Dylan Thomas once said the United States and Great Britain suffer from the “barrier of a common language.” That barrier might be vanishing when it comes to animal sheltering differences in the U.S. and U.K., however.
Dr. Annette Litster, director of the Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University, recently spoke on shelter medicine in the U.S. to the Association of Charity Vets at Nottingham veterinary School in the U.K.
Her presentation was covered in the British Veterinary Association (BVA) Veterinary Record, which reported Dr. Litster as describing shelter medicine as riding “the crest of a wave” in the U.S., where a “revolution in animal welfare” is taking place. From the article:
Tracing the history of the development of shelter medicine as a specific field within veterinary medicine, Dr Litster explained that the Association of Shelter Veterinarians in the USA had been formed in 2001 and now had more than 800 members and 22 student chapters worldwide. The association had been a powerful driver of education and support for veterinarians who worked in shelters. More than half of the 28 vet schools in the USA offered shelter medicine courses and 24 of the schools were involved with shelter medicine in some way.
Maddie’s Fund, which sponsored the shelter medicine programme at Purdue, was a private initiative, which had been established by Dave and Cheryl Duffield and named after their miniature schnauzer. The fund currently had about US $400 million available, dedicated to helping animal shelters and educating vets, students and the wider community about animal welfare and how to revolutionise the status and wellbeing of companion animals.
[…]
The Association of Shelter Veterinarians had drawn up what Dr Litster described as ‘landmark animal welfare documents’ giving guidance on neutering programmes for animals in shelters and on the standards of care in animal shelters. The standards document had taken three years to put together, she said, and was an evidence based, living document that was regularly updated.
The article went on to discuss the shelter medicine program at Purdue, the training of shelter veterinarians in the U.S., shelter medicine research, and the Asilomar Accords.
BVA members can read the full article at the link below, where it is available for purchase by non-members as well.
Shelter medicine: UK charity vets get a US perspective on shelter medicine; Veterinary Record 2014;174:3 60-61 doi:10.1136/vr.g244
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