MMPC Spring 2023 Shelter Summit and Fast Tracks - On-Demand Summit Recording

With an undergraduate degree in Business/Economics from UCLA and a DVM from UC Davis, Dr. Cindi Delany became the first ever Shelter Veterinarian at Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation in California under the newly created UC Davis Shelter Medicine Program in 2001.Dr. Delany’s focus in KSMP animal shelter consultations and industry speaking is on programs targeted to improve animal outcomes, provide environmental enrichment for shelter animals, explore shelter animal behavior and training, improve shelter data collection and analysis, and maximize operational efficiencies in a limited resource environment. She currently serves as the Master of the Learniverse, the online learning platform for Maddie's Million Pet Challenge. 

Jennifer Toussaint is the Chief of animal control in Arlington County, Virginia, at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Jennifer has been serving Arlington County for over 10 years and accepted the Chief position in 2016.

She has expanded the animal control department’s outreach efforts in providing additional support to pet owners to enable high owner-pet retention in the community. Jennifer is a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)-trained officer and has trained animal control and welfare professionals on a variety of topics: active listening, emergency preparedness, emotional support and service animals, animal neglect/cruelty investigations, and wildlife intake and triage.

In 2023, Jennifer was an honoree for the Leadership Center for Excellence 40 under 40 leadership award. She is a graduate of Moravian College with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish.

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Kelly Bremken is the Veterinary Social Worker with Oregon Humane Society. Kelly has a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a certification in Veterinary Social Work (VSW). This program trains MSSW students in the four areas of Veterinary Social Work. Those areas are Compassion Fatigue & Conflict Management, the Link Between Human & Animal Violence, Animal Assisted Interventions, and Animal-Related Grief & Bereavement.

At Oregon Humane Society, Kelly is on the forefront of utilizing social work practice to attend to the human needs that arise at the intersection of veterinary medicine & animal welfare, and social work practice. She serves as Oregon Humane Society’s first veterinary social worker and is paving the way in the field for greater workplace wellbeing and community partnership.

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Dr. Karsten became board certified in Shelter Medicine Practice in November, 2017. Her main areas of interest include teaching and mentoring undergraduate and veterinary students, working with shelter leaders on change management, and providing accessible, affordable veterinary care to everyone who seeks it.

Throughout her KSMP career, Dr. Karsten has helped to identify and implement best practice protocols and capacity for care models at shelters across the United States and Canada.

She also continues to work to understand her role and that of animal shelters in increasing awareness of social justice issues and implementing policies to bring about equity.

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Ivy joined the UC Davis team as the new Outreach Specialist for the Koret Shelter Medicine Program in September 2022. Ivy has a long history in shelter care and medicine; she is a Registered Veterinary Technician who has worked in high-capacity shelters in California. She is excited to continue to serve the animals and the people by sharing her knowledge and experience gained over the years.

Ivy’s passion for animal and human welfare shines through her community engagement as a member of the Tulare County Animal Services Advisory Committee, the Communications Committee with the City of Visalia, and the SMART team, which addresses issues surrounding the homeless community.

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Becky joined the KSMP team as a Facility Design Veterinarian in April 2022. She obtained her DVM degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. She completed a shelter medicine internship at Dane County Humane Society via the KSMP team in 2014 and a shelter medicine residency with the UW Shelter Medicine Program in 2018, achieving board certification through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners that Fall.

Becky has also worked as a shelter veterinarian at two private shelters in Wisconsin. In addition to facility design her interests include proactive population management and infectious disease prevention in shelters, as well as building relationships with folks across the sheltering field.

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Nadia Oseguera joined the Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP) in September 2022 as California Program Manager. Prior to joining the KSMP, Nadia received a Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her desire to help animals combined with her profound understanding and appreciation for people’s diverse experiences and motivations encouraged her to pursue a career in animal welfare.

Nadia’s professional background in customer care and education enabled her to approach animal sheltering with compassionate communication and collaboration, open-mindedness and solution-driven problem-solving.

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Allison Cardona joined the Koret Shelter Medicine Program in January 2022 as California State Director. She is thrilled to serve on this esteemed team and make an impact for animals and the people who care for them. Prior to this, Allison worked for nearly five years as deputy director for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control. In that role, she oversaw two full-service animal care centers, a communications center, public relations, adoption partners, behavior and enrichment, and volunteer programs.

Allison also served as liaison to the County’s Homeless Initiative ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have options and resources for their pets as well as participating in the County’s Anti-racism, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, assisting with the implementation of an anti-racist policy agenda. Before that, Allison spent fourteen years as a senior program director at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in a variety of departments including adoptions, spay/neuter, disaster response, large-scale cruelty operations, animal hoarding cases, cruelty intervention programs and community engagement. 

She serves on the Leadership Council and volunteers on-site at the Downtown Women’s Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing trauma-informed care to unhoused women in Los Angeles. She received a bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs from Empire State College and is a graduate of the USC Price School of Public Policy Executive Leadership Development Program and Southern Utah University Certificate in Executive Animal Services. The proud daughter of Colombian immigrants, Allison is deeply committed to racial justice and equity work. She lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Yvonne and beloved dog, Emma.

Chumkee obtained her DVM degree at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. She then completed an internship at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in NYC in 2013, which included experience in anti-cruelty work and shelter medicine. Chumkee was a resident at the KSMP from 2013-2016. She headed the Northern Tier Shelter Initiative and served as Senior Director of Shelter Medicine Services at the ASPCA before returning to the KSMP in January, 2022 as an outreach veterinarian.Her current interests include the role of community collaboration in mitigating pet homelessness, proactive shelter population management, and infectious disease prevention in shelters.