| Advocacy |
Doing Well While Doing GoodA growing concern for animal welfare and increasing public appreciation for positive social impact by veterinarians means that involvement in community animal welfare activities and the operation of a profitable practice need not be mutually exclusive. Learn about private practices, non-profits, and foundations that have sustained profitable practices while focusing on essential therapeutic services, such as low-cost sterilization, declining to perform cosmetic surgeries, and working with rescue groups and shelters. PRIVATE PRACTICESThe mission of Planned Pethood Plus is "[to] significantly reduce pet overpopulation and suffering of companion animals by offering affordable common sense veterinary medicine to everyone!" Founder, Dr. Jeffery Young, studied veterinary medicine at Colorado State University, and worked as an animal control officer while in school – an experience that shaped his outlook on his career. After graduating from CSUCVM he worked for mobile clinics, interacting with pet owners who couldn’t afford or couldn’t get to a traditional veterinary clinic. A few years after earning his DVM, he took up an offer from the Animal Assistance Foundation to buy one of their satellite clinics and started Planned Pethood. The practice charges a fraction of what other local veterinarians do for spay/neuter procedures, and has proven to be a successful model: they soon will be moving into a larger facility to accommodate the growing demand for their services. And now, he's also a television star: You can watch Dr. Jeff in action on Animal Planet on Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet! NON-PROFITSFounded in 2010 by Dr. Jean Rabinowitz, 4 R Friends is a Sacramento, Calif.-based non-profit, all volunteer, organization dedicated to providing life-saving emergency medical care to stray, sheltered, and owner-relinquished pets, and to providing essential care and sharing information to insure that all pets in Sacramento can live safe and healthy lives. Read more about 4 R Friends» Jean Rabinowitz, MA, DVM practiced general and emergency medicine in private practice for ten years before joining the County of Sacramento Animal Care and Regulation as their second veterinarian and head of their new community outreach program. She earned her veterinary medical degree at the University of California Dean Pritchard School of Veterinary Medicine at Davis. Before that, she contemplated problems of the body and pain in late antique and medieval history at the University of California, Berkeley and at Yale University. Dr. Rabinowitz has been an HSVMA member since 2013. FOUNDATIONS |
