2025 Spring Seminar
Please join us Wednesday, April 30th at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, WI for another exciting day of inspirational presentations, professional networking, informative vendors, prizes and great learning opportunities! This year's spring 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, April 30, 2025
Event Time: 8am - 4:30pm
Event Location:
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
3330 Atwood Ave
Madison, WI 53704
Event Time: 8am - 4:30pm
Event Location:
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
3330 Atwood Ave
Madison, WI 53704
REGISTRATION FEE: $35 / PERSON
Registration ends Friday, April 18, 2025.
Featured Presentations
From Blueprint to Behavior: Shelter Design and Use for Optimal Animal Wellbeing
Dr. Becky Stuntebeck, DVM
This presentation will provide an opportunity for attendees to explore the connections between the shelter environment, animal stress, and outcomes for shelter animals. Attendees will learn to recognize and improve environmental challenges that contribute to problematic behaviors and compromised health for animals in care (as well as the people working to care for them). From noise mitigation to creative enrichment spaces, and a healthy dose of capacity for care, this session will provide actionable insights for shelters of all sizes and budgets seeking to more consistently craft an environment that promotes healing and well-being for the animals and the people within them.
Dr. Becky Stuntebeck, DVM
This presentation will provide an opportunity for attendees to explore the connections between the shelter environment, animal stress, and outcomes for shelter animals. Attendees will learn to recognize and improve environmental challenges that contribute to problematic behaviors and compromised health for animals in care (as well as the people working to care for them). From noise mitigation to creative enrichment spaces, and a healthy dose of capacity for care, this session will provide actionable insights for shelters of all sizes and budgets seeking to more consistently craft an environment that promotes healing and well-being for the animals and the people within them.
Comprehensive Care: Using Behavioral Medications in Animal Shelters
Dr. Erica Schumacher, DVM
Animals in shelters often experience fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration. Behavioral medications can be a valuable tool for improving their mental well-being; however, misinformation can lead to reluctance in their use. This presentation will explore the use of psychopharmaceuticals to support the behavioral health of animals in shelter care. We will discuss common medications, their benefits, potential side effects, and their role as part of a comprehensive behavioral support plan.
Dr. Erica Schumacher, DVM
Animals in shelters often experience fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration. Behavioral medications can be a valuable tool for improving their mental well-being; however, misinformation can lead to reluctance in their use. This presentation will explore the use of psychopharmaceuticals to support the behavioral health of animals in shelter care. We will discuss common medications, their benefits, potential side effects, and their role as part of a comprehensive behavioral support plan.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy: A brief refresher on Wisconsin dog bite law
Joseph Goode
During this lively lunch presentation, Attorney Joseph Goode will provide us with “food for thought” regarding your adoption decisions when placing behaviorally challenged dogs. We’ll take a bite out of the legal considerations in Wisconsin statutes, and their ripple effect on insurance ramifications, your adopters, and your organization. The dessert course will be a Q and A session with our favorite lawyer. They say, “there’s no free lunch” but today we will benefit from free, helpful legal counsel.
Joseph Goode
During this lively lunch presentation, Attorney Joseph Goode will provide us with “food for thought” regarding your adoption decisions when placing behaviorally challenged dogs. We’ll take a bite out of the legal considerations in Wisconsin statutes, and their ripple effect on insurance ramifications, your adopters, and your organization. The dessert course will be a Q and A session with our favorite lawyer. They say, “there’s no free lunch” but today we will benefit from free, helpful legal counsel.
Behavior Pathway Resources: Tools of the Trade
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D.
Behavior-focused pathway planning and outcome decision-making are challenges faced by every animal shelter. Without tools to guide those processes, it can be overwhelming to address those challenges on a case-by-case basis for every dog and cat admitted to your shelter. Dr. Miranda K. Workman from the ASPCA’s Behavioral Sciences Team will introduce a group of behavior pathway resources developed to guide pathway planning and outcome decisions with your shelter’s behavioral capacity for care in mind. These tools focus on Defining Language, Defining Adoptable, Assessing Welfare, Assessing Risk, and Behavioral Capacity for Care. Access to these tools and tips for implementing them in your shelter will be provided so you can approach your shelter’s pathway planning and outcome decisions processes with confidence!
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D.
Behavior-focused pathway planning and outcome decision-making are challenges faced by every animal shelter. Without tools to guide those processes, it can be overwhelming to address those challenges on a case-by-case basis for every dog and cat admitted to your shelter. Dr. Miranda K. Workman from the ASPCA’s Behavioral Sciences Team will introduce a group of behavior pathway resources developed to guide pathway planning and outcome decisions with your shelter’s behavioral capacity for care in mind. These tools focus on Defining Language, Defining Adoptable, Assessing Welfare, Assessing Risk, and Behavioral Capacity for Care. Access to these tools and tips for implementing them in your shelter will be provided so you can approach your shelter’s pathway planning and outcome decisions processes with confidence!
Behavior Pathway Planning: From Intake to Outcome and Beyond
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D.
Behavior Pathway Planning is the behavior-focused decision-making process within an integrated care framework (i.e., behavior, medical, and operations collaborate on animal pathways) with decision points that begin before intake and include reflection after an animal's outcome. When used together, behavior pathway resources can provide your shelter with a standardized approach to pathway planning and outcome decision making within an integrated care environment. Dr. Workman will walk through an example of a behavior pathway planning process that includes tools to guide decisions along an animal's pathway. By the end of the session, each attendee will have the opportunity to evaluate their own shelter's behavior pathway planning process and consider opportunities for change that can directly impact capacity for care and the behavioral health at both the individual and population level.
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D.
Behavior Pathway Planning is the behavior-focused decision-making process within an integrated care framework (i.e., behavior, medical, and operations collaborate on animal pathways) with decision points that begin before intake and include reflection after an animal's outcome. When used together, behavior pathway resources can provide your shelter with a standardized approach to pathway planning and outcome decision making within an integrated care environment. Dr. Workman will walk through an example of a behavior pathway planning process that includes tools to guide decisions along an animal's pathway. By the end of the session, each attendee will have the opportunity to evaluate their own shelter's behavior pathway planning process and consider opportunities for change that can directly impact capacity for care and the behavioral health at both the individual and population level.
Envisioning the Future of Shelter Behavior
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D. Co-facilitated with Jamie Case, NTSI, ASPCA
The field of shelter behavior is still young and developing, much like shelter medicine 20 years ago. With new emphasis on providing population-level behavior support while addressing a rising number of animals displaying problem behaviors and increasing severity of problem behaviors across the sheltered animal population, it is time to professionalize the field of shelter behavior. Knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced animal behavior experts must be developed and retained within a career pathway from hands-on behavior staff to shelter leadership, in order to meet the growing demands for providing care that elevates behavioral health and quality of life for sheltered animals and the pets in our communities. Now is the time to lean into true integrated care where shelter behavior roles are equal to shelter medicine and shelter operations.
Through facilitated discussion, attendees will explore how shelters from Wisconsin and the surrounding states can contribute to the professionalization of the shelter behavior field. By the end of the session, attendees will have identified opportunities, challenges, and potential actions to take to better support behavior programming and staff at their organization.
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D. Co-facilitated with Jamie Case, NTSI, ASPCA
The field of shelter behavior is still young and developing, much like shelter medicine 20 years ago. With new emphasis on providing population-level behavior support while addressing a rising number of animals displaying problem behaviors and increasing severity of problem behaviors across the sheltered animal population, it is time to professionalize the field of shelter behavior. Knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced animal behavior experts must be developed and retained within a career pathway from hands-on behavior staff to shelter leadership, in order to meet the growing demands for providing care that elevates behavioral health and quality of life for sheltered animals and the pets in our communities. Now is the time to lean into true integrated care where shelter behavior roles are equal to shelter medicine and shelter operations.
Through facilitated discussion, attendees will explore how shelters from Wisconsin and the surrounding states can contribute to the professionalization of the shelter behavior field. By the end of the session, attendees will have identified opportunities, challenges, and potential actions to take to better support behavior programming and staff at their organization.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Becky Stuntebeck, DVM
Facility Design Veterinarian
UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Facility Design Veterinarian
UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Becky joined the Koret Shelter Medicine Program team as a Facility Design and Outreach Veterinarian in April 2022. She obtained her DVM degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. She completed a shelter medicine internship at Dane County Humane Society via the KSMP team in 2014 and a shelter medicine residency with the UW Shelter Medicine Program in 2018, achieving board certification through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners that Fall. Becky has worked as a shelter veterinarian at two private shelters in Wisconsin. In addition to facility design her interests include shelter data, proactive population management, infectious disease prevention in shelters, and building relationships with folks across the sheltering field. Outside of work she enjoys petting kittens, getting outside, and reading. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, daughter, 1 aged moggy, and 1 rowdy mutt
Dr. Erica Schumacher (she/her)
Outreach Veterinarian and Clinical Instructor
University of Wisconsin Shelter Medicine Program
Outreach Veterinarian and Clinical Instructor
University of Wisconsin Shelter Medicine Program
Dr. Erica Schumacher fell in love with shelter medicine in 2003 when she joined the medical team at Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) in Madison, Wisconsin as a certified veterinary technician. Following her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and worked with Dr. Sandra Newbury to create the school’s first shelter medicine elective in 2004. After traveling and working in Arizona, Alaska and Africa, she returned to her roots at DCHS as the Chief Shelter Veterinarian where she oversaw the medical team as well as the shelter’s wildlife center for seven years. She particularly enjoyed supervising the clinical training for the UW Shelter Medicine Program interns, residents, and veterinary students. In 2018, Dr. Schumacher joined the UW Shelter Medicine Program as an Outreach Veterinarian. She enjoys using her clinical background in shelter medicine as well as her love of teaching to help other shelters reach their lifesaving potential.
Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D.
Director, Shelter Behavior Education & Outreach, Behavioral Sciences Team, ASPCA
Director, Shelter Behavior Education & Outreach, Behavioral Sciences Team, ASPCA
Dr. Miranda K. Workman is the Director of Shelter Behavior Education & Outreach on the ASPCA’s Behavioral Sciences Team. For over two decades, she has served humans and other animals as a certified animal behavior professional, shelter behavior professional, professor of animal behavior, anthrozoology, and sociology, and an anthrozoological researcher. She received her BA from The Ohio State University (1999), MS in Anthrozoology from Canisius College (2014), and her PhD in Sociology (2021) exploring the intersection of humans, other animals, and the environment. She is a member of the International Cat Care Feline Wellbeing Expert Panel and the American Sociological Association’s Animals & Society Section. Previously, Dr. Workman served in leadership positions for the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, the Cat Pawsitive programs for the Jackson Galaxy Foundation/Greater Good Charities, and the Animals & Society section of the American Sociological Association. In addition to her TEDx talk on behavioral euthanasia decision-making in animal shelters (2015), Dr. Workman published multiple peer-reviewed papers and contributed a book chapter in Companion Animals in Everyday Life. She is recognized as an expert on behavioral euthanasia, companion animal behavior, multispecies families, and human-animal-environment relationships. She shares her idyllic mountainside home with her husband, three dogs, four cats, and a flock of chickens. She enjoys time in nature, reading, gardening, and cheering on her favorite competitive sports teams.
Joseph S. Goode
Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC
Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC
Joseph S. Goode is the Managing Partner of Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC, a litigation boutique based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on complex business disputes with heightened emphasis in franchise and dealership law, intellectual property, probate, and real estate litigation, shareholder and fiduciary disputes, and non-competition and trade secret litigation. He also leads his firm’s Animal Law practice. Joe has significant jury, bench trial, and arbitration experience in various jurisdictions around the United States. Joe is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.A., History, 1989) and Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1994). He also has a master's degree in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University (M.P.A., 1994).
Each year since 2007, Joe has been named a Wisconsin Super Lawyer, starting first in 2006 as a “Rising Star.” In 2017, 2022, and 2024, the organization named Joe a “Top 50” lawyer in the State of Wisconsin. In 2017 and 2022, Super Lawyers further designated Joe one of the “Top 25” lawyers in Milwaukee. Since 2011, he has been included annually in The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Commercial Litigation, Franchise Law, Appellate Practice, First Amendment Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, and Intellectual Property Litigation. In 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2021, Best Lawyers named Joe “Franchise Lawyer of the Year” for the City of Milwaukee. Franchise Times has also listed Joe as one of its “Legal Eagles” every year since 2017.
Joe is a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is actively involved in the ABA Forum on Franchising where he has co-authored articles for the Franchise Law Journal and the Franchise Lawyer. Joe also wrote the Litigation Chapter of the 2023 Forum publication Representing Franchisees and he is the Co-Author (with Eleanor Vaida Gerhards) on the 2024 publication Annual Franchise and Distribution Law Developments, a legacy publication from the Forum on Franchising summarizing national legal developments in franchise and distribution law. Joe is a regular presenter at Forum workshops and currently serves on the Publications Committee. In 2025, Joe will join the Forum’s Governing Committee. At various times since 2011, Joe has also presented at the International Franchise Association’s Legal Symposium in Washington D.C. He is an American Bar Association Fellow as of 2023.
Joe has a strong sense of purpose and giving back. He is the President of the Board of Directors of Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward Association, a former director on the Dane County Humane Society Board of Directors where he served for 15 years (the last 6 as its President), and a member of the Board of Directors of Washington D.C.’s Animal Wellness Action. Three times (2017, 2019, and 2022), San Francisco’s Animal Legal Defense Fund has awarded Joe and his firm with its prestigious “Advancement in Animal Law Pro Bono Achievement” Award for their tireless work pursuing animal welfare in the courts of the United States. In 2021, the Wisconsin State Bar placed Joe in its Pro Bono Honor Society for his work during the 2020 presidential election cycle.
When Joe is not working on client matters, he is struggling with his golf game, traveling, and hanging out with his far better half, his wife Dina. Joe and Dina share their historic home in Milwaukee with their dog Harlow (an alumni of HAWS in Waukesha County) and cats Audrey (a DCHS alumni), and Valentino (a scrapper found in the streets of Milwaukee).
Each year since 2007, Joe has been named a Wisconsin Super Lawyer, starting first in 2006 as a “Rising Star.” In 2017, 2022, and 2024, the organization named Joe a “Top 50” lawyer in the State of Wisconsin. In 2017 and 2022, Super Lawyers further designated Joe one of the “Top 25” lawyers in Milwaukee. Since 2011, he has been included annually in The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Commercial Litigation, Franchise Law, Appellate Practice, First Amendment Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, and Intellectual Property Litigation. In 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2021, Best Lawyers named Joe “Franchise Lawyer of the Year” for the City of Milwaukee. Franchise Times has also listed Joe as one of its “Legal Eagles” every year since 2017.
Joe is a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is actively involved in the ABA Forum on Franchising where he has co-authored articles for the Franchise Law Journal and the Franchise Lawyer. Joe also wrote the Litigation Chapter of the 2023 Forum publication Representing Franchisees and he is the Co-Author (with Eleanor Vaida Gerhards) on the 2024 publication Annual Franchise and Distribution Law Developments, a legacy publication from the Forum on Franchising summarizing national legal developments in franchise and distribution law. Joe is a regular presenter at Forum workshops and currently serves on the Publications Committee. In 2025, Joe will join the Forum’s Governing Committee. At various times since 2011, Joe has also presented at the International Franchise Association’s Legal Symposium in Washington D.C. He is an American Bar Association Fellow as of 2023.
Joe has a strong sense of purpose and giving back. He is the President of the Board of Directors of Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward Association, a former director on the Dane County Humane Society Board of Directors where he served for 15 years (the last 6 as its President), and a member of the Board of Directors of Washington D.C.’s Animal Wellness Action. Three times (2017, 2019, and 2022), San Francisco’s Animal Legal Defense Fund has awarded Joe and his firm with its prestigious “Advancement in Animal Law Pro Bono Achievement” Award for their tireless work pursuing animal welfare in the courts of the United States. In 2021, the Wisconsin State Bar placed Joe in its Pro Bono Honor Society for his work during the 2020 presidential election cycle.
When Joe is not working on client matters, he is struggling with his golf game, traveling, and hanging out with his far better half, his wife Dina. Joe and Dina share their historic home in Milwaukee with their dog Harlow (an alumni of HAWS in Waukesha County) and cats Audrey (a DCHS alumni), and Valentino (a scrapper found in the streets of Milwaukee).
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