LSU Vet School receives $800,000 HSUS grants for shelter medicine program

Last week, LSU School of Veterinary Medicine’s (SVM) shelter medicine program received a $200,000 grant from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Developed with funding provided by HSUS and American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery, the shelter medicine program was established in the wakes of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. To date, HSUS has contributed a total of $800,000.

“We are certainly grateful for… HSUS’ [help in establishing] this program and its ongoing commitment to sustaining excellence,” says Joseph Taboada, DVM, the school’s associate dean for student and academic affairs.

The shelter medicine curriculum focuses on animal wellness, pet population dynamics, disaster medicine, animal behavior and welfare. But, perhaps, more importantly, the shelter medicine department has forged a symbiotic relationship between LSU’s academic animal science powerhouse and underserved rural shelters.

Each year, 75 third- and fourth-year vet students enroll in the Shelter Medicine and Population Control elective. Through a partnership with Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART), the students learn about the infrastructure and veterinary support necessary to respond to large-scale disasters. Students also enhance their communication skills by conducting seminars on animal health for shelter personnel and local high school students.

But mostly, the hands-on coursework involves driving the school’s mobile clinic outside the city limits to examine, diagnose, vaccinate, spay/neuter and treat homeless animals in remote municipal shelters.

The experience exposes students to diseases, advanced stages of illnesses or behaviors they might not encounter routinely in a private practice or academic setting. And, since many of the animals arrive as strays or doorstep drop-offs, students are forced to rely on their clinical skills for diagnosis rather than an owner’s health history.

For underfunded municipal shelters without even a part-time staff veterinarian, the delivery of onsite care and surgical services is nothing short of a godsend.

The shelter medicine program includes 23 shelters in Ascension, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and West Baton Rouge parishes.

“Our goal is to have decreased euthanasia rates in the shelters through better animal health care, provide healthier animals for adoption and encourage students to volunteer or seek employment in shelters once they graduate,” explains Wendy Wolfson, DVM (LSU SVM 1986) veterinary surgery instructor and shelter medicine program director.

Over the past two years, the shelter medicine students have evaluated over 3,500 animals and participated in over 1,400 surgeries at shelters. Nearly 1,500 additional surgeries have been performed on shelter and feral animals transferred to the LSU campus.

The rotation has undoubtedly improved the primary care and surgery skills of the students involved and the adoption rates of the shelters served.

SVM plans to invest the most recent $200,000 grant in a shelter medicine fellowship to extend the program into central and northern Louisiana.

“Superior veterinary care at public and private community shelters in Louisiana, and better access to spaying and neutering services, are signature goals of HSUS,” says Andrew Rowan, PhD, HSUS chief scientific officer. “[They are also] crucial elements of our broader initiative to improve the lives of dogs and cats in the state, and to end the euthanasia of healthy and treatable pets.

“A vibrant shelter medicine program at LSU SVM—one that extends itself to under-served communities—is essential to those goals, and one of the most fundamental contributions we could hope to make to animal welfare in Louisiana.”

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