Member Outreach

Shelter Training Program (STP)

This program is a partnership between the Behavior Service and the Whitman County Humane Society, where the students have an opportunity to learn how to make assessments at a shelter environment, as well as train animals on basic commands and manners so they become more adoptable. Students attending this program learn:
1. Positive reinforcement and negative punishment
2. How to clicker train, developing training abilities
3. How to assess dog and feline behaviors

One Health Clinic

The One Health Clinic is a place where people experiencing homelessness with companion animals can get medical and veterinary care in a side-by-side setting to improve the health of the whole family. The Clinic is a partnership with the University of Washington Center for One Health Research. The goal of this partnership is to research the impact having a companion animal has on people facing homelessness and to provide research-based recommendations for combined healthcare.

The clinic is offered twice per month and is an extension of the human healthcare provided through the Neighborcare Health Youth Clinic at New Horizons shelter. Veterinary care is provided by veterinary students on rotation at Seattle Humane. The One Health Clinic was created as a first step to determine the need for animal care services for people facing homelessness in Seattle and King County. We believe that by offering health care for people and their pets, all members of the family unit, whether they have 2 legs or four, are healthier. The team created on online toolkit available for anyone who wants to create similar programs to offer services in their community.

Healthy People + Healthy Pets

Twice a year, the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine partners with the WSU College of Nursing to offer the Healthy People + Healthy Pets clinic in Spokane. Primary veterinary care is offered by DVM students under the supervision of Dr. Raelynn Farnsworth alongside services from nursing students and faculty. The goal of this partnership is to offer veterinary and medical care to people who are low-income or facing homelessness in the Spokane region. Clinics are typically held in February and November.