Shelter Medicine Conference
October 23-24th, 2009
Paramount Plaza
Gainesville, FL
About the Speakers
Rich AvanzinoRich Avanzino has been President of Maddie's Fund,® the Pet Rescue Foundation since 1999. He directs the $300 million family foundation's resources in four major areas: pioneering shelter medicine programs in colleges of veterinary medicine; creating successful models of community lifesaving; enlisting private practice veterinarians in the animal welfare cause; and implementing a national strategy to collect and report shelter statistics.
Prior to joining Maddie's Fund, Rich served as President of the San Francisco SPCA for 22 years (1976-1999). During his tenure, he led San Francisco to become the first City and County in the nation (1994) to offer an adoption guarantee for every healthy shelter cat and dog, and brought euthanasia rates down to the lowest of any urban center in the nation. He also pioneered adoption, animal behavior, feral cat, and spay/neuter programs that have become models for the nation. He received a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of California Medical Center and earned a law degree at the University of California at Davis Law School.
Sarah BabcockAfter finding a dog on the street in front of her house in 1996 and getting hooked on both the sport of agility and the science of dog training, Sarah left a 14-year career at IBM to pursue additional education in animal behavior. She completed graduate work in psychology/neuroscience at the University of Richmond and graduated valedictorian from Jean Donaldson’s Academy for Dog Trainers at the SF/SPCA in 2001, joining the Richmond SPCA shortly thereafter. She and her staff oversee the behavior helpline, adult/children’s humane education, public pet training classes, outreach/companionship programs and volunteers. Sarah is an avid photographer and shares her home with two turtles, two cats, and six dogs.
Seattle Humane Society
Brenda F. Barnette was appointed Chief Executive Officer of The Seattle Humane Society in June 2006. During her tenure, the Seattle Humane Society made long awaited improvements at their campus: New kitty condos allow prospective adopters to interact with shelter cats; spacious new compartments for other cats provide room for daily socialization by staff and volunteers; 60 dog kennels have been completely remodeled to create a quieter kennel environment and to prevent barrier frustration. These changes help improve care at the shelter so that the animals can thrive in their new homes. Dramatic growth in the foster program has resulted in more than 3000 animals getting special care and training from foster volunteers annually. Brenda previously served as CEO of Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, Executive Director of Pets In Need, and the Development Director at The San Francisco SPCA.
Kelley Bollen, MS, CABCMaddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University
Kelley Bollen is a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant with a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior. She is a professional member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). Ms. Bollen currently serves as the behaviorist for the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In this role, Ms. Bollen teaches shelter medicine residents and veterinary students about animal behavior and consults with area shelters to help them address such things as stress reduction, behavioral enrichment, safe animal handling, and canine behavior assessments.
Nevada Humane Society
Bonney Brown is the Executive Director of Nevada Humane Society in Reno, Nevada. In 2007 she increased adoption rates by 53% for dogs and 84% for cats, and increased the save rate by for dogs and cats countywide by 50%. In 2008 adoptions were increased an additional 9%. In 2008 Washoe County had an 89.6% save rate for all dogs and an 82.6% save rate for all cats coming into area shelters, making Washoe County, Nevada, one of the safest communities in the country for homeless animals. Bonney’s background includes over 10 years experience in retail buying and management. She is a co-founder and former Director of the Humane Coalition of Massachusetts, and was Chief Operating Officer for Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. Bonney is the recipient of the No Kill Advocacy Center’s 2007 Shelter Director of the Year award.
Cynda Crawford, DVM, PhDMaddie's Clinical Assistant Professor of Shelter Medicine
Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida
Dr. Crawford’s interests include diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of infectious diseases in dogs and cats in sheltering facilities. Her current focus is the diagnosis of viruses and bacteria that cause acute respiratory infections in dogs in shelters. Dr. Crawford’s accomplishments include discovery of canine influenza virus and evaluation of diagnostic assays for feline immunodeficiency virus.
Natalie Isaza, DVM Merial Clinical Assistant Professor of Shelter Medicine
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida
Dr. Isaza’s interests include high volume, high quality spay/neuter, pediatric spay and neuter, prevention of animal cruelty and neglect, and community-based programs to curtail animal relinquishment to shelters and strengthen the human-animal bond. She is currently involved in instructing junior and senior veterinary students in their shelter medicine clinical elective rotation, in which her students have spayed and neutered more than 6000 animals since 2004.
Richmond SPCA
Tamsen joined the Richmond SPCA as its community relations manager in 2002, and in 2004 she was appointed director of development. In this capacity, she supervised the organization’s fundraising efforts, including direct mail, e-marketing, online giving, grant writing, public relations and special events. In 2007, she became chief operating officer and continues to oversee development in addition to clinic operations, admissions, adoptions, and retail. Tamsen is involved in a number of public relations activities which have helped garner public support for the nationally-recognized Robins-Starr Humane Center and its myriad community programs and services. Tamsen is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and lives in Richmond with her husband Tony and their two dogs Buxton and Diesel.
Susanne KogutCharlottesville-Albermarle SPCA
Susanne Kogut joined the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA as Executive Director in March 2005 with a No Kill goal. In less than two-years, the SPCA achieved its No Kill goal lowering its euthanasia rate by approximately 70%. The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, an open-admission facility and the city and county pound, takes in over 5,000 animals each year as saves approximately 90% of all the animals. Before joining the SPCA, Susanne held several positions at Capital One Financial Corporation, including associate general counsel, director of corporate finance and director of community reinvestment. Prior to that, Susanne was a corporate finance & securities attorney in the Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Brown & Wood. She received her B.A. in Finance in 1986 and J.D. in 1990 from the University of Houston. In 2002 and 2003, preparing for a career change, Susanne traveled around the United States and Canada, attending conferences and visiting animal welfare organizations and completed a dog-training certification course at Arizona Canine Academy.
Julie K. Levy, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVIMMaddie's Professor of Shelter Medicine
Director, Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida
Dr. Levy’s clinical interests center on feline infectious diseases, humane alternatives for cat population control, and immunocontraceptive vaccines for cats. She is the founder of feral cat spay/neuter programs that have sterilized more than 40,000 cats since 1994 (Operation Catnip).
Dr. Merck assists investigators of animal cruelty with crime scene investigation as well as the examination of live and deceased victims. She frequently testifies as a forensic veterinary expert for animal cruelty cases around the country, including cases involving animal hoarding, dog fighting and animal torture. She most recently was the veterinary forensics expert on the football player, Michael Vick, dog fighting case.
Dr. Merck is the author of the textbook, “Veterinary Forensics: Animal Cruelty Investigation,” by Blackwell Publishing and the co-author of the book “Veterinary Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty: A Guide for Veterinarians and Law Enforcement.” She frequently provides training for veterinary and law enforcement professionals nationwide on the use of veterinary medical knowledge in the investigation and prosecution of animal cruelty cases.
Dr. Merck lives in Gainesville, Florida, with an assortment of dogs and cats, many rescued from cruelty cases.
Maddie’s Fund
Dr. Peek is a major force at Maddie's Fund, guiding decisions on veterinary school grants and guidelines and advising foundation staff on veterinary related issues. Dr. Peek's goal-to encourage veterinary schools to provide professional training and support to animal shelters and to inform them about new advances in shelter medicine fits perfectly with the mission of Maddie's Fund. She has been affiliated with the foundation since its inception. Dr. Peek has practiced small animal medicine and surgery since her graduation from Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. In addition to her hands-on work helping animals feel better, she provides spay/neuter and adoption assistance to several animal welfare organizations in her community. Dr. Peek and her family live in the Midwest with Juno (an adopted collie), Amanda, Aggie, Moses and Skittles (their beloved cats), and Lovey Hoppykins (an adopted English Spot rabbit).
Jan Scarlett, DVM, MPH, PhDDr. Scarlett is a Professor of Epidemiology, and Director of the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University. She has been a faculty member in the veterinary college at Cornell University for over 25 years, and her current teaching and research interests focus on prevention and control of diseases in animal shelters. She received her D.V.M. at Michigan State University, and her M.P.H. and Ph.D. (epidemiology) from the University of Minnesota.
Dane County Humane Society
Pam McCloud Smith is the Executive Director at Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) in Madison, Wisconsin. DCHS provides services for over 7,000 animals each year and is also recognized as a national leader in shelter medicine. Pam began her involvement with humane societies as a volunteer for DCHS in 1988. As Executive Director since 2002, she is responsible for planning and oversight of the organization’s $2.3 annual operating budget and is responsible for all operational functions and programs. Pam has been an active member of the Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies Board of Directors since 2004. She currently serves as the Treasurer and is responsible for all of their accounting functions as well as the production of a bi-annual newsletter. Pam is the proud owner of three dogs and one bird.
Robin Robertson Starr has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Richmond SPCA since 1997 and a member of its Board of Directors since 1994. Previously, she was a partner in the law firm of Williams Mullen. Robin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Wake Forest University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Richmond. She was an Editor of the University of Richmond Law Review. Robin is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Humane Societies and a Trustee Emeritus of the Richmond Ballet. She is a regular columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch on animal welfare topics. Her husband, Ed, is a partner in the law firm of Troutman Sanders and they have a fifteen year old daughter, Tyler.
Learn how we are helping animal shelters at www.UFShelterMedicine.com
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