Mission & Overview

During the first year of Phase Five, we have continued to focus on student education. Once again, we are delighted to see how much our students have learned. All four classes, freshman through seniors, have benefited from our program. We have also benefited from this endeavor by learning more about sheltering, the adoption guarantee philosophy, and generating new knowledge. The issue of homeless animals and how they are viewed and treated is now recognized as an essential component of veterinary education, as is the teaching of population medicine. We also have been heavily involved in welfare and disaster medicine and our students have gained insight and skill as a result. We continue to concurrently introduce students to shelter medicine as a career path and have graduates who are shelter veterinarians, interns, residents and one who has completed a residency and is now supervising veterinarian at Larimer Humane Society, Ft. Collins, CO. These program areas of focus dovetail nicely with the Maddie's Fund® vision of a home for every healthy and/or treatable companion animal. Once again, our program has been instrumental at multiple levels in introducing veterinary students and the veterinary community to the importance of shelter medicine. Maddie's Fund® support has been essential in bringing these issues to the students, staff, faculty, and sheltering community in Iowa and nationally.

Maddie's® Fund Externship Program
Eight senior students were supported in the 2010 cycle with our grant to spend two weeks at one of our core shelters, Wayside Waifs and another seven are scheduled for the 2011 cycle. Wayside is an adoption guarantee shelter in Kansas City where our students learn a great deal in all areas of sheltering. The shelter is within driving distance and there is lodging on site for our students, minimizing their expenses. Historically the college has supported the students by paying a small tuition. This year, our Maddie's® Program supported them.

Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Course
Maddie's Shelter Medicine course was offered in the spring of 2011 with 40 students from ISU College of Veterinary Medicine and 3 in the Distance Education section at University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Unfortunately, due to scheduling, vet technician students were unable to attend this year. The course is being updated and moved to Iowa State University's Blackboard Learn platform.

Maddie's® Summer Scholars Program continues to grow. In the summer of 2011, six students were chosen to participate. Each student worked on an individual research project. These included "Serosurvey of Influenza A Virus Exposure among Healthy Docs in Midwest Shelters," "Use of a Human approach Test to examine behavioral characteristics of dogs housed at an animal shelter: dogs impounded for legal cases versus strays," "Identifying the Most Effective and Cost Efficient Ear Mite Treatment for Shelter Cats," "Assessment of Cost-effectiveness of Oral/Systemic Topical Anti-flea medication use in Animal Shelters," "An Epidemiological Study of Mycoplasma Species in Felines Utilizing a Novel Pan-Myco PCR Assay," and "investigation of the Role of Onychectomy in Behavioral House Soiling in Cats."

Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Teaching and Research Program
Maddie's® Shelter Medicine research stipends are granted to veterinary students interested in discovery of new information that will benefit adoption guarantee shelters. Collection of diagnostic samples (e.g. blood, feces) will allow investigation of incidence and prevalence of infection or infection carrier state. This would involve both urban and rural populations and comparisons will be made. Infectious disease trends may be significant and add greatly to our understanding of epidemiology of infectious disease and further characterization of new and emerging infectious agents. This knowledge will be applied to detect and prevent illness in foster and adoption guarantee shelter animals.

In the summer of 2010, two Summer Scholars worked on development of surveys for veterinarians and pet owners of 2 counties in our area to determine community approaches to various pet medical and behavioral diseases. The results of this work provide a baseline of community willingness to address pet medical or behavioral disorders. These considerations can be used in conjunction with Asilomar Accords recommendations to assess adoptability of cats and dogs in shelter situations. In 2011, six students investigated Influenza A exposure in dogs, cost effective treatments for ear mites and fleas, the role of onychectomy (declawing) in house soiling behavior in cats, and epidemiology of Mycoplasma in cats. In 2013, the summer scholars will be focusing on behavior issues related to adoptability in shelter animals.

Both Drs. Petersen and Baldwin are members of the Iowa Federation of Humane Societies. Dr. Baldwin is a member of their Board of Directors. We continue to collaborate with and contribute to this organization. In addition, we participated in several other very significant engagement events over the last year. Dr. Baldwin consulted for disease breaks at veterinary clinics, boarding facilities, doggie day cares, and shelters and responded to calls and emails by veterinary colleagues. She has also had 4 new publications and presented information and provided leadership for 6 professional gatherings. She continued her work with ASV and Committee Work and Sheltering and Welfare Activities. Dr. Petersen completed multiple professional presentations.

Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Senior Student Award, given to two members of the Class of 2011 for demonstrated commitment to Shelter Medicine and the adoption guarantee philosophy was given at an awards ceremony in May. We are pleased to continue to offer this award. Our student Shelter Medicine Organization is officially registered with the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. They continue to hold fundraisers for our local shelters. Finally, our Feral Cat Alliance, a partner organization of the Shelter Medicine Club, continues to work to decrease the feral cat population in central Iowa while giving students an extremely important experience for leadership and community service.