Last month, Community Cats Podcast’s own Technical Tabby, Kristen, packed up her car and made her way from Massachusetts to Florida, bound for the 2022 HSUS Animal Care Expo. Here’s what she had to say about her experience:

After two years of virtual gatherings, it was refreshing to see the animal welfare community in-person and gathered together to connect, network, and learn at this comprehensive event.

Each of the four days was packed with opportunities to attend presentations, roundtables, and breakout sessions that focused on tracks including behavior, cats, leadership, fundraising and marketing, operations, veterinary medicine, working together, keeping families together, field services, and Pets for Life programs. There was also a track for virtual attendees who couldn’t make the live event. Since our podcast focuses on a number of these subjects, I didn’t follow any particular track but my schedule was pretty loaded with cat and veterinary medicine breakout sessions.

The tone for the event was set by a welcome address by Lila Miller, the “Mother of Shelter Medicine.” She candidly detailed what it was like to work hard throughout her career, to be one of the first black women accepted into the Cornell veterinary medicine program, and to overcome medical challenges, only to face prejudice and unreasonable burdens that continued to dog her throughout her career. But Miller also highlighted those who provided guidance and encouragement which made her feel she could continue in this already difficult field. It was inspirational to hear her story of grit, but also a reminder that while attitudes have changed, we still have a long way to go before we achieve equality in animal welfare and veterinary medicine.

Growth and change were a theme throughout the conference. I attended several breakout sessions (because I’m all about the sessions!) over the course of five days, starting with one on targeted TNR, presented by a longtime friend of the show, Bryan Kortis with Neighborhood Cats, and another session focused on return-to-home, presented by Peter Wolf with Best Friends, who was a guest on the show very early in our run. Both were great but featured philosophies that challenge traditional TNR programming. (I also got to meet Bryan in person for the first time – it was like meeting a celebrity!)

I attended sessions that brought focus to some of the words, terms, and jargon that folks in the movement have been using forever, and how we ought to evolve this language to cause less harm and improve accuracy. Conversely, I attended a breakout session that discussed search engine optimization (SEO) and how using industry vocabulary that is more in line with our thoughts and feelings about animals on a website can prevent the people looking for services from finding the help they need. (Think “adopt a cat” as a search term versus “buy a cat.” This is particularly relevant in my role at the podcast, and for my volunteer work with other organizations. I’ll have to work to reconcile these competing ideas going forward.)

I attended several in-depth presentations about the veterinary shortage. We learned how and why the industry is experiencing a shortage, what we need to do to compensate for the lack of veterinarians in the present, including letting vet techs use all of the skills their licenses allow, and what we’ll need to do to make private practice and shelter medicine more attractive so communities will not continue to suffer from a lack of access to care.

Some of my favorite sessions occurred on the last day of the conference. I was lucky to catch Tabitha Kucera’s session, Do You Speak Cat, which detailed cat behavior and how to interpret it to avoid stress and fear when you’re handling a kitty. With this practical information, I’m going to become a better foster home for the kitty house guests who come to stay! I also learned how a shelter can be renovated, remodeled, or custom-built to better serve the animals, the community, and people with architect Kim Hanschen and chief medical officer, Dr. Roberta Westbrook, from the Houston SPCA.

This week has been incredibly informative and, at times, a little overwhelming. In addition to all of the learning opportunities, there was plenty of time to chat and network with other attendees. Those sorts of things can be a lot for a shy someone like myself! But, because we’re all there for the same purpose – to help animals live safe and happy lives – there’s always something to talk about. And I’m not going to lie – the lure of the incredible food served in the exhibit hall would encourage even the most introverted to venture in and make friends. I also got to meet quite a few CCP listeners and even spotted a t-shirt or two in the crowd!

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the conference and hope that I can attend next year (Stacy – hint, hint!) in New Orleans to see how much more growth has been achieved in our industry and catch up with some of the awesome, dedicated animal rescuers I’ve met over the past few days.

Kristen is the Technical Cat at The Community Cats Podcast, a graphic designer and developer. Since 2005, she’s filled a variety of roles while volunteering in animal welfare and was part of the MRFRS board of directors for the better part of a decade. Kristen currently fosters cats who need time and patience to overcome behavioral issues or recover from trauma.