Shelter Medicine Club
Events
Educational lunches/dinners
To promote knowledge about shelter medicine, the Shelter Medicine Club hosts several educational lunches/dinners each semester.
Past speakers and topics have included:
- Dr. Brenda Griffin, Assistant Professor, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, and Director, Clinical Programs for Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program
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Dr. Kate Hurley, Director, the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at UC Davis
"Introduction to Shelter Medicine" -
Dr. Sara Pizano, Director, Miami Dade Animal Services
"A day in the life of a shelter vet" -
Dr. Melinda Merck, Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics for the ASPCA
"Animal CSI: Forensic Veterinary Medicine" -
Dr. Will Mangham, Medical Director at Athens Regional Spay & Neuter Center
"Feral Cat Management" - Other exciting speakers have covered topics such as vaccine strategies in shelters and disease control.
In spring 2009, we hosted our first annual film festival, which included several documentaries highlighting challenges that have significantly impacted the shelter medicine community, including dog fighting and disaster relief.
Annual Shelter Medicine Seminars
The Shelter Medicine Club hosted the 4th Annual UGA Shelter Medicine Seminar on January 29, 2012. This annual event brought in more than 120 attendees, comprised of shelter and veterinary professionals, students, and members of rescue organizations.
The one-day seminar focuses on best management and medicine practices for local and regional animal shelters. Speakers include recognized leaders in the field of shelter medicine and UGA faculty members with expertise in relevant topics such as infectious disease management and parasite monitoring and control.
Spay/Neuter Surgery Experiences for UGA Veterinary Students
The Shelter Medicine Club has partnered with the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia and Dekalb County Animal Services to provide volunteer spay/neuter surgical opportunities for UGA veterinary students. Opportunities for experience include, but are not limited to, performing physical exams, ovariohysterectomy, castration, and anesthetic monitoring and recovery of dogs and cats under the supervision of the shelter veterinarian at each organization. For more information, please contact our officers.
Volunteer opportunities
Since its inception, the scASV has organized many club events, fundraisers, and volunteer opportunities involving shelters in northeast Georgia. We’ve worked to develop relationships with shelters such as the Athens Area Humane Society, Athens Clarke County Animal Control, Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter, Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter, and Oconee County Animal Control by volunteering, assisting with mobile adoption events, and donating animal care essentials.
In the spring of 2008, we also provided volunteers to assist in caring for and treating dogs seized from a puppy mill facility in a neighboring county.
In the spring of 2011, we assisted the Birmingham Humane Society in collecting thousands of pounds of dog food to help the canine victims of several tornadoes that devastated Alabama homes and animal shelters that spring.
Our club members and officers help out at local vaccination clinics. For the Athens-Clarke County Animal Control, we photograph and write profiles for the adoptable shelter animals to advertise them online. In addition, the Shelter Medicine Club holds shelter supply drives to benefit the various animal shelters and rescue groups in our area.
Fundraising
To support our mission, we sell fun T-shirts promoting spay/neuter. To see T-shirt designs or to purchase a shirt, please contact Heather Tucker.
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This page was last reviewed on January 30, 2012.
