Draft Final Project: Baby-Safe Biosecurity
Big Idea
By implementing baby-safe biosecurity practices between intake and foster placement, shelter staff can significantly reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission within the neonatal kitten population, ultimately improving live outcomes for one of the most medically vulnerable populations in the shelter.
Lesson Goal
To equip shelter staff and volunteers with practical, baby-safe biosecurity strategies that reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission among neonatal kittens between intake and foster placement, improving health outcomes and supporting positive foster parent experiences.
Audience
This class is intended for shelter staff working on intake, animal care, foster, and veterinary teams, and any volunteers working hands-on with kittens in a shelter setting.
ASV Guideline References
· Page 23-28 (Section 5. Sanitation)
· Page 30 (Section 6.5 Medical Assessment)
Learning Objectives and Assessments
Learning Objective #1: Identify potential fomite transmission risks during intake and handling.
Assessment: Learners will review photos and videos of kitten handling scenarios and identify potential contamination risks and transmission pathways during group discussion.
Learning Objective #2: Demonstrate proper glove use during kitten handling.
Assessment: Learners will participate in a “Clean Paw, Dirty Paw” activity in which they must correctly identify whether objects are contaminated and should be touched with a gloved hand, or are communal/clean and should be touched with an ungloved hand.
Learning Objective #3: Demonstrate appropriate use of surface barriers, disinfection techniques, and item disposal when working with kittens.
Assessment: Learners will work in small groups to evaluate a mock feeding station or kennel setup and determine which items should be discarded, protected with barriers, or cleaned and disinfected between kittens. Each group will present their scenario and their reasoning.
Learning Objective #4: Apply baby-safe biosecurity principles during simulated intake and care scenarios.
Assessment: Learners will complete a scenario-based quiz and select the most appropriate biosecurity actions for realistic intake and handling situations.
Learning Objective #5: Explain how effective shelter biosecurity practices support foster success, reduce medical burden, and improve neonatal kitten outcomes.
Assessment: Each learner will reflect on one practice they intend to implement and describe one “invisible win” that might occur because disease transmission was prevented.
Assessment Strategy
Assessment will occur throughout the lesson using a combination of formative and summative assessments aligned with the learning objectives. Formative assessments include the Glo Germ discussion, photo and video critiques, instructor questioning, the “Clean Paw, Dirty Paw” activity, and the group station reset exercise. These activities provide opportunities for learners to receive immediate feedback and refine their understanding before moving to more complex applications.
Summative assessment will occur through the scenario-based quiz and instructor observation during the practical activities using a competency checklist. The checklist will assess learners’ ability to identify potential fomites, demonstrate appropriate glove use, maintain separation between clean and contaminated items, select appropriate barrier protection and disinfection practices, and explain the rationale behind their decisions. The concluding “Invisible Wins” reflection will encourage learners to connect biosecurity practices to meaningful improvements in kitten health and foster outcomes while reinforcing transfer of learning to their own shelter settings.
Why I selected this topic
Neonatal kittens are immune naïve and at high risk of contracting infectious diseases, especially in high-volume environments where they are easily exposed to pathogens. Because young kittens are community-dependent and typically rely on foster care for survival, they do not tend to spend prolonged periods in a shelter facility—but the time they do spend there can make or break their health status once placed in foster.
Most foster caregivers are not animal welfare professionals, and they often fail to recognize the subtle signs of illness quickly enough to access timely medical intervention. While increased foster education and medical intervention are important tools for addressing this issue, perhaps the most important way to support foster kitten health is to prevent disease from starting in the first place. Even brief exposure during intake or on-site handling can greatly impact the foster experience and threaten their survival.
Having worked with dozens of high-intake shelter kitten programs, I rarely see biosecurity protocols specifically tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of newborn kittens. I selected this topic because practical baby-safe biosecurity measures are absolutely foundational to any shelter that seeks to improve their outcomes for kittens, and that the downstream effects of proper biosecurity from intake to foster placement can be a defining factor in the kitten’s ultimate outcome.
Learning theories
This lesson plan combines adult, experiential, and constructivist learning theories to help shelter staff and volunteers learn in a way that is interactive, practical and rooted in real life problem solving rather than memorization.
Why I chose these theories and how I'll apply them
Adult learning theory is relevant because the audience consists of adult learners. Adults learn best when material is intrinsically motivating and relevant to their responsibilities. Because this audience is presumably already motivated by helping animals, I want the lesson to connect biosecurity practices to kitten survival and foster parent experiences rather than present them as abstract rules. By providing a series of “Spooky Stories” in which protocol breaches result in devastating outcomes, I hope to tap into learners’ empathy and intrinsic desire to improve biosecurity compliance. These stories will be followed by discussion.
Experiential learning theory is highly applicable because I will be creating many activities to help learners build knowledge with their own hands. During my “Clean Paw, Dirty Paw” activity, learners will play a game in which they will use a gloved hand to touch items that should be considered contaminated and a clean hand to touch items that should be considered clean. During my Glo Germ simulation, learners will participate observe the impact of fomite transmission.
Constructivist learning theory is also applicable because learners may have deeply ingrained habits and assumptions surrounding kitten handling. Rather than simply lecturing, I want to actively construct new knowledge by reflecting on realistic scenarios. For example, instead of simply telling learners what to do, I will ask them to look at different photos and videos to investigate potential fomite risks. My hope is that this will help them build upon their foundational knowledge while challenging assumptions and identifying small changes that could significantly improve their practices.
Learning Cycle
I selected the 5E Learning Cycle because it allows learners to move from broad awareness of a problem to deeper understanding and ultimately the ability to apply solutions to real world situations. This approach is ideal for biosecurity training because many shelter staff and volunteers already have deeply ingrained habits and assumptions about kitten handling. By allowing learners to observe and investigate contamination risks before receiving direct instruction and opportunities for hands-on application, this model is more likely to lead to meaningful change that improves outcomes for vulnerable kittens.
Draft Lesson Plan
Engage: Invisible Exposure Discussion (15 minutes)
As participants arrive, they will sign in using a clipboard and pen covertly covered with Glo Germ. I will also intentionally handle the GloGerm and interact with materials throughout the introduction including my clicker, a stuffed kitten, and other items to model how contamination spreads unintentionally. Initially, I will not reveal that I have done this.
Once participants have settled, I will begin by asking 2-3 learners to share about a time they experienced working with kittens affected by contagious disease. Participants will be invited to share their experiences with ringworm, panleukopenia and other infectious diseases, and reflect on how those experiences affected the kittens, foster caregivers, shelter staff, and shelter resources.
I will then open a discussion about neonatal kitten health and disease exposure. I’ll briefly introduce the concept of fomites: objects and surfaces that can carry pathogens from one animal to another. Learners will be asked to predict which items might be at risk of becoming contaminated during neonatal kitten intake.
I will then reveal how even one invisibly contaminated item, like a clipboard, can unintentionally spread these pathogens to the hands, phones, and other materials of each person in the shelter, potentially exposing vulnerable kittens to disease. I will show my own supplies, such as my clicker, under blacklight to demonstrate that even a well-intentioned person can become a fomite when unknowingly interacting with a contaminated item. I will emphasize that the purpose of the activity is not to assign blame, but to demonstrate how easily contamination can spread in busy shelter environments, and how small changes can reduce risk.
This stage is intended to create an “aha” moment while demonstrating that biosecurity is a systems issue, requiring all members of the team to work together. Learners will briefly discuss whether anything about the contamination spread surprised them and identify one item that they had not initially considered a potential fomite.
Explore: Investigating Risks (8 minutes)
Learners will investigate how contamination can move through shelter environments by reviewing photos and videos of kitten handling in shelters and veterinary clinics. For this activity, titled “What’s the Worst that Could Happen?”, learners will work in pairs to identify potential fomite risks in each image such as hands, sleeves, countertops, pockets, and hair.
For each scenario, learners will be asked to discuss:
What disease transmission pathways might occur?
What consequences might result for the kittens, foster caregivers, or shelter staff?
What steps could be taken to reduce risk?
Rather than being told the correct answers immediately, learners will be encouraged to make observations, ask questions, and consider the possible consequences of biosecurity lapses. Following discussion, we will review the images together and compare observations as a group.
This stage is intended to help the learners apply their existing knowledge, become more aware of the many opportunities for disease transmission, and begin building connections between handling decisions and health outcomes.
Explain: Baby-Safe Biosecurity (15 minutes)
Using observations from the previous activities, I will facilitate a brief discussion connecting learner observations to four key questions.
Why are neonatal kittens uniquely vulnerable to infectious disease?
Discussion points to include neonatal physiology, immune naivety, increased risk of secondary complications, and rapid deterioration due to limited reserves.
How do pathogens move between kittens, people, supplies and environments?
Discussion points to include direct transmission, fomite transmission, differences between enveloped and non-enveloped organisms, and the environmental persistence of common pathogens.
Why is baby-safe biosecurity important in shelters?
Discussion points to include unique exposure opportunities during kitten intake and care, foster parent experience and retention, shelter resource allocation, outbreak prevention, and live outcomes.
What practical steps can be taken to prevent disease transmission?
Discussion points to include hand hygiene, appropriate use of gloves and barriers, quarantine and isolation practices, and cleaning vs disinfection.
I’ll end this stage with a series of “Spooky Stories” illustrating real-world situations in which biosecurity lapses contributed to disease outbreaks or poor kitten outcomes. These examples will help learners connect abstract concepts to real situations and their consequences, building motivation to improve their practices.
Elaborate: Practicing with Barrier Protection and Disinfection (15 minutes)
Learners will briefly review a set of photos of glove misuse in shelter settings. They will be asked: Are gloves protecting the kitten in this photo? I will briefly introduce the idea that gloves alone do not prevent disease transmission if contaminated gloves continue to contact clean items and surfaces.
Learners will then apply and extend their understanding through an interactive “Clean Paw, Dirty Paw” activity. Each student will be given one glove and will be asked to raise their “clean paw” (ungloved hand) or “dirty paw” (gloved hand) to identify which hand they would use to interact with various objects commonly encountered during intake and shelter care.
Following this activity, learners will break into three groups and be presented with a photo and scenario depicting a kennel, an examination table, or a feeding station that each need to be reset after use. Working together, they will determine which items should be discarded, protected with barriers, cleaned and disinfected, or left as they are before the next kitten uses the station. Groups will briefly share their reasoning with the class.
The purpose of this stage is to help learners begin to apply biosecurity principles by solving realistic shelter scenarios they are likely to encounter in their daily work.
Evaluate: Applying Biosecurity Principles (10 minutes)
Participants will complete an informal quiz using realistic situations they might encounter while handling neonatal kittens. These scenarios will include a variety of complex issues such as a member of the public handing them a kitten in a laundry basket, needing to retrieve supplies while handling a kitten, preparing for fluid therapy, and resetting an examination or feeding station after use. For each scenario, learners will choose the best course of action to demonstrate understanding.
In closing, learners will participate in a brief “Invisible Wins” reflection. Each participant will identify one biosecurity challenge in their shelter, one practice they plan to implement, and one positive outcome that might occur because disease transmission was prevented. Participants will be asked to share their reflections with the group.
The purpose of this final stage is to evaluate learner understanding and encourage reflection on the connection between their biosecurity practices and the outcomes of the kittens they serve.
