The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association has planned an outstanding Shelter Animal Medicine Track for the 2012 Midwest Veterinary Conference. Many thanks to the Ohio Animal Health Foundation and the Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust, A Key Bank Trust, for continued support of this educational program.
Once again, we have a great line-up of speakers and topics, including Dr. Gary Patronek on dog bite epidemiology, breed-specific legislation, and animal hoarding; Dr. Melinda Merck on veterinary forensics; Dr. Laurie Millward on diagnostic cytology in animal shelters; and Dr. Phillip Bushby on spay/neuter efficiency techniques.
In addition to 27 hours of shelter animal presentations, the MVC will also be offering a pediatric spay/neuter surgery lab. Sixteen veterinarians can participate in the wet lab, which will be held at the Ohio State University on Monday, Feb. 27. This lab is sponsored by PetSmart Charities and will provide registrants an opportunity to perform safe and efficient methods of prepubertal sterilization, as approximately 80 puppies and kittens will be spayed and neutered prior to adoption from the Capital Area Humane Society.
New for 2012 is a shelter medicine poster/abstract session. Selected posters will be on display in the exhibit hall on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Three of the submitted abstracts were selected to be presented in the shelter track on Thursday. A full-day symposium on animal hoarding will be held Friday with topics ranging from recognition and intervention to organizing a community task force, planning a large response, evaluating the behavior of animal victims, and medical management of a temporary shelter.
We are sure you will find plenty of interesting educational opportunities. In addition to the shelter track, many relevant lectures can be found in medical, surgical, behavior, and management tracks. The MVC has a lot to offer veterinary technicians and other shelter professionals, so plan to bring your staff!
As in past years, the OVMA will be awarding scholarships to assist shelters in offsetting costs to attend the MVC conference will be made available to sheltering organizations. New this year, we will also be offering partial scholarship for DVMs to attend the aforementioned lab. We encourage shelters and rescue groups interested in attending to submit an application.
The OVMA Shelter Animal Medicine and Care Committee is very excited to host a reception on Friday evening after the conclusion of sessions. We hope you will join us and network with others in your field. See you at the Conference!
Jodi Lytle Buckman, CAWA; and Jeanette O'Quin, DVM, MPH
Co-chairs, Shelter Animal Medicine and Care Committee