Join us Thursday, Feb 11th (6pm EST) for a presentation by Dr. Lisa Rodriguez, Shelter Medicine Vet at Palm Valley Animal Society and 2016 Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Intern
Topic: “Lifesaving in the Rio Grande Valley”
Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit animal welfare organization serving the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. PVAS takes in approximately 25,000 animals on behalf of 775,000 residents each year and is on a journey to maintain a “no-kill” status. Join us to learn how PVAS is accomplishing this goal in an underserved 
community with limited access to veterinary care, and how you can help us achieve our goal. Working in a region where traumatic injuries, canine distemper, and TVTs are common, Dr. Rodriguez will also review some interesting medical cases that students may not see otherwise in their training.
Dr. Rodriguez graduated from Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Internship program in 2017. After her internship, she worked at the Animal Defense League of Texas in San Antonio (her hometown), seeing 5,000 animals per year. She then left the Animal Defense League to join PVAS and do relief work in the Rio Grande Valley, an area hugely under-served and underrepresented. As a border town, it presents additionally challenges with communication barriers, endemic vaccine-
preventable diseases, and other high-risk infectious diseases.
Dr. Rodriguez has been with Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS) since October 2018. She was the sole veterinarian for the 25,000 animals that come into their care annually from October 2018 – March 2020. PVAS has been working to increase their live release rate from 30% in 2017 to 91% in 2020. Dr. Rodriguez’s day shifts between two locations and her work includes 30-50 spay/neuter surgeries, foster appointments, health certificates, and managing 16 employees on the PVAS medical team. While with PVAS, she has worked to reduce in-shelter transmission of endemic distemper, reduced the number of animals born in care, and developed a robust medical team capable of triaging and supporting the large volume of trauma cases, as well as the 70 pets they take in each day.
Please see below for meeting details.
Zoom information: Hosted by the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Cornell Shelter Medicine Club
Topic: Dr. Rodriguez, PVAS, Shelter Medicine Presentation
Time: Feb 11, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://cornell.zoom.us/j/96795777461?pwd=bThnRlBLOFhRNU9BcEMyU0JSbEw0UT09
Meeting ID: 967 9577 7461
Passcode: 150297
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