Shelter Medicine Helps Animals Begin Again
Four
decades ago, the care and treatment of rescue animals was piecemeal; most animals that entered the shelter did not make it out alive. Thanks to the service and effort of Cornell veterinarians, shelter
medicine has become a calling for veterinarians and students across the country.
Cornell's program offers three classes, the first serves as an introduction to companion animal welfare, and is followed by two upper-level courses and an elective
rotation that takes fourth-year students into shelters. "We are out in the shelters on a daily basis working with the animals," says Dr. Elizabeth Berliner '03, the Janet L. Swanson Director of the Maddie's (TM)
Shelter Medicine Program. At the SPCA of Tompkins County, animals that require medical care get treated by Cornell veterinarians, students, and interns, helping these animals get the chance of a new beginning.
Cornell's shelter medicine program has given countless animals a new lease on life-including 'Tifa', a young Chihuahua mix found with a badly injured leg. The dog
was initially aggressive with her handlers, worrying shelter medicine practitioner Dr. Holly Putnam that the animal would not be adoptable. Putnam and intern Dr.
Christina
Delgado '14, determined that Tifa's leg required amputation due to the severity of the injury. "Within hours of the surgery, she was up running around like nothing
had
happened," says Putnam. "Even better, she soon warmed up to the people taking care of her." A few weeks later, Tifa was successfully adopted out and renamed Pogo,
due to her
ability to jump on one leg.
"This kind of real life and hands-on shelter experience allows the students to leave with a much clearer sense of how to engage, as a veterinarian, in changing
the lives of
shelter animals," says Berliner. "Our hope is that this program can inspire a lifetime of engagement in humane organizations and communities."
