Maddie’s Fund^® today announced that Dr. Sheila D’Arpino will direct Maddie’s^® Animal Care Center, a model animal shelter and educational center slated to open next year in Pleasanton, CA.

“We’re delighted and thrilled to welcome Sheila to the Maddie’s Fund
organization. We’re extremely fortunate to have her exceptional talent
and skill to lead our new animal care center,” said Maddie’s Fund
president Rich Avanzino.

A veterinarian and board-certified veterinary behaviorist, Sheila has
most recently worked at the Animal Rescue League of Boston where she
developed and oversaw behavior programs for the Center for Shelter Dogs.

Prior to her move to Boston, Sheila owned a veterinary behavior
specialty practice and worked for the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine
Program.

In 2005, Sheila graduated from Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine
Program at UC Davis. She was the first in the nation to complete a
three-year, post-graduate behavior specialty training program with an
emphasis on shelter animals and shelter behavior programs.

Sheila said she didn’t imagine when she recently participated in
brainstorming sessions for the new Center that she’d be tapped as its
head.

“I came out last year to consult on the project,” she said. “It was
an incredible opportunity to envision what, in an ideal world, a shelter
environment should be. We were able to take a look into the future, and
ask the big-picture questions we don’t often have time for in this
field.”

Read more about Dr. Arpino and Maddie’s Center here.