Dear HABIC community,
May 15, 2026
Dear HABIC Community:
As another academic year ends, I find myself reflecting on the past eight months with gratitude for the people, partnerships, and community support that continue to make HABIC’s work possible. HABIC’s mission has always centered on strengthening human-animal relationships in ways that support well-being across individuals, families, and communities, and this year represented meaningful growth across nearly every area of our work.
In April, we had the opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary volunteers who make so much of HABIC’s community impact possible during our annual volunteer appreciation event. Thanks to the exceptional planning and coordination efforts of Tricia Howley, office coordinator, and the support of HABIC Advisory Committee members Cindy Carrington, Andrea Sebald, and Jeff Geilenkirchen, the event was a tremendous success and a meaningful opportunity to recognize the compassion, dedication, and professionalism our volunteers bring to schools, hospitals, libraries, senior living communities, behavioral health settings, and many other organizations across Colorado. We remain deeply grateful for the time and care our volunteers contribute every day.
This community impact was matched by substantial growth in training operations, led by Kate Miller, lead animal trainer, and Sara King, animal trainer, whose work strengthened the rigor, consistency, and accessibility of HABIC’s training processes while supporting expanded program capacity. Training-related revenue increased more than fourfold compared to the prior academic year, while training productivity nearly tripled, reflecting increased program demand and expanded training operations. In parallel, Amelia Malone, community engagement coordinator, supported HABIC’s growing community reach by coordinating volunteer placements across partner sites throughout Colorado, helping ensure that expanded training capacity translated directly into community service and engagement.
This period also marked continued expansion of HABIC’s scholarly productivity, including a tenfold increase in peer-reviewed publications compared to the prior year, 10 manuscripts currently under review, and several active data collection projects spanning topics from pet-inclusive housing to pet-related protective factors against suicide. HABIC will also be represented at the International Society for Anthrozoology conference in Paris, France this July, where Amelia, HABIC Fellow and doctoral student Jada Ford, and I will contribute to six conference presentations.
A meaningful milestone this year was the scholarly development of HABIC trainees, staff, and fellows. Notably, both Kate Miller and Jada Ford published their first lead-authored publications this year, which are featured below. Supporting the development of emerging scholars remains one of the most rewarding and important aspects of HABIC’s mission, and we are incredibly proud of their accomplishments.
As always, thank you to our volunteers, students, staff, therapy animal teams, community partners, and supporters who make HABIC’s work possible. We appreciate your continued support in advancing research, education, and community engagement surrounding the human-animal bond.
With gratitude,
Shelby E. McDonald, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Director, Human–Animal Bond in Colorado (HABIC)
Sarama Bliss Endowed Chair in Human-Animal Interaction