Coming Soon!
Shelter SafeFoundations in Animal Care and Welfare Certification
A professional certification built by the field, for the field.
Shelter Safe: Foundations in Animal Care & Welfare Certification
A comprehensive certification designed for animal care staff, volunteers, and shelter professionals. Each module offers practical knowledge you can apply immediately.
Foundations In Animal Care & Welfare Certification by NACA
Designed for frontline shelter staff, volunteers, and animal care professionals, this upcoming course equips you with practical, humane, and modern tools for shelter success. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to sharpen your skills, this certification provides a strong foundation for effective, compassionate care.
Pricing
This course will launch with introductory pricing that reflects our commitment to affordability and quality.
- A discounted rate will be available to NACA members
- Agencies affiliated with NACA will have access to bulk enrollment discounts
Our goal is to provide accessible, professional training without compromising on content—so every learner gets lasting value from the start.
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Release Date
We’re putting the finishing touches on the course and finalizing production.
Sign up to receive an email as soon as it launches.
What You’ll Learn
Course Modules
1. Animal Enrichment – Techniques to create stimulating, low-stress environments for shelter animals.
2. Customer Service & Public Engagement – Build confidence in interacting with the public and strengthening community relationships.
3. Canine Body Language – Recognize stress signals, posture cues, and emotional states in dogs.
4. Feline Body Language – Understand the behavior, communication, and comfort indicators in cats.
5. Compassion Fatigue, Resilience, and Bias – Learn to manage stress, maintain empathy, and recognize unconscious bias.
6. Emotional Intelligence in Animal Care – Develop communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
7. Dog and Cat Intake Procedures – Best practices for safe, humane, and thorough intake processes.
8. Breed Identification and Behavior – Improve breed recognition and understand behavior patterns to reduce bias.
9. Animal Health: Disease Recognition, Control, and Prevention – Identify signs of illness, prevent disease spread, and understand zoonotic risks.
10. Maintaining a Clean and Disease-Resistant Shelter – Shelter sanitation practices to promote animal and human health.
11. Basic Nutrition – Understand dietary needs and feeding guidelines for cats and dogs.
12. Animal Shelter Operations and Administration – Explore key components of shelter management and daily operations.
13. Spay/Neuter, Microchipping, and Adoption Procedures – Core practices for population control, identification, and successful placement.
14. Learning to Interpret Dog Language and Defensive Handling – Practical skills for reading dog behavior and using safe handling techniques.
15. Learning to Interpret Cat Language and Defensive Handling – Safely approach and handle cats through behavioral awareness and handling tools.