LSU Veterinary School staff member receives shelter medicine award
Alison Salmon, DVM (LSU SVM 2011) receives award from the ASPCA
The ASPCA® (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) awarded LSU a scholarship that enabled Alison Salmon, DVM (LSU SVM 2011), shelter medicine fellow, to attend the 2012 Annual Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Conference. Dr. Salmon’s trip to the conference was made possible through this generous grant from the ASPCA.
The 5th Annual Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference took place from August 25-26, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. Topics included strategies to improve adoptions rates and decrease length of stay in the shelter, pros and cons of trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs, standardizing medical and treatment protocols, managing upper respiratory disease and parvovirus, and the physical and psychological issues found in puppy mill and hoarding cases.
In addition to attending conference sessions, Dr. Salmon presented a poster and was able to meet with professionals, clinicians and students from other universities within the U.S. and from Australia to discuss our well rounded shelter medicine program here at LSU. “Many were interested in the shelter program at Dixon Correctional Institute and wanted to hear the pros and cons of working with a shelter at a prison,” said Dr. Salmon. “I also described how we emphasize shelter management in order to empower our soon-to-be-veterinarians to work with their local shelters.”
Added Dr. Salmon, “I would like to thank the ASPCA for this opportunity to attend the 5th Annual Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Conference. The material covered was very informative. As an educator of senior veterinary students, I will pass along the knowledge I gained so that even more shelter animals’ lives will be enhanced. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by so many other individuals so compassionate in the shelter medicine field. I look forward to the new topics and meeting even more comrades at subsequent Maddie’s Conferences.”
The LSU SVM’s shelter medicine program serves animals and shelters in several parishes including Acadia, Ascension, Concorida, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, LaFourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Point Coupee, St. Bernard, St. John, St. Landry, St. Martinville, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, West Feliciana and Winn. In 2011-2012, the LSU SVM’s shelter medicine program performed 1,200 health exams and over 700 surgeries on shelter animals in Louisiana.
For more information about the ASPCA, please visit http://www.aspca.org. For more information about the LSU SVM, please visit http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu.
Media Contact:
Ginger Guttner
Director of Public Relations
LSU School of Veterinary Medicine
225-578-9922 or gguttner@lsu.edu
Mission:
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is a dynamic community dedicated to saving lives, finding cures, and changing lives through outstanding clinical and community service, groundbreaking research, and educational excellence.