Surgical training with the nation’s leaders in High Quality High Volume Spay/Neuter

Thanks to the generous support of Petsmart Charities, veterinary students and veterinarians from across the country are invited to join Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program for a unique course this July:  Community Cat Management.

This week-long intensive course taught by instructors from Humane Alliance and the University of Florida will provide up-to-the-minute insights on the challenges and successes in humanely managing community cats.

The course includes lectures, discussions, and clinical laboratories for hands-on surgical training.

“My surgical skills greatly improved, did my fastest time ever! I also learned so much about working with the community and about statistics.”

With a focus on high-volume, high-quality surgery and care for free-roaming cats, you will explore the practical issues and social and economic considerations in community cat management. The course runs July 29-August 2, 2013 in Gainesville, Florida. Low-cost housing is available.

Learn more and register while space is still available!

“I got to practice my surgical skills, as well as practice in other areas such as monitoring during anesthesia, vaccinations, IV injections, prepping, and anesthesia.

 

I also learned significantly about the management of community cats and how we can help them and control population at the same time.”

What You Can Expect

• Gain an understanding of the impact of community cats on public health, the environment, and cat welfare
  

  Thank you to Petsmart Charities for making this course possible!

• Discuss medico-legal issues associated with community cat management in Florida.
• Develop handling and surgical skills for both pediatric and adult cats undergoing spay and neuter surgery in a clinical environment
• Develop competencies in safe and humane procedures for feral cat trapping, transportation, and housing
• Develop competencies in feral cat anesthesia and monitoring, surgical site preparation, administration of injectable and topical medications
• Develop competencies in high-quality, high-volume feline castration and ovariohysterectomy
  

“I can honestly say that this week absolutely exceeded my expectations.

 

The incredibly thorough, comprehensive notebook and articles/papers; information-packed lectures; daily busy surgery; one-on-one surgical skills training from excellent (and patient! Ha!) teachers; rotations through the TNR surgery day stations – thus opportunities to improve on my lacking tech skills; TNR trapping experience and team-building; and just extraordinarily friendly, helpful and welcoming students and faculty… all I can say is… WOW.

 

I learned a ton – through both the lecture material and the surgical rotations. I seriously learned something through every lecture and through every rotation.”

Join the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program team!

If you’re dedicated to details and obsessed with organization, consider joining our team!

Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program is seeking one Full-Time support staff member to fill the role of office assistant for our program, which is dedicated to training veterinarians and veterinary students in medicine for animals in shelters.

Successful candidates should have a strong work ethic and enjoy working in a higher-education setting to help ensure the success of professionals and professional students – all for the ultimate benefit of homeless animals.

Learn More and Apply 

Playgroups at Chicago Animal Care & Control

One of the biggest challenges facing animal shelters is keeping the dogs healthy and happy until they’re adopted — and to do it with minimal time and resources. Aimee Sadler developed “Playing for Life” as simple but effective solution to keeping shelter dogs happy, friendly, well socialized and, ultimately, more adoptable.

Update: Check out Aimee Sadler helping shelters save lives in Kansas City!

The program uses playgroups to let dogs interact with other dogs in a supervised setting, while working through behavioral challenges. The playgroups are open to all dogs, regardless of breed or size, and the groups are formed based on the individual dog’s play-style. In addition to maximizing resources for enrichment and training, kennel staff report that playgroups allow them to clean the kennels more efficiently — freeing up time and resources for other operations.

This approach has been the foundation of successful lifesaving programs at Longmont Humane Society (Colorado) and Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (New York), both open admission shelters that maintain live release rates in excess of 95%.

“Playing for Life” Seminar in Gainesville: April 27-28, 2013

Aimee Sadler will visit the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program in Gainesville April 27-28 to work with area veterinarians, students, shelter workers, and rescue groups. Topics will include:

• The benefits of group play for improving the behavior and socialization of shelter dogs
• Guidelines for introducing dogs into playgroups
• Effectively managing play styles
• Signs to look out for to avoid problem interactions, and strategies for addressing them when they arise
• Tips for using playgroups to make stronger adoption matches

Registration and Schedule

The two-day seminar will begin with a lecture Saturday morning at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, and then move to Alachua County Animal Services (ACAS) Saturday afternoon for hands-on demonstrations with shelter dogs. Sunday will be dedicated entirely to hands-on work at ACAS.

The seminar is open to animal welfare and veterinary professionals interested in learning about the benefits of group play, and for those interested in managing play sessions with a diverse group of dogs with different temperaments, play styles, and backgrounds.

Thanks to a generous sponsorship from Animal Farm Foundation, we are offering our shelter partners registration for only $20 per person when you use discount code SHELTERVIP, which includes lunches on both days.

Spots are limited, so reservations are required.  Quetions?  Please contact Kim Wolf by email or call 352-273-8660 and ask for Kim.

Register Now Don’t forget discount code SHELTERVIP!

About Aimee Sadler

Aimee Sadler is the Director of Behavior and Training for the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (SASF) and the creator of “Playing for Life.” She is a nationally recognized trainer and speaker specializing in behavioral problems. Her techniques have been derived from 25 years of working with multiple species, from dogs to cats, from exotics to marine mammals as a private trainer, within the entertainment industry and within animal sheltering. Aimee has presented at animal welfare and professional dog training conferences in addition to teaching shelters around the country how to reduce canine euthanasia with the implementation of her “Playing for Life.”

Aimee’s training and behavior programs have been the lifesaving foundation for both Longmont Humane Society and SASF which maintain canine Live Release Rates in excess of 95% as open admission shelters. Aimee currently resides in Longmont, CO with her three sons, four rescued dogs, and two rescued cats.

• Visit Aimee Sadler’s YouTube channel.
• Read how “Playing for Life” has helped Chicago Animal Care & Control.
• “Playing for Life” in HSUS’s Animal Sheltering magazine.

Maddie’s

We encourage our friends and alumni to contact the American Board of Veterinary Specialties (ABVS) in support of the proposed Shelter Medicine specialty.

Learn more about the proposed specialty

To share information about the proposal, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians has created a 1-page informational summary as requested by the ABVS. Additional supporting materials are also available at the ASV web site. At these links, you will find:

• Information about the specialty development process
• The full petition for a recognized specialty in Shelter Medicine
• FAQs
  
• A request for public comments

Support excellence in Shelter Medicine

Public comments can be very influential, and we hope you’ll lend your support.  Like our colleagues at the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, we truly believe that the development of a formal recognized veterinary specialty in Shelter Medicine will provide improved veterinary medical services to the profession and the public — and will help optimize care for millions of animals through education, research and the pursuit of clinical excellence.

We believe our field is deserving of this distinction as a unique and challenging field of veterinary medicine. If you have questions for ASV’s Organizing Committee for a Specialty in Shelter Medicine, please visit the ASV website or contact the Committee.  If you’re as excited about this opportunity as we are, go ahead and submit your comments now.

Submit your comments

ASV’s formal petition for a specialty in Shelter Medicine under the auspices of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners was officially submitted to the to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA’s) Board of Veterinary Specialties in 2012. In December 2012, the ASV received official notification that the petition was in good order and would be sent out for a period of public comment.  The AVMA recently posted a news article regarding the petition’s public comment period, which is open through August 2013.

Signed comments should be submitted to the AVMA at dbanasiak@avma.org or the address below by September 1.  All comments will be considered by the ABVS at their fall meeting before any final decision is made with regards to recognition as a Veterinary Specialty.

David Banasiak, AVMA Education and Research Division

1931 N. Meacham Road, Suite 100

Schaumburg, IL 60173-4360

We hope you’ll join us in supporting this important step for the field of Shelter Medicine.  We have much work to do for our nation’s homeless animals… and we’re just getting started!

Hurry!

Registration is now open for summer term!

If you are planning to take our online course VME 6810: Integrating Veterinary Medicine with Shelter Systems, the registration deadline is May 10^th.

• Download the registration instructions for new students.
• Download the registration instructions for existing students.

ASPCA Tuition Reimbursement Scholarships are available this summer. If you are interesting in applying for a scholarship, please complete the online application by May 10^th.

If you have any questions, please contact us online or at 352-294-4757.

Can veterinarians already working to help homeless pets obtain advanced skills and certification at one of the world’s leading shelter medicine programs without leaving their busy practices behind?

Thanks to Maddie’s^® Graduate Certificate in Shelter Medicine online program at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, they can.

Veterinarians and veterinary students can log in from any location and earn certification in shelter medicine, along with valuable skills that help them work with homeless and adopted animals in their communities and around the world.

See the complete article at Maddie’s Institute.

With the help of a grant from the Petco Foundation, UF veterinary students stepped up to humanely help local cats.

Veterinary students eager to help stem the reproduction of community cats and to keep them from entering the local animal control shelter developed a project to humanely manage them through trap-neuter-return.

The project was made possible by a grant from the Petco Foundation, which provided over $10,000 toward the purchase of humane cat traps and medical supplies to spay, neuter, and vaccinate 200 cats.

The community’s animal control shelter participated in the program by notifying the trappers when calls regarding stray cats were received from residents. Although the project was scheduled to last for a year, the students exceeded their initial goal and cared for 212 cats in just two months.

A total of 27 veterinary students volunteered during 5 separate spay/neuter events to spay 95 female cats and neuter 117 male cats. Assuming that each of the females would have had a litter, the students prevented 380 kittens from being born into homelessness in the first year alone.

A total of 27 veterinary students volunteered during 5 separate spay/neuter events to spay 95 female cats and neuter 117 male cats.

 

Assuming that each of the females would have had a litter, the students prevented 380 kittens from being born into homelessness in the first year alone.

Their work has just begun: There are an estimated 41,000 community cats in the Gainesville area and stray cats make up the single largest population entering the local shelter.

The veterinary students plan to continue to raise funds so that even more cats can be spayed and neutered in the future.

The veterinary curriculum at the University of Florida is unique in that students gain their surgical skills through service learning, during which they spay and neuter pets for local rescue groups and a clinic for indigent pet owners.

That makes both the students and the cats and dogs of Gainesville very fortunate.

Thanks to financial support from the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA), Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program is accepting applications for two additional summer 2013 research fellowships in conjunction with the Merial Student Scholars Program.

The stipends of $5,000 will be available for the 10-week research period of May 20-July 26, 2013. 

A summer of research can impact uncountable lives

We believe that a better understanding of the unique challenges and scientific will empower us all to make better decisions for animals.  As a summer research fellow with Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program, you’ll investigate a question whose answer impacts the lives of animals in shelters and communities across the country.

With an emphasis on practical problems and publication of research results, our research is designed to have a positive impact on the lives of shelter pets and the veterinarians who care for them.

How To Apply

Students interested in a shelter medicine summer research position should submit a resumé, unofficial veterinary school transcript, and letter of intent via the form below no later than March 2, 2013, at 5:00 pm EST.

The letter of intent should describe your interest and experience in shelter medicine, research experience, participation in the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Certificate program, and why you would like to participate in the research program. Students selected for the program will work with their advisor to select a research project and prepare a full research proposal to the Merial Student Scholars Program.

The Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine summer research experience

Professional authorship experience

We are proud that the vast majority of our summer projects have resulted in a first-author published papers for the student researchers. That is quite an uncommon accomplishment for a vet student and a credential that will stand out as students prepare for internships and employment.

Bonus training in shelter medicine

Students in our research program will also participate in any shelter medicine activities the program is engaged in during the summer. This might include shelter visits, cruelty investigations, disease outbreak responses, and more. Also, as a special bonus, students will be trained in spay/neuter techniques in cats. The time spent in surgery training is optional and is not included in the regular research and writing time for the program. By the end of the summer, students will have completed at least one surgery on their own.

Intensive commitment with mentorship in research, writing, and presentation

That’s a lot of work in a short time!! It sure is. Students will start writing their papers in the very first week of the program. We’ll have weekly lab meetings in which students will present their work, receive feedback from their peers, and refine their manuscripts. Getting all the research and the writing done requires full-time attendance during the 10 weeks of the program. Many students find that they are writing some nights and weekends as well. This demanding schedule does not leave any significant amount of time off for travel or other projects. The shelter medicine summer research program should be considered a full-time commitment for 10 weeks. Students are also expected to present posters of their research at the Merial conference near the end of the program and at the Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Conference in the fall.

Apply Now