"Possible parvo pups arriving soon," Dr. ______ announced. Goosebumps ran up my arms due to the stinging tension pervading the usually chipper shelter clinic. Six beautiful puppies came in a crate, excitedly squirming on top of each other. To minimize contact, only one was tested - positive. Within 20 minutes, I assisted in the euthanasia of all 6 pups. The bodies were quickly disposed of, anything they touched went straight to the dumpster, the room was bleached, and it was over. I grasped the gravity of the situation and remained calm, but it was a lot for me to process as a teen. I had the utmost respect for my mentor veterinarians and knew they were truly compassionate, but I could not help but wonder why we couldn't give those puppies a chance.
Four years later, I learned firsthand why it is unfeasible to treat and contain deadly infections in a crowded facility. I interned for 2 baby seasons with wildlife, and parvo hit our native mammals both times. Having never seen animals treated for the virus, I was intrigued when told that euthanasia was a last resort. Despite our efforts, it spread like wildfire. Within weeks, 67 of our 70 raccoons had died. I will never forget how the usually rambunctious juveniles grimaced in a fetal position with their paws grasping their heads. This confirmed for me that vet care was complex and not always about treating every animal. While family pets who contract parvovirus and panleukopenia often survive with proper care, it's a different story in high volume facilities with limited resources – prevention is everything.
Though it stung initially, I internalized the meaning of "herd health" in shelters. Seeing the agony in affected animals made euthanasia easier in parvo cases, but euthanizing seemingly healthy animals with terminal conditions was difficult at first. I was holding an FIV+ cat for euthanasia one day, and she surprisingly began purring during the IP injection. For the next few minutes until she went limp in my arms, she was the happiest cat in the world! I realized then that animals only see the present and not "what could be." For the first time, I walked out from that euthanasia room with a smile and looked up at the blue California sky.
My experience with disease control helped greatly when I was appointed the Facility Director of _________, a new animal rescue organization in _________. As the one responsible for the animals' well-being and daily operations, I stressed the importance of prevention. At one point, however, the founder decided that the need for emergency intake superseded the risk of disease exposure, and brought several cats into the facility without first seeking veterinary care. Our game of Russian roulette came to an end with a ringworm outbreak. Though overwhelmed by the challenges ahead, especially with my full-time job as a research technician, I executed a treatment plan with the guidance of a local veterinarian. We quarantined and treated the affected kittens 4 times with lime sulfur over the next 2 weeks. The 11 remaining cats were also treated, and the entire facility was bleached. I knew that communication with volunteers was the key to success, since they were the daily animal caretakers, and maintained almost daily contact to provide information, progress updates, and procedural changes. Due to the collaborative effort of our dedicated volunteers, fungal cultures have confirmed that ringworm is now history!
Though I initially went into research simply to test out a PhD career path, my job has broadened my horizons in ways I didn't expect. When trusted to design a reliable method for determining the transgene copy number for our new transgenic mice using real-time qPCR, I became enthralled with the practical problem-solving aspect of lab science. While rejoicing in my success on this project, I realized that molecular biology and the scientific method have broad applications beyond cancer research. Since then, I began to wonder how my knowledge from the laboratory can be integrated with veterinary training so that I can make practical advances in shelter medicine.
I am excited to embark on the path towards answering this question. Not only is shelter medicine a discipline that is close to my heart, it is a multifaceted field with challenges in ethics, public health, epidemiology, public relations, and small animal medicine. The greatest appeal for me is that progress in this field directly impacts the number of animals that are saved from euthanasia. Given my considerable training in scientific research, I feel I have a lot to offer. Whether through clinical data collection, the development of vaccines and diagnostic tools, or simply through the re-evaluation of standard protocols, I look forward to making innovative changes in shelter medicine given realistic constraints. My hope is that within my lifetime, shelters will not need to euthanize animals for treatable conditions such as kennel cough and ringworm.