Amy Mills, CEO of Emancipet, traveled to Ithaca, NY last week. Mills was invited by the veterinary student business club and shelter medicine club to speak at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Emancipet is a non-profit organization/pet clinic that specializes and strives for making veterinary care accessible and affordable for everyone.
Mills says, “Emancipet is chasing a bold goal that everyone in the United States will have access to veterinary care they can afford. Getting there won’t be easy, but we do have some incredible partners in our corner who share our vision. I’m humbled to share that our largest funder, PetSmart Charities has granted us funding to open two new clinics this year – our third in Houston and our second in Philadelphia. And, even more exciting, both clinics will be inside PetSmart retail stores, allowing us to test a new and innovative way of growing our clinic network.”
In addition to the veterinary student clubs, Mills spoke with animal shelter leaders from several different counties in New York State, including Chemung, Schuyler, Tompkins, Orange, and Niagara. She also spoke with veterinary students who were on clinical rotations in shelter medicine and with the Maddie’s® Student Employees who work at the SPCA of Tompkins County.
Many shelter members had questions pertaining to the best approach when delivering veterinary care in rural areas where community members have a hard time accessing care. Mills noted that the best approach Emancipet has found was the use of mobile clinics that are able to travel to under-served communities.
She also discussed the strategies and data that Emancipet uses when it comes to choosing their next pet clinic location. Mills says that they primarily pick their locations based on the size of the population and veterinary resources available or lack thereof.
This opportunity also supported in-person networking among our regional shelters — strongly needed and desired after the hiatus in meetings caused by the pandemic. Overall, the animal shelter leaders and veterinary students learned a great deal, not only about the mission and goals of Emancipet but how this non-profit organization became and continues to be ever-growing and successful.
**Don’t forget to save the date for the ASPCA Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference, taking place in-person at Cornell University July 15-17, 2022. This year’s conference will feature an entire track focused on behavior and will be another great networking event to look forward to!
