Your Input Needed on the Veterinary Crisis Impacting Shelters

Cat using keyboard. Humor.The ongoing national veterinary shortage has posed significant challenges to animal shelters. This has caused a spay/neuter bottleneck, causing some facilities to delay animal adoptions. With many shelters operating beyond their capacity, coupled with a decline in adoptions and a rise in intakes, we face the risk of reversing years of progress in animal welfare.

As a community dedicated to the well-being of animals, we need comprehensive data to guide our decisions during these tough times. To that end, the Program for Pet Health Equity is launching a new research study to assess the impacts of access to care challenges on animal welfare organizations.

Here’s How You Can Help:

The research study will run until October 27. It’s a short, 15-minute survey containing questions related to personnel, budgets, and medical programs. Given that these questions might involve multiple departments within your organization, you can preview the questions here. This allows you to gather the necessary information from your team before filling in the survey.

How to Participate:

  • If you’ve received a direct link from the University of Tennessee: Please use that specific link. It’s tailored for your organization and ensures accurate data collection. You can pause and resume the survey as needed and consult with different team members. However, please ensure only one consolidated response per organization.
  • If you haven’t received a direct link: Please request a link from The Program for Pet Health Equity. Once received, follow the above process.

Your participation is invaluable. With this research, we can better understand our challenges and continue our mission to protect and serve animals and their human counterparts in our communities. Thank you for standing with us during these pivotal times.