Center for Pet Family Well-Being

09/30/2026

📚 New research in the *Journal of One Health Systems* examines how unmet human healthcare and veterinary care needs can occur within the same households.

The study highlights how structural barriers can affect both people and pets—reinforcing the need for coordinated, cross-sector approaches that support the whole pet family.

For those working in human health, veterinary medicine, social services, public health, animal welfare, housing, transportation, and policy, this is an important One Health read.

🔗 Read the article:
https://voljournals.utk.edu/johs/article/id/4913/



University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Tennessee College of Social Work
Center for Pet Family Well-Being
Maddie's Fund

09/21/2026

"The purpose is to increase our awareness of the fact that animal, human, and environmental health are connected ......"

Growing evidence links environmental changes, from shifting weather patterns to rising pollutant and toxin exposure, to significant impacts on both human and animal health. 🌎

Open access article: jav.ma/microbiome2

09/17/2026

🐾🧡 **This is BIG news for pets and the families who love them!**

https://www.duffieldfoundation.org/bigbetforpets

We are incredibly grateful and excited to see the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation launch **Big Bet for Pets** — a **$250 million commitment over five years** to expand access to veterinary care for family pets across the United States.

For millions of families, accessing veterinary care can be difficult because of cost, geography, transportation, availability, and other barriers. Big Bet for Pets will invest in community-based veterinary care, research, capacity building, and innovative approaches to help close that gap.

At the Center for Pet Family Well-Being, we know that access to veterinary care is about more than animal health. When pets receive the care they need, families are better able to stay together, people experience greater stability and well-being, and communities become stronger.

That is One Health in action — recognizing the interconnected health and well-being of people, pets, and the communities they share.

Thank you to the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation for this extraordinary investment in pet families. We are excited to see the partnerships, ideas, and lasting change this commitment makes possible! 🧡🐾



Maddie's Fund

09/10/2026

We’re building something exciting—and we want you to be part of it. 🧡

The University of Tennessee Center for Pet Family Well-Being is leading the 2026 One Health Systems Summit on October 31 in San Antonio, bringing together leaders from public health, healthcare, veterinary medicine, animal welfare, housing, social services, education, policy, and other sectors.

Why? Because pet families experience systems all at once—even when those systems operate separately.

The Summit is designed to move beyond isolated programs and disconnected conversations. Together, we’ll examine where systems break down, identify opportunities for stronger coordination, build cross-sector partnerships, and help shape more pet-inclusive policies, practices, and communities.

This is the kind of work CPFW was created to advance: bringing people together across sectors to strengthen systems for pet families and communities.

We’re proud to be leading this effort and excited about where these conversations can take us.

Read the new University of Tennessee story about the Summit:
https://csw.utk.edu/news/ut-center-for-pet-family-well-being-hosts-2026-one-health-systems-summit/





University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Tennessee College of Social Work
Maddie's Fund
Michelson Found Animals Foundation
PetSmart Charities

It is a one-day, plenary-only convening to advance health equity for people and their pets through collaboration, policy, and research.

09/07/2026

Today is Labor Day in the United States—a day when many of us step away from work, slow down, and enjoy a well-earned break.

But for service dogs, the responsibilities don’t disappear because it’s a holiday.

Service dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that support people with disabilities—from guiding and retrieving items to alerting to medical changes, providing mobility assistance, interrupting harmful behaviors, and much more. Their work can help make everyday life, employment, education, travel, and participation in the community more accessible.

September is National Service Dog Month, making today an especially meaningful time to recognize these remarkable human–animal partnerships.

Service dogs take their jobs seriously. They pay attention. They respond. They are there when they are needed—on workdays, weekends, vacations, and holidays.

And today, we are especially grateful for them. 💜🐾

We can support service dog teams, too: respect their space, don’t distract or pet a working service dog without permission, and remember that not every disability—or service dog task—is visible.

To the service dogs working this Labor Day: thank you for all that you do.

Do you have a service dog in your life or know a service dog team you’d like to recognize during National Service Dog Month?





Maddie's Fund

08/29/2026

Great job Candice Hodges Hinkle!

We do love all we do here at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work Center for Pet Family Well-Being!

Thank you Maddie's Fund for making our work possible!

08/24/2026

🐾 **Changing lives on both ends of the leash.**

Liberty Dogs™ pairs U.S. military Veterans living with PTSD with highly trained Service Dogs, including dogs adopted from shelters.

- Shelter dogs receive a second chance and a meaningful purpose.
- Veterans gain greater independence, confidence, and connection.
- And communities are stronger when both people and animals have the support they need to thrive.


Liberty Dogs was established by the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, whose philanthropic family also includes Maddie’s Maddie's Fund®.

Thank you, Liberty Dogs, for supporting shelter dogs, Veterans, and the communities they share. 💙🐕‍🦺

🎥 Watch their story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n7gvhDMSqk

Alina Dangerfield attended their leash passing ceremony Friday.

08/24/2026

We’re grateful to Maddie’s Maddie's Fund® for sponsoring the 2026 One Health Systems Summit! 🧡

Their support helps make it possible to bring together people working across **health, housing, social services, animal welfare, education, policy, and community systems** to address the structural challenges affecting families with pets—and work toward better, more connected solutions.

📅 **October 31, 2026**
📍 **San Antonio, Texas**
🧩 Pre-Conference Workshop at the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Thank you, Maddie’s Fund, for continuing to invest in collaboration, innovation, and stronger systems for pet families. ** **

Learn more and register for the Summit:
https://csw.utk.edu/cpfw/one-health-systems-summit/


University of Tennessee College of Social Work
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

08/21/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for **The State of Pet-Inclusive Social Service Delivery: A National Snapshot of How Agencies Support Families with Pets**!

Our presenters, **Claire Schuch, PhD, and Kaitlyn Davis Andres, MS, MPH**, shared findings from a national survey of **209 U.S. social service agencies** and helped lead a great conversation about how organizations are supporting people and their pets.

If you missed the webinar—or would like to watch it again—the recording is now available:

🎥 **Watch here: https://youtu.be/iuGBV8z5Cwc

We also want to thank everyone who shared questions, ideas, resources, and examples from their own communities. That kind of exchange is what helps strengthen pet-inclusive services and build more connected One Health systems.

🎉 And congratulations to **Caitlin, our $50 gift card winner!**

Stay tuned—we’ll also be sharing the **data report and toolkit** from this project when they are available.

How are social service agencies across the United States responding...