May 31, 2018
Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine today announced it has received a $100,000 grant from PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, to support the spay/neuter program in the college.
The gift will assist the college in performing subsidized spay/neuter surgeries. The College of Veterinary Medicine teams up with area shelters and rescues to provide wellness and spay/neuter care for shelter and rescue animals in the college’s hospital facilities. Participating shelters and rescues bring their new animals to Iowa State where 3rd year veterinary students, under the supervision of clinicians, provide medical assessments and preventive care, as well as spay/neuter surgeries as part of their Surgical Education Program.
The program provides students the opportunity to learn about canine and feline preventive care for all life cycles including vaccines and parasite treatment, prevention and productions. This has a significant impact on preparing students for their fourth-year clinical rotations and life as a veterinarian.
“The program is a win-win for the shelters and the college,” said Dr. Joyce Carnevale, assistant clinical professor of veterinary clinical sciences. “The spay/neuter and preventive care program allows our small shelters and rescues to have pets receive full veterinary care and return adoption ready. This helps increase their adoption rates and decreases time in the shelter.
“For veterinary students, the program gives our third-year students hands-on, clinical and surgical experiences with live animals.”
More than 25 Iowa shelters and rescues participate in the community outreach program. Upon returning to the shelters, these animals are ready for adoption and last year more than 90% of the animals treated in the Iowa State program were adopted.
PetSmart Charities aims to proactively prevent pet homelessness through increased spay and neuter efforts. With the help of animal welfare partners, such as Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, PetSmart Charities has helped facilitate over 1.7 million spay and neuter surgeries in the U.S. since 2009.
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Contact
Dave Gieseke, College of Veterinary Medicine Communications, 515-294-4257