Overview

The first year of Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at Iowa State University has been very successful! We have connected much more actively with the sheltering community in Iowa and the surrounding states since our program began. We have addressed issues that affect no-kill, traditional shelters, and animal control units and have worked with all of these groups.

Maddie’s® Summer Scholars Program has been instrumental in engagement. The two scholars communicated with 40 shelters in Iowa and surrounding states. They visited 19 shelters in Iowa and Nebraska, six of which call themselves no-kill, representing 32% of visited shelters! Two other traditional shelters they visited have numbers to suggest that the shelters also are no-kill. Interesting data on the fostering of companion animals and prevalence of parasitism has been generated from that program. Analysis is continuing and our goal is to share findings and conclusions with the sheltering and veterinary communities.


All three senior students selected as Maddie’s® Externs have traveled to exceptional no-kill shelters and brought back experiences that would not have been possible without Maddie’s® Program. The desire for senior students to experience shelters not previously connected with Iowa State University has grown to be inclusive of low-kill and no-kill facilities.

We strengthened veterinary medical education at Iowa State University through Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Course, completed in the spring of 2004. Three internationally known speakers, and several community contributors shared their knowledge and skill in Maddie’s® Course. The classroom was open to all students and members of the community.

Maddie’s® also sponsored speakers for The Veterinarian in Society Course, and the Feline and Shelter Medicine Student Organizations. In addition, Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Director, Dr. Baldwin, was able to present three seminars to sheltering directors, personnel, and veterinary technicians. We continue to look forward to the education and learning that Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program has brought to Iowa State University. We continue to develop our website so that learning can occur beyond the campus and local community.