin solving accessibility issues.
Building Inclusive Adoption Practices: Embracing the Adopters Welcome Framework
Jordan Constantine
Carol Whaley
Join Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) to learn about Adopters Welcome, a framework rooted in conversation-based adoptions. Attendees will learn about common barriers to adoption and how they affect potential adopters. We'll discuss how to support staff and volunteers so they can shift from a rigid application process to one that creates long-term relationships with adopters. Lastly, we'll talk about the importance of data collection to inform program success.
Update: The last 30 minutes of this presentation will be a panel of Wisconsin shelters sharing how they have incorporated the Adopters Welcome Model
Jordan Constantine
Carol Whaley
Join Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) to learn about Adopters Welcome, a framework rooted in conversation-based adoptions. Attendees will learn about common barriers to adoption and how they affect potential adopters. We'll discuss how to support staff and volunteers so they can shift from a rigid application process to one that creates long-term relationships with adopters. Lastly, we'll talk about the importance of data collection to inform program success.
Update: The last 30 minutes of this presentation will be a panel of Wisconsin shelters sharing how they have incorporated the Adopters Welcome Model
Hop to It! Introducing ASV Guidelines for Humane Rabbit Housing in Animal Shelters
Dr. Erica Schumacher, DVM
Rabbits are one of the most frequently overlooked species in animal shelters, particularly when it comes to housing and environmental needs. This session introduces the ASV Guidelines for Humane Rabbit Housing in Animal Shelters- the first document of its kind in North America to offer comprehensive, species-specific recommendations for rabbits in shelter settings. Dr. Schumacher will highlight key recommendations, the evidence behind them, and practical strategies for implementation in a range of shelter environments. These guidelines are intended to offer the same kind of practical value as the ASV’s widely used Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters and Spay/Neuter Guidelines—supporting shelters in providing thoughtful, humane care for all animals, including rabbits!
Dr. Erica Schumacher, DVM
Rabbits are one of the most frequently overlooked species in animal shelters, particularly when it comes to housing and environmental needs. This session introduces the ASV Guidelines for Humane Rabbit Housing in Animal Shelters- the first document of its kind in North America to offer comprehensive, species-specific recommendations for rabbits in shelter settings. Dr. Schumacher will highlight key recommendations, the evidence behind them, and practical strategies for implementation in a range of shelter environments. These guidelines are intended to offer the same kind of practical value as the ASV’s widely used Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters and Spay/Neuter Guidelines—supporting shelters in providing thoughtful, humane care for all animals, including rabbits!
Featured Speakers
Dr. Lauren Overman, DVM has worked in animal welfare for over 20 years and her involvement in and commitment to shelter medicine runs deep. She started as a veterinary assistant in an animal shelter before attending veterinary medical school. After graduating from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2011, Dr. Overman went on to complete a shelter medicine internship at Oregon Humane Society. She then joined the Humane Society for Southwest Washington for 10 years as Vice President of Veterinary Services, where she oversaw the surgical and medical care of shelter animals and pets of people experiencing houselessness. Dr. Overman is currently serving on the Board of Directors for both the Alliance for Contraception of Cats and Dogs (ACC&D) and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV). Her interests include community-centric sheltering, shelter infectious disease prevention/management, and a veterinarian’s role in shelter management.
Jamie Case is a Director for the ASPCA’s Northern Tier Shelter Initiative. For almost two decades, Jamie has dedicated her career to supporting pet families and strengthening the human animal bond. She firmly believes that you should do the best that you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. – Maya Angelou This is critical at this time in animal welfare and leads her work daily. Jamie is a wife and mother of two human children, two dogs, an outdoor working cat and thousands of honeybees.
Jordan Constantine trained as a social worker and is a committed advocate for multi-perspective, system-level solutions, designed by the people who use them. Their experience in child welfare was a foundation for volunteer and paid animal welfare roles from reading books to dogs at their local shelter to serving as Director of Operations for an animal welfare non-profit, overseeing a high volume spay/neuter clinic, mobile wellness clinic, Community Cat and Pets for Life programs. Jordan is a committed advocate for the transformative and healing power of the human-animal bond and removing barriers preventing access for all. They co-created a framework to reduce bias in decision-making and have expertise in human factors and building a culture of safety in organizations and systems. Jordan has a MA in Social Work and is a 200HR Registered Yoga Teacher and yoga therapist in training.
Carol Whaley has dedicated over two decades to the animal protection sector, blending hands-on care with a commitment to systemic change. At the Animal Rescue League, she launched the Foster Finder program, Return to Field initiative and spearheaded a large-scale targeted TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) project in Pittsburgh, building coalitions among local shelters and community groups to address the city's community cat crisis. During her tenure at Animal Friends, Carol expanded vital programs, including a citywide spay/neuter initiative that grew from 3,000 to 10,000 procedures annually. She played a key role in opening the Animal Wellness Center in 2017 and developing its first community wellness programs. Her advocacy work has led to significant legislative victories, including the creation of the Humane Legislation Committee and the Compassionate Communities program, which works to implement humane policies across local municipalities.
Dr. Erica Schumacher, DVM discovered her passion for shelter medicine in 2003 at Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) in Madison, Wisconsin, initially as a certified veterinary technician. After earning her DVM at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she combined her love for shelter medicine and wildlife during a Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine internship. Her career led her to diverse locations like Arizona, Alaska, and Africa. Returning to DCHS, she served as Chief Shelter Veterinarian for seven years before joining the UW Shelter Medicine Program as an Outreach Veterinarian 2018. She enjoys using her clinical background in shelter medicine as well as her love of teaching to help shelters reach their lifesaving potential.
Event Agenda
8am-9am: Breakfast, Check-in & Networking
9am-10am: Population Management: The Why and the How, Dr. Lauren Overman
10am-10:15am: Break
10:15am-11:15am: Outbreak Management: We All Have a Role, Dr. Lauren Overman
11:15am - 11:25am: Break
11:25am-11:55am: Accessing Spay & Neuter Surgeries: Fall 2025 Update, Jamie Case
11:55am-1pm: Lunch
1pm-1:20pm: Innovations in Animal Welfare
1:20pm-2:20pm: Introducing the ASV Guidelines for Humane Rabbit Housing in Animal Shelters, Dr. Erica Schumacher
2:20pm-2:30pm: Break
2:30pm-4pm: Embracing the Adopters Welcome Framework and Local Shelter Panel, Jordan Constantine & Carol Whaley
9am-10am: Population Management: The Why and the How, Dr. Lauren Overman
10am-10:15am: Break
10:15am-11:15am: Outbreak Management: We All Have a Role, Dr. Lauren Overman
11:15am - 11:25am: Break
11:25am-11:55am: Accessing Spay & Neuter Surgeries: Fall 2025 Update, Jamie Case
11:55am-1pm: Lunch
1pm-1:20pm: Innovations in Animal Welfare
1:20pm-2:20pm: Introducing the ASV Guidelines for Humane Rabbit Housing in Animal Shelters, Dr. Erica Schumacher
2:20pm-2:30pm: Break
2:30pm-4pm: Embracing the Adopters Welcome Framework and Local Shelter Panel, Jordan Constantine & Carol Whaley
Scholarships Available
The Wisconsin Federated Humane Society (WFHS) Scholarship fund is committed to offering Conference scholarship funding to WFHS member applicants who are eager to learn and whose organization would be financially challenged to pay the registration fee.
WFHS Scholarship applications will be accepted until September 5th.
Don't Forget About The Happy Hour!
Join seminar speakers and fellow shelter staff from across Wisconsin for a night of networking and connection making! This evening will include a round table on the nationwide fundraising/adoption event, The Shelter Slumber Pawty.
Event Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Event Time: 5:00pm
Event Location:
The Bar
2435 W Nordale Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
Event Time: 5:00pm
Event Location:
The Bar
2435 W Nordale Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
Food and drinks at this event will be available starting at 5pm.
Table sessions will begin at 6pm. During this time, attendees will be allowed the opportunity to network with each other as well as our featured speakers .
Table 1: Shelter Slumber Pawty table facilitated by Shelter Slumber Pawty
Table 2: Shelter Medicine table facilitated by Dr. Erica Schumacher
Table 3: Shelter Collaboration table facilitated by Jessica Pinkos
Table sessions will begin at 6pm. During this time, attendees will be allowed the opportunity to network with each other as well as our featured speakers .
Table 1: Shelter Slumber Pawty table facilitated by Shelter Slumber Pawty
Table 2: Shelter Medicine table facilitated by Dr. Erica Schumacher
Table 3: Shelter Collaboration table facilitated by Jessica Pinkos
Thank you to our Event Sponsors
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