Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell
The American Pet Surplus
According to the Humane Society of the United States, between eight and twelve million cats and dogs enter animal shelters across our country annually. Some of these animals are lost or abandoned; others are unwanted or abused, and many are the result of uncontrolled breeding. Pets entering shelters are highly stressed and at significant risk of developing infectious diseases. The stress of confinement in a shelter can compromise both physical and behavioral health making cats and dogs less desirable to potential adopters and compromising their welfare. With inadequate resources and methods to care for these animals, shelters currently euthanize between four and six million annually. Homelessness is tragically the leading cause of death of cats and dogs.
The Need for Shelter Medicine
Training veterinarians in the discipline of shelter medicine and conducting research designed to decrease the number of cats and dogs entering shelters and to improve the physical and behavioral health of those that do are critically important to decreasing euthanasia of homeless cats and dogs.
Shelter Medicine - an emerging area of specialization
Traditionally, the focus of companion animal veterinary training has been on the health of individual animals. In shelters, large numbers of animals share common sources of air, food, water, living space and caretaker attention, increasing stress and facilitating disease transmission and the development of behavior problems. The health and welfare of the population influences the health and welfare of all individuals and vice versa.
Complete veterinary care of shelter animals requires focused expertise combining elements of epidemiology, infectious disease control, behavioral care, surgery and shelter management. More specifically the shelter medicine specialist must have an expanded understanding in areas including, but not limited, to: shelter facility design and operation; husbandry (including housing, nutrition, sanitation and disinfection); vaccination; infectious disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment; resource management and risk analysis; strategies for control of companion animal overpopulation; personnel management; companion animal welfare and public health protection. Shelter medicine specialists must also be well versed in legal, regulatory, ethical and emotional aspects of shelter animal care. This is in addition to a solid foundation in traditional medical and surgical veterinary disciplines.