Shelter Medicine
NEWS:
California Budget Includes Money to Help Homeless Animals
We advance shelter medicine as a veterinary specialty through research, specialty training and education, and the performance of veterinary service in animal shelters. We improve the quality of life of animals in shelters through improvements in veterinary preventive medicine and management of disease.
In 2001, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine launched the first shelter medicine program in the world. Since then, our Koret Shelter Medicine Program has moved beyond the basics — how to vaccinate, clean, feed and handle animals — to guide the whole animal-shelter system. The program offers organizational evaluations, facility design consultations, and assistance with outbreak diagnosis and management, all intended to provide practical, cost-effective advice to improve animal welfare and adoptability.
The program’s training component teaches DVM students to understand the unique needs of animal shelters. Thanks to the support of donors who share our same vision, the program remains a national leader in advancing the quality of life of animals in shelters.