There have been ongoing programs, workshops and promotions to professionalize shelter workers, shelter management, and animal control officers. However, the number of non-veterinary specialists in the arena of spay/neuter has been small, and these leaders have been on their own as they learned about how to best “work smarter, not harder” in their efforts to promote spay/neuter, grow services, and connect the public to low cost services.
In its pledge to promote leadership development in this area, Marian’s Dream organizes retreats for statewide spay coordinators. These retreats focus on the professionalization of spay/neuter advocacy, including fundraising for spay/neuter programs and subsidies, strategic planning, quality control, outreach and recruitment/management to build a strong team.