Earlier this year, the Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC) launched ShelterLuv thanks to the leadership of Animal Care Director, Amy Richards. We sat down with Amy to learn more about this exciting tool and how it will help HSLC keep up with the evolving needs of the community.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the launch of ShelterLuv. What is It, and how will it benefit HSLC?

Shelterluv is a budget-friendly software program developed specifically for animal welfare organizations to help manage everything from the intake of an animal, storage of medical records, to processing adoptions.

That sounds very useful! How will it help our volunteers, fosters and adopters?

Shelterluv will hold all of the information on each animal making it easier for any volunteer to see what medical care an animal has received, when they are due for their next vaccinations, and if they are ready for adoption. Additionally, we can build profiles for each of our foster guardians to include how many animals they are comfortable with, preferred age, if they are comfortable caring for animals with special needs, and more. Each foster guardian is invited to update their profile and can also enter their availability.

There will also be an enormous benefit for our adoptions team and adopters. The team will be able to process adoptions completely online since adopters will be able to sign the adoption agreement and pay the adoption fees right from their mobile devices. Adopters will also get special offers on pet insurance from MetLife, discounts from Chewy, and an Adopterluv account with our digital adoption packet and all of their new companion animal’s medical information.

So it’s win-win-win for the humans! Are there any benefits to the animals?

The benefits to the animals come from the automation of the system. It enables our Animal Care Team to have better visibility into each of the cat or dog’s needs, reminders of vet appointments due, and access to their records. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits to the animals is that Shelterluv makes it easier to request and collect additional donations with the mobile checkout feature.

As the project lead, what did you learn during the on-boarding process that you can use going forward?

In some cases it was like learning an entirely new language. I don’t come from the tech world, so I had a lot of questions. ShelterLuv’s onboarding team is so helpful. They really held my hand and explained things as we went along, answering the questions I had about the software and terminology. This has expanded my knowledge base and will be helpful when training my teammates on the system and when working with other shelters/rescues.

Sounds like this project was out of your comfort zone but you went for it anyway. What advice would you give someone who wants to take on an important initiative even though it may be outside their wheelhouse?

Oh definitely. I would suggest for anyone to make sure they have the time and support needed for a project like this. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from the company you are working with on things you don’t understand. Be clear in your communication with your team including responsibilities and due dates. If you are only looking for feedback, make sure to be specific on what type of feedback you are looking for and from whom. And finally, be patient with yourself, and give yourself and others the grace and space to learn.

Now that the dust has settled, how are you feeling about ShelterLuv?

Really happy and proud. The adoption process is so much easier. We have some volunteers who are now more involved and invested. We can see how much it has to offer and we continue to learn exciting new things every day!