Live’s with Laurie

In this Lawless Live session, Laurie opened the conversation on one of the toughest topics in animal welfare—ethical decision-making in shelters.

She explored real-world case studies to illustrate how shelters balance compassion, safety, and practicality when deciding how to allocate limited resources.

The discussion dove into the gray areas of shelter ethics—how decisions about one animal can ripple through the organization, impacting staff morale, public trust, and the care of others.

Laurie shared her personal evolution from a background in journalism to becoming a welfare-driven behavior consultant and educator. What began as a personal journey with her adopted dog, Charlie, grew into a professional mission to redefine how shelters and caregivers understand dog behavior.

Shelter stress isn’t just about noise and overcrowding, it’s a complex, layered challenge that affects everything from behavior to adoptability.

Join Laurie Lawless, founder of Shelter Behavior Integrations, for a live discussion on how stress shows up for animals in shelters and what we can actually do about it.

Join Laurie Lawless, the founder of Shelter Behavior Integrations, for a thoughtful, practical discussion on how to better understand, assess, and respond to dog bites in a shelter setting.

Join Laurie Lawless, CDBC, CPDT-KA and Jessica Wheatcraft, CDBC for a candid, supportive conversation about what reactivity actually is (and isn’t), why it shows up so often in shelter environments, and how we can approach it with more clarity and compassion.