Organizational Membership Requirements

A. Eligible Agency Types:

  1.  An Illinois licensed humane society, animal shelter or animal rescue group       

  2.  An Illinois licensed municipal or county animal care & control facility

3.  An Illinois municipal or county animal control agency

4.  An Illinois non-profit organization* that provides animal-transport services between animal welfare agencies within Illinois or between Illinois agencies and agencies in other states.

5.  An Illinois non-profit organization* that provides humane education and/or other animal-related support services to Illinois pet-owners, animal welfare agencies, or the public at large.

6.  An Illinois non-profit organization* that provides support to an Illinois animal-welfare agency, including municipal or county agencies, through advocacy, fundraising, and/or volunteerism.  

B. Other Requirements:

Members of the Illinois Animal Welfare Federation must, without exception:

1.  Cooperate with and support the objectives of the Federation.

2.  Comply with state laws and commonly accepted practices for animal care, handling, and transport.

3.  Not release live animals for use in research.

4.  Maintain accurate and complete records.

5.  Not represent the Federation without authorization by the Executive Committee.

Individual Membership Requirements

A.  Eligible Individuals:

1.  Current employees or volunteers of an Eligible Agency as defined above.

2.  Individuals with past professional or volunteer experience in the animal welfare field and an ongoing active interest in the field.

3.  Individuals with an active interest in animal welfare and who are currently working or have previously worked in education, veterinary medicine, public health or another field that intersects with animal welfare.

Individual members are not eligible to serve as voting members of the Board of Directors, but may serve on the Board in an ex-officio capacity if so nominated and elected. 

Code of Conduct

Without a doubt, IAWF members benefit from the educational opportunities provided at our annual Prairie States Conference and EBI training workshops.  It is our hope that participants in these programs also benefit from the opportunity to meet colleagues from around the State with whom they can partner, collaborate, or even commiserate, as the case may be.

We see this fostering of friendly relationships as an important part of our mission. In a business that makes relentless demands and requires emotional resiliency well-beyond the norm, we offer a place where we can all come together and lift each other up.

It is in this spirit of friendship and mutual respect that we ask our members to abide by the following Code of Conduct. 

1)  To ensure consistent, transparent communication, IAWF Board of Directors approval is required if IAWF members would like to use the  IAWF name, brand, logo, etc.

2)  Ultimately, we are all after the same goal, which is to help animals in need. Public disparagement of other animal welfare agencies and/or individuals only drives a wedge between groups and makes it more difficult to find the best solution to an issue.  As such, IAWF members agree to NOT disparage other IAWF members, non-member organizations, or individuals. If a member has a concern about the care being given to an animal(s) at any organization or by an individual, there is a moral obligation to take proper action to help said animal(s); however, public disparagement is not an acceptable response.  Examples of public disparagement include, but are not limited to:

○        Social media posts about the animal(s), organization or individual in question;

○        Direct communication to an organization’s or individual’s supporters, friends, family, leadership, staff, volunteers, etc. using

■        Non-factual information

■        Derogatory language

■        Harassing language

■        Racial, cultural or religious language;

○        Dispersing non-factual information via social media, text, phone calls, email, USPS, etc. about the organization or individual in question.

 3)  Very seldom is progress made without disagreement. We encourage open conversation between IAWF members, but for this to be productive we must all agree to treat one another with respect. IAWF members agree to be respectful to other agencies and individuals, even when we disagree with each other.

4)  Rumors and hearsay not only risk the perpetuation of false information, they often are hurtful to agencies and individuals alike. IAWF members will refrain from spreading hearsay and rumors to avoid causing undue emotional pain.

5)  The IAWF is an organization centered around collaboration. As members, we believe in helping each other whenever possible and will therefore share helpful information with other members to further ensure best practices are known by everyone.