This document provides an overview of protocols for handling animals at an animal shelter to prevent the spread of illness. It discusses common diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans. Strict cleaning procedures are followed daily and all animals are vaccinated upon intake. Animals are assessed and assigned one of four "shapes" (circle, triangle, square, diamond) based on how easy or difficult they are to handle. Information about each animal is recorded on a kennel card, including identification details, medical history, and assigned shape. Handling protocols are established according to an animal's assigned shape to ensure safety of animals and humans.

1. Animal Handling ~ Part 2

2. Handling for Health
Preventing Illness
While Handling Shelter Animals
Rev. 12-29-15 ~ Kellie Snider
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/v5mEkjk7hy
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3. Disease outbreaks are a concern for
every animal shelter. The good news is
that with proper disease control
protocols , we can keep outbreaks to a
minimum and protect our animals and
our personnel. Infection control is
essential because we’re constantly
bringing in new animals that may bring
illnesses with them.
The picture on the next screen is a
microscopic view of ringworm spores.

5. Ringworm is just one of many diseases that
crop up in our shelters. Zoonotic diseases are
those that can be transmitted from animals
to humans. Some examples are ringworm,
salmonella, herpes B, rabies, hepatitis, and
tuberculosis.
If you see an animal that seems sick, fill out a
vet check form right away. Your supervisor
will tell you where to find one.

7. All of the animals at the SPCA of Texas are
vaccinated as soon as possible after intake. This
reduces the risk of them contracting new
diseases after they arrive and sharing diseases
they may be carrying with other animals. We
also test them for a variety of conditions
including heartworms, intestinal parasites, and
feline leukemia so that we can immediately start
making the best decisions for their care and the
wellbeing of all our shelter animals and
personnel.

8. TAKE PICTURE OF CLEANING KENNELS

9. We follow strict, daily cleaning protocols in the shelters
to ensure a clean, healthful environment for our
animals. One of the reasons we don’t open until noon
is because of the amount of cleaning and disinfecting
that has to be done.
But it’s not optional. Our shelters are dedicated to
ensuring a healthful living situation for the animals and
a healthful work environment for staff and volunteers.

10. Animals must be removed from their kennels for
proper cleaning to take place, so dogs are taken outside
for a bit of fresh air and cats are moved to other
locations while their kennels are cleaned. This all takes
time and skill.
Volunteers are our primary dog walkers each day, and
the animals depend on them to get this much-needed
outside time.

12. Hand washing is a big deal when working with
animals. Wash your hands frequently, for at
least 20 seconds, with soap and running water.
Wash them every time you change work areas,
any time you notice that they’re soiled, after
using the bathroom, and before you eat. There
may be times when you need to wash your face,
arms and other exposed skin also.

14. Be extra sure to wash any wounds with soap and
water as soon as possible after the injury
happens, and notify your supervisor.

16. We encourage you to wear protective gloves
when performing cleaning and medical tasks
with the animals. These are available in all of the
shelters. Sometimes other protective wear such
as surgical gowns, masks, foot and hair
coverings may be required. Your supervisor will
instruct you about these situations.

18. When we handle animals, germs from their bodies can
rub off on our clothing, and that means it’s possible to
hand them off to the next animal we handle. Puppies
and kittens are especially vulnerable.
Wash your hands before you handle puppies and kittens.
Then, when holding them, place a towel between them
and your clothing to reduce the risk of your clothes and
hands transferring illnesses to them.
If you will be handling animals that are sick, talk to your
supervisor about handling them last in your schedule so
that you reduce the risk of transferring illnesses to other
animals. Then, when you go home, change your clothes
before handling your own pets.

20. We have poop scoopers around the shelters, so if
you see poop anywhere, be sure to scoop it up.
Poop happens, but for the health and wellbeing of
the animals and the appearance and smell of the
shelters, it’s up to all of us, no matter what our job
title is, to pitch in and pick it up.
For feces found inside kennels, check an animals’
kennel card first to see if a fecal sample is needed. If
the feces looks unusual, or if you see vomit in a
kennel, ask if it needs to be sampled before it’s
cleaned up, then clean it up, and write a vet check.

22. And of course, we go through all of this for these
adorable animals. Proper care, sanitation and
handling of these guys all works together to help
them find their forever loving homes.

23. Shapes
Codes for
Ease of Handling and Friendliness
Rev. 12-29-15 ~ Kellie Snider

24. In this section you’ll get an overview of our
Shapes system which will help you learn how to
identify which animals you can handle.

26. At the SPCA of Texas we use a code system of four
different shapes, circle, triangle, square and
diamond, to help us identify animals that are easy
to handle and friendly, and those that are more
difficult. By doing this we also provide a way for
handlers to know which animals they are qualified
to handle. Even people with a lot of animal handling
experience need to go through the required
trainings and receive approval to handle some of
the animals in our care.

27. CCAP
Canine Complete
Assessment for
Placement

28. To assign shapes for dogs we use an intake
procedure we call CCAP, which stands for Canine
Complete Assessment for Placement. This
assessment was designed by Kellie Snider, the
Manager of Animal Behavior Programs, and
combines a brief medical and behavioral
assessment that can be performed at intake or in
the days after intake to identify how easy or difficult
it is for an animal to be handled while also getting a
baseline view of their health.

29. BEHAVIOR EVALUATION (BVAL) v3.1
Animal Name: _______________________ Animal Number: ____________________ Date: _________________
Species: Dog Cat Other Breed: ________________ Color: _______________ Age: _________ Sex: M F
Property where behavior occurred:
Rees Jones ACC - Perry ACC - Perry Clinic - Village Fair - Martin Clinic - Private home - Other: ______________________
Area where the animal is currently housed: ______________ Animal’s current Shape: 
Describe what happened:
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Staff/Volunteer: ___________________ Date: ________Time: ___ am/pm ACC Supervisor Approval:______________
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS:
See Socialization Questions in Shelter Buddy.
Entered in Shelter Buddy by: _____________________________ Date: _________________Time: ____:____ am pm
Xena 123234 2-27-16
Chow Mix Cinnamon 5
Purple Pod
Xena used to let me leash her up easily, but now she goes to the back and
stares at me when I go inside her kennel. I’m concerned about cornering her
back there while leashing her up.
I suggest changing her shape to triangle. She may need another behavior
assessment.
Betty M. 2-27

30. Because it is very common for an animal’s
behavior to change during its time in the shelter,
its shape may need to be updated from time to
time as well. If you notice a change in an
animal’s behavior, be sure to write a BVAL.

32. You can find out what shape has been assigned
to an animal by checking the kennel card
hanging from the animal’s kennel. You’ll find the
shape written next to the words, SPCA Tag.

33. FELINE
INTAKE
MEDICAL
EXAM

34. We assign the shapes for cats during their
medical intake exam. (This is not an official
name for the assessment.) We base the
assignment on how easy the cat is to handle and
how friendly it is with people.

36. Animals that are assigned a circle are friendly and
easy to handle. They like people and they are
cooperative during handling. These animals are
good for new animal handlers as you get used to
the way things work at the shelter and become
familiar with handling lots of different animals.
Some staff members will need to jump right into
handling all of the shapes, but be sure to ask for
help from your supervisor or the Behavior
Department if you find any of the animals difficult
to handle.

38. Triangle animals are a little more challenging than
circles, but can still be handled by most trained
animal handlers. Triangle dogs may pull more on
the leash or be more active, or they may be
somewhat fearful. All of our shelter animals require
your full attention while you’re handling them, but
a Triangle animal will need even more engagement
from you than a Circle.

40. Squares are animals that are difficult to handle for
one reason or another. Some square dogs have a
whole lot of energy. Some may really struggle hard
while getting their intake evaluation or just while
being leashed up. They may jump on people really
hard, nip at clothing or pull like a steam engine.
Square cats may only want you to pet them once or
twice before swatting at you, or they may be super
active. Alternatively square dogs or cats may be
quite fearful and huddle in their beds, making it
hard to tell how they would behave if you touched
them. These animals should only be handled by
experienced staff, or by volunteer animal handlers
who have been approved by a Behavior Specialist to
handle Square animals.

42. Diamond is the designation we’ve assigned to animals
that cannot be made available for adoption at this time
due to a serious behavior concern.
The SPCA of Texas, through it’s Animal Cruelty
Investigations Department, rescues many, many animals
from bad living situations, and they make up a lot of our
Diamond dogs and cats. Often these animals have serious
health problems as well. In order to become ready for
adoption these animals will need extensive behavior
modification, and, sadly, some of them will not be able to
recover from the abuse or neglect they suffered before
they came to us, and will be humanely euthanized.

43. No one may handle Diamond animals without
instructions and guidance from an animal care
supervisor or the Animal Behavior Programs
Department. Volunteers that help with rescue
animals must be specifically invited to
participate in this work. Certain Shelter
employees will be assigned to do this work, and
will start out by working with more experienced
staff before they will be permitted to do it on
their own.

45. After finishing this class Volunteers can handle
Circle and Triangle animals but need to schedule
a meeting with a Behavior Specialist before
handling Square animals. The Behavior Specialist
will let the volunteer department know when he
or she has approved you to handle Square
animals.

46. Staff members that work in the shelters will
handle all of our animals but the Behavior
Specialists are available for you to consult with
on techniques.

47. Kennel Cards
Working information
about shelter animals
Rev. 12-30-15 ~ Kellie Snider

49. The kennel card is an important document that
follows an animal during its time in the shelter.

51. The information that appears on the kennel card
is entered and stored in Shelter Buddy, our
shelter software. Staff members that need
access to Shelter Buddy as part of their jobs will
be shown how to use it by their supervisor or
someone assigned to do that.

53. The kennel card will be printed out, and hung
from the kennel door in a plastic sleeve or
slipped into a slot on the kennel door.

55. You can get most or all of the identifying
information you need to know about an animal
right here. You can find the animal’s name in
large letters at the top. And you can find a photo
to the right of the page. If there isn’t a picture
on the kennel card it means the
Communications Department hasn’t taken the
animal’s picture yet. It will be added soon.

57. The Animal ID number is the most important information
on the kennel card. We have had dozens of animals
named Molly over the years and we may even have more
than one with that name right now, so if you do a search
in Shelter Buddy, this particular Molly will be hard to find.
The Animal ID number refers to one, and only one animal.
If you’re filling out a BVAL, a vet check or another shelter
document using the kennel card as a guide, remember to
double check the animal ID number you write down.
Incorrectly writing it can mean an animal doesn’t get the
care he needs to receive.

59. The adoption fee is located under the Animal ID.
We have variable pricing for our animals, and at
times we may change our prices, but the kennel
card will let you know the current price. If we’re
running a special this price may still show on the
kennel card, but adopters will be informed of
the correct cost by an adoption counsellor.
Adoption counsellors will learn more details
about that process in the Adoption Counsellor
Training class.

60. Triangle

61. If the animal has been assigned a shape, it will be
printed in the space next to the words Shelter Tag.
If there is no shape written in this space it means
either that the animal hasn’t been assessed yet or
the animal was first adopted before we had the
shapes system in place. There is a slideshow that
will explain how that system works. If we have an
animal in our care that was adopted before the
shapes system was in place, it’s likely that he or she
was returned, and will receive an assessment this
time around.

63. An animal’s status will tell us where she is in the
system. Animals that have just come into the
shelter will be marked Awaiting Sort. After
they’ve been sorted their status will indicate
what is happening with them now. You may see
“Awaiting Vet Check”, or “Awaiting Behavior
Check”. The card may read “Unavailable while
under BMod (which stands for Behavior
Modification) or it may read Available. This dog,
Molly, was adopted!

65. An animal’s source indicates where the animal came from
before it was here. Molly was an owner surrender, which
means that a person or family owned her and decided to
relinquish her to the shelter. Some animals’ source says
Transfer. This means we brought it here from another
shelter or rescue. It might read, “Humane Office Seized”,
which means that it was part of a rescue conducted with
law enforcement to remove animals from unhealthy or
abusive conditions. It could also read, “Compliance”,
which means our Animal Cruelty Investigators worked
with the owner who agreed to turn the animals over to us
for their own wellbeing.

67. Surrender reason is next on the list. There are many reasons animals
are surrendered to shelters. Molly was surrendered because her
owners were moving. It’s easy to be angry at owners that moved away
and didn’t take their pet, but we have to understand that there are
many situations that could cause an animal to move and not take their
pet. One family adopted two animals from us, and when their house
burned down and they had to move in with relatives in another state
they knew we would find loving homes for their much loved pets, so
they entrusted us with their care. On many occasions military
personnel have been deployed and have turned to us when they were
unable to find homes for their pets. So you see, it’s not a black-and-
white issue.
Other surrender reasons include that he doesn’t like other pets in the
family, that he’s too active, or that the owner has died. We have a long
list of reasons an animal might be surrendered. Our goal is to provide
them with exceptional care and a loving home.

69. The animal’s current location will be our
common descriptions for spaces within our
shelters. Molly’s kennel card doesn’t show a
location because she has been adopted.
Animals in our Perry Shelter may read: Cat
Holding, Dog Holding, Cat Adoptions 1, 2 or 3 or
Dog Adoptions, among other locations. Jan
Rees Jones shelter locations include Blue
Holding, Cat Hold 1, Orange Pod and Yellow
Condo.

71. Then we see the species of the animal …

73. The date it entered the shelter…

75. The date it became available…

77. Its microchip number … all of our cats and dogs
and certain other species are microchipped.

79. We’ve got her sex. In this case, Molly is a female
dog that has been spayed.

81. The age of the animal…

83. Its weight …

85. Whether it has appeared on TV, been featured
on radio, or has been part of some other media
campaign...

87. We may list some distinctive features.

89. Then there’s an adoption summary. This space
will contain a paragraph or two introducing the
pet to adopters. It is usually something cute,
like, “Hi, My name is Molly and I’m a cute little
dachshund mix that is looking for a lap to sit in!”
The paragraph will talk about things we know
about the animal, either from a previous owner
or from our own experiences with the animal.

91. Over on this side of the page you’ll see the
animal’s breed. If it’s a mixed breed like Molly,
you’ll only see her predominant breed and the
word Mix. Molly was listed as a Dachshund
Chihuahua mix… or what we call a Chiweenie!
Unfortunately there’s no place in the software
to select Chiweenie, so we’ll stick with the
official breeds!

93. Under the breed you’ll see the dog’s primary
color… and its secondary color if it has one.

95. If there is missing information from the card the
usual reasons are that the animal just entered
the shelter and is waiting for things to happen,
or that things have happened with him that
have not been entered into Shelter Buddy yet.
The delay between actions and entering them
into Shelter Buddy is usually very short. In the
meantime, check Shelter Buddy online or ask
your supervisor.

96. Click through to Part 3.
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/oG3a1sLeY1ramB