@Christine_MDIMH @ckim2 asked me to post on Typhus and animals. This is primarily a flea infestation problem, and therefore to control flea infestations the unit/room/furniture/bedding must be treated as well as animals, ideally at the same time. Note that some flea treatments that are safe in dogs are NOT safe in cats, and so avoid over the counter flea treatments. I would recommend obtaining a flea treatment product from a veterinarian. This link provides more information: https://www.merckvetmanual.com/generalized-conditions/rickettsial-diseases/murine-typhus

@tweaver Hi Tony, I met with my committee this week and would like to share some the draft policies and procedures we have developed that may help you with some of these challenges. Could you email me at michelle.lem@vetoutreach.org so I can send them to you. We also have an NDA agreement as these are still in draft form and are not for circulation. Michelle

@tweaver Policies and procedures would be really helpful for many of these issues (cleaning, hygiene, waste management, exercise, elimination). I am meeting with my committee next Tuesday and will see what we have ready to share that is applicable to these issues. I understand the urgency here in dealing with these issues and will get back to you by end of next week with some policies/procedures for you to review/consider. Other thoughts: Regular and mandatory workshops/information sessions for pet owners and staff given by veterinarians on pet care; dog trainers on aggression, barking, training; groomers. Contracts with pet owners re # pets, damage to unit, etc.

I like the idea as described above of simplifying the logic model by individual and systems levels. Another framework, which I use in my work to explore human-animal relationships at the micro-, mezzo-, and macro- levels is the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) model, as SDOH for animals are closely tied to those for humans. This may be too broad for the scope of this doc, but thought I would put it out there. I am new to the collaborative and therefore did not participate in these initial discussions, so my apologies if this has already been discussed (and I am Canadian, so I apologize a lot!). Two of the main issues in my experience with co sheltering of animals was an overall resource/capacity deficiency for social services/agencies (staff/workload, funding, space, etc.) and concerns regarding maintaining inclusivity for service users who are uncomfortable around animals. How could the collaborative support these issues?