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Shelter Medicine Program College of Veterinary Medicine
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Julie Levy

Julie Levy,

Fran Marino Endowed Distinguished Professor of Shelter Medicine Education

Department: Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Business Phone: (352) 258-6658
Business Email: levyjk@ufl.edu

On This Page

About Julie Levy

Dr. Julie Levy focuses on the health and welfare of animals in shelters, feline infectious diseases, and humane alternatives for cat population control. She founded Operation Catnip, a community cat trap-neuter-return program that has spayed, neutered, and vaccinated more than 90,000 cats in Gainesville since 1998. A decade later, she joined Dr. Cynda Crawford to launch the Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine. This educational and discovery initiative has a global impact on the care of homeless animals and is the academic home of the Fear Free Shelters program. She later teamed up with Dr. Kate Hurley for the Million Cat Challenge, a shelter-based campaign that saved more than 5 million cats in shelters across North America, followed by Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge to create transformative “communities of practice” that deliver access to care through humane community-centric programming—inside and outside of the shelter—to achieve the right outcome for every pet.

Related Links:
Google Scholar
Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge
Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida
Additional Positions:
Interim Director, Shelter Medicine Distance Education
2025 – Current · University of Florida

Accomplishments

Teaching Profile

Courses Taught

Board Certifications

  • Shelter Medicine Practice
    American Board of Veterinary Practitioners
  • Small Animal Internal Medicine
    American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

Research Profile

Areas of Interest

  • Animal welfare
  • Feline infectious diseases, FeLV, FIV, FIP
  • High quality high volume spay-neuter
  • Humane community cat management
  • Nonsurgical contraception in cats and dogs
  • Shelter medicine

Publications

Academic Articles

Grants

  1. Vector-borne disease surveillance among free roaming cats in northcentral and South Florida

    Role:
    Co-Investigator
    Funding:
    MORRIS ANIMAL FOU

  2. Compassion Fatigue Strategies – course enrollment scholarships for teaching faculty and house officers

    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding:
    AMER VET MEDICAL ASSO FOU

  3. small animal medicine Trust Research

    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding:
    UF FOUNDATION

Education

  1. Diplomate (Shelter Medicine Practice)

    American Board of Veterinary Practitioners

  2. Doctor of Philosophy in Immunology

    North Carolina State University

  3. Diplomate (Small Animal Internal Medicine)

    American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

  4. Residency, Small Animal Internal Medicine

    North Carolina State University

  5. Internship, Small Animal Medicine and Surgery

    Angell Memorial Animal Hospital

  6. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

    University of California, Davis

  7. Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

    San Jose State University

Contact Details

Phones:
Business:
(352) 258-6658
Emails:
Business:
levyjk@ufl.edu
Addresses:
Business Mailing:
2015 SW 16th Avenue – Box 100126
College of Veterinary Medicine
 Gainesville FL 32608
Business Street:
2015 SW 16th Avenue
College of Veterinary Medicine
 Gainesville FL 32610