Since 2018, generous funding from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation has been transforming animal lives through the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program’s Creating Adoptable Animals and Accomplished Veterinarians (CAVS) grant. As of June 2021, 81 shelter animals received medical care, with 99 surgical procedures performed (several animals needed more than one procedure). Shelters from all across the Finger Lakes region have witnessed the incredible benefits that this program has had for animals as well as veterinary interns and students, especially during an unpredictable year with COVID-19.
Georgie Taylor, Executive Director of the Humane Society of Schuyler County, has sought assistance through CAVS. “We have saved at least $11,000 in veterinary bills last year alone, in terms of what it would have cost us to have taken those animals to private practice.” Because of this, Schuyler County Humane Society was able to open their doors to save even more animal lives and provide the necessary care each animal needed. One of the biggest medical expenses oftentimes is dental care, for both cats and dogs. “This program has provided a much further reach because it has enabled us to take animals who needed special veterinary care from other high-kill shelters, so this is where it really does get to the point of saving lives because we know we can have access to and can truly depend on experienced veterinarians.”
Dr. Victoria Robertson, COR ’21, can directly speak to its positive impact. While on her shelter medicine clinical rotation at the SPCA of Tompkins County, Robertson and the shelter medicine team attended to a dental extraction on a yellow Labrador retriever from the Schuyler County Humane Society. The dog had a very severe fracture at the gum line and the tooth was decayed and painful. After the procedure was performed, Dr. Robertson followed the dog’s recovery the next day, which also happened to be her last day on the rotation. Robertson says, “we were re-checking him to see how he was doing and he was being so good. Sitting and waiting and he was laying in my lap and all of a sudden I said, ‘I’m adopting him.'” A month later this pooch is loving his new home and with one less painful tooth.
Dr. Aly Cohen, Instructor in Shelter Medicine at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, discusses the importance of this critical funding when she explains it’s not uncommon for shelters to not have a veterinarian on staff — let alone access to a specialized surgeon when it comes to special needs cases or dentistry procedures. Cohen says, “it may be getting better, but it’s really hard to get into a veterinary office. You may be waiting months for a large procedure.”
Part of what makes CAVS essential is its ability to cut down on surgical wait times, therefore decreasing length of stay in shelters for patients. Decreasing an animal’s time in the shelter greatly decreases stress and risk of illness. The next best part of this program, Dr. Cohen says, is working with interns and students. Dr. Cohen has been mentoring students and interns through procedures, and when they become proficient, they complete the entire procedure themselves under her supervision. Cohen says, “they help an animal and do a safe procedure and everybody wins.”
Through this grant, the MSMP team has not only helped local cases but cases spanning across the region. Jim Bouderau, Executive Director of SPCA of Tompkins County, comments: “Having these dollars has really helped to make that happen for a lot of these shelters, who need more advanced care they can’t do themselves, but Dr. Berliner and her team can.” Bouderau hopes the CAVS program will continue. Average cost per patient of this program came to only $308 grant dollars, and at no cost to participating shelters.
Although original grant funds from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation have been fully spent, currently the program continues with donations made to the program by individuals on Cornell’s Annual Giving Day (https://givingday.cornell.edu/campaigns/maddie-s-shelter-medicine-program). Additional grant applications are pending, and MSMP hopes to continue this work to aid more shelter animals while training the next generation of veterinarians.
~Written by Suzette Moschetti
Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program Coordinator
