Principles of Animal Sheltering and Support Services

Principles of Animal Sheltering and Support Services
Principles of Animal Sheltering and Support Services
Instructor:	Dr. Sasha Protopopova
Email:	a.protopopova@ubc.ca
Office:	MacMillan 193
Office Hours:	TBD
Class Schedule:	Term 2, MWF 10-11am
Important Course Pages

Registration Details

Current registration details can be found in the UBC Course Catalogue. See registration details here.

Course Overview

Students will learn the history and philosophy of animal shelters and humane societies, with a focus on emerging issues and a One Health/ One Welfare perspective. The course will cover diverse topics in animal sheltering and companion animal support services such as strategies for supporting people and their animals in the community, managing a shelter, establishing community partnerships, public safety considerations, disaster and crisis response, among many others. The course is an ideal starting point for students interested in the interconnectedness of the wellbeing of people and companion animals as well as for students interested in working with animal welfare organizations.

Students will watch a webinar, read a scientific paper, or a blog about best-practices or emergent research prior to each class and participate in weekly reflection on Canvas. Class begins with an open discussion to define and clarify an issue. The second part of class time is devoted to various in-class activities or discussion on the relevant topic. Everyone submits their bi-weekly assignment to progress their final term paper before the next class.

Students will write a term paper on a topic of their choosing, and give a presentation to the class based on the term paper. The term paper will be divided into smaller bi-weekly (every 2 weeks) graded assignments, which will culminate in the final term paper. The format of the final presentation will be up to the student, with preference for creative presentations, such as art work, dance, movie, in-class activity, etc.

For the final week, we will focus on skills in oral and visual presentation and leading discussion, and gain exposure to a wide range of topics. Students will use the skills they have developed by presenting their final creative presentation of 5 minutes followed by leading a 10 min discussion. Everyone will thus have some exposure to 20-30 different topics.

There will be an introductory webinar presentation by topic experts that students watch before class to set the stage for discussion. The class period will be devoted to lecture, discussion, and occasionally in-class activities, such as guest lectures, break-out group discussions, and others.

Research will be done by each student for the term paper. Comments and feedback by the instructors are a key element of the learning materials.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Develop an appreciation of the complex ways in which animal shelters support the interactions between people and animals as evidenced by class participation in discussion and in-class weekly activities;

2. Effectively integrate ideas from multiple sources and compose and submit online weekly reflections on complex topics within the field of animal sheltering and support services;

3. Compose a term review paper on a topic of your choosing within the broad topic of animal sheltering.

Course Format

Reflections - 25%

For the weekly reflections, we will cover a different topic each week. You will read the assigned papers and write a reflection on Canvas. You will also be asked to add a comment or reply to someone else’s reflection. Both the person reflection and the reply constitute one “reflection”.

Only 5 out of 7 reflections (own reflection+reply) will contribute to the final mark. Everyone is encouraged to write all the reflections to get the most experience and feedback, but students can also choose to only complete 5. Reflections are expected to be more than 200 words, no longer than 500. Please include a word count on each reflection. The replies do not have a minimum or maximum word count.

Reflections will be graded using the following criteria:

1. Reading summary: Reflection demonstrates an understanding of the readings and summarizes one or more primary themes presented.

2. Presentation: Reflection is written clearly, shows technical quality (e.g. sentence structure), and is within the word count.

3. Analysis and synthesis: Thoughtful synthesis of information from assigned readings. Reflection goes beyond summarizing reading content and shows personal reflection and extension of the presented ideas.

Bi-weekly paper assignments - 40%

Term papers will be worked on throughout the course (bi-weekly assignments). Each second week, a section of the term paper will be graded (with established grading criteria for each), and feedback will be provided. The following is the sequence of assignments:

- Topic selection, search published literature, and reference software use (submit 10 key papers relevant to selected topic and upload to reference software)

- Annotated bibliography (read and summarize #1-5 paper)

- Outline (develop an outline of term paper sections and proposed content)

- Full draft (Finish any remaining portion of the paper. Edit your paper to improve flow of ideas and address any edits)

- Peer-review (Read and provide comments and edits on one other paper)

Final term paper - 15%

The final term paper will be submitted at the last week of class and will be expected to be 15 to 19 double-spaced pages (excluding references) in 12 font using APA guidelines. The final paper will be graded on an established rubric, which takes into account the following categories:

1. Research: thoroughness, use of authoritative sources (e.g., peer-reviewed articles, organization position statements, government publications, interview of leaders, etc.), and use of multiple sources.

2. Analysis and synthesis: thoughtful synthesis of different types of information and (especially for the term paper) critical evaluation of material.

3. Presentation: structure of the essay, technical quality of the writing (sentence structure, paragraph structure), clarity, and quality of the reference list.

Final Project or Presentation - 10%

For the final 3 classes, we will focus on skills in oral and visual presentation and leading discussion, and gain exposure to a wide range of topics. Students will use the skills they have developed by presenting their final creative presentation of 5 minutes followed by leading a 10 min discussion. Everyone will thus have some exposure to 20-30 different topics.

In the last three weeks of class, students will be randomly selected to present their term paper topic and lead discussion on that topic. Students will use the skills they have developed by presenting their final creative presentation of 5 minutes followed by leading a 10 min discussion.

The final presentations will be graded according to the following categories:

1. Connection to Topic: Presentation or project communicates and represents themes and concepts discussed in the term paper.

2. Creativity and Originality: Presentation or project is interesting, engaging, unique.

3. Effort: Demonstrated individual effort and/or thought in creation of the presentation.

Participation - 10%

Class participation will be marked throughout the term through in-class discussion. Student are expected to come to class having read all required readings and prepared to discuss the topic. Only respectful and constructive discussion will be tolerated.

Course Schedule

Lecture	Topic
History and philosophy
1	Introduction to the course
2	Animal shelter tours (online)
3	History and philosophy of animal sheltering
4	Capacity for Care
5	Software and data
6	Flow-through planning
One Welfare: Keeping animals out of the shelter
7	Lost and found
8	Self-rehoming
9	Keeping families together
10	Foster programs
11	Rescue and community partnerships
Current practices: Animal intake and management
12	Animal intake
13	Medical procedures
14	Infectious disease
15	Population vs. individual health
16	Cat and dog housing
17	Small mammal housing
18	In-kennel/ cage enrichment
19	Social enrichment and training
20	Dog play groups
21	Behavior assessments
22	Occupational health of staff
23	Volunteer management
One Welfare: Adopter support
24	Marketing animals
25	Breed labels and EDI
26	Barrier free adoption and EDI
27	Telehelp and adopter support
One Health/ One Welfare: Field services and community support
28	Field services
29	Public health
30	Community cats and rabbits
31	Animal hoarding
32	Disaster relief
33	Wildlife issues
34	Humane education
	FINAL PRESENTATIONS
	FINAL PRESENTATIONS
	FINAL PRESENTATIONS