(“Shelter MAR”)
MARN now offers online training for animal shelter staff and volunteers in lost pet recovery training. Our “Shelter MAR” course is designed to educate shelter staff in lost pet behaviors, how to counsel pet owners/guardians who report their pet lost, and the various resources that are available to them both online and in their community. Included in this 8-hour course is a discussion about successful partnerships between animal shelters and trained MARN trappers/volunteers who assist shelters by conducting surveillance on humane traps, using calming signals to catch panicked dogs, setting and monitoring enclosure traps, distributing LOST PET posters, distributing FOUND dog and cat posters to help locate the owners of caged strays, and other innovative services.
MARN Founder Kat Albrecht-Thiessen recently recorded a 30-minute webinar for animal shelter administrators through the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA). The webinar titled “Lost Cat, Found Cat: Intake Reduction Services That Save Cat Lives” outlines human and animal behaviors that shelter staff can redirect to help guardians increase the probability of recovering a lost cat, thus reducing shelter intake of “stray” cats. This webinar is a small example of the type of behavior-based information with anecdotal evidence covered in our 8-hour Shelter MAR Course. If you are not already a member of AAWA, you will need to create a “Learning non-member” account in order to view this free webinar.
Click Here To Register For Free Lost Cat, Found Cat Seminar
The Shelter MAR training is designed to be spread out over one month, enabling staff to have enough time to work through the training. At the start of the first week, a link to a pre-recorded 2-hour long webinar will be emailed to the participating shelter staff member. They will have one week to complete that webinar. Two more links will be sent over the next two weeks. On the fourth and final week, all participating staff/volunteers will attend a live Zoom meeting where we will answer questions and brainstorm. The live brainstorming session will include suggestions on how to revamp that particular shelter’s Lost & Found services and an Action Plan.
All staff (and volunteers) who work the “front counter” at shelters and encounter people who’re reporting their pet as lost should attend. Participating shelters must first contact MARN to schedule a meeting with our Director so that the shelter’s needs can be assessed and a plan can be developed. Once training dates have been set, our REGISTRATION page will be updated with a link to register for the particular shelter’s training and all participants will receive a code with instructions on how to register. All students who graduate from this training will receive a certificate of achievement and are eligible to join a secret Facebook group where they can network with other Shelter MAR graduates, MARN staff, and a select number of MAR volunteers who already collaborate with shelters in their community.
If interested in our Shelter MAR training, please fill out the form below and we will contact you.
