Keegan Spera,

Before joining the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, Keegan worked as a Senior Manager in Strategy, Research and Development at the ASPCA. Prior to her work at the ASPCA, she managed a small, private animal shelter and spay-neuter clinic in Charleston, SC. While at the ASPCA, she helped design one of the first national shelter animal databases. She also led the measurement of program impact and ROI for ASPCA programs and processes at ASPCA Partner Communities, as well as LA County and LA City shelters.

During her time here in the Shelter Medicine Program, she has managed the collection, analysis, and visualization of Florida’s brick-and-mortar animal shelters’ annual data, with a consistent 98-100% collection rate. She provides a public analysis and visualization of the data yearly, and presents the data at conferences such as the Florida Animal Control Association Conference. She also offers shelters assistance with enhancing their shelter data processes to improve the effectiveness and impact of their work, and provides deeper individual or regional analyses to shelters to help implement or adjust programming.

Keegan’s Disaster Assessment Coordinator role focuses on helping Florida animal shelters prepare for hurricane season and/or natural disasters by providing resources, access to training, professional and emergency contacts, and timely reminders. She collaborates with the Florida State Agricultural Response Team (SART), Emergency Support Function 17 members (ESF-17s), Florida State Animal Response Coalition (SARC), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations (FAAWO), Florida Animal Control Association (FACA), national organizations (ASPCA, BISSELL Pet Foundation Animal Incident Management (AIM), HSUS, HSI, NASAAEP, NACA, ASAR, etc.), and a large group of SART Partners within the state of Florida to help coordinate urgent needs for Florida animal shelters before, during, and after disasters.

When Keegan’s not swimming in data or disasters, she enjoys being able to contribute to the Shelter Med and MMPC’s teams’ work through her photography, infographics, and humor.

In addition to her work in animal welfare, Keegan owns an art business (painter and photographer), lives for the ocean and sunshine, loves to golf, watch hockey, and throw extravagant, themed pet parties. She lives in the greater Charleston area of South Carolina with her husband, Eric, and their furry companions.

Animal shelter management of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infections in cats

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367221952_Animal_shelter_management_of_feline_leukemia_virus_and_feline_immunodeficiency_virus_infections_in_cats/citations?latestCitations=PB%3A378733765