|
Meet Our New Clinic Manager
Over the last two years, many organizations have scaled back their operations, but we are proud to say that we've quadrupled the surgery volume at our low-cost spay/neuter clinic in Forestville. More than 200 cats and dogs are altered in a typical month, many for free thanks to funding from the Maryland Spay and Neuter Grant Program.
More surgeries mean more of everything else: more clients, more veterinary staff, and more supplies. Our volunteers had a tough time keeping pace with the increased administrative work, and we realized we needed some professional help with clinic management!
Enter Melanie Dorbert, who joined us as a surgical technician in 2018 and became our lead surgical technician. Call it serendipity, but Melanie was ready for a new challenge and has just the right skill set and management experience. It was a perfect fit.
Melanie started out as a certified pediatric medical assistant and added animal care to her resume in 2000. She transferred to veterinary medicine full-time in 2013 and has over a decade of veterinary technician experience in emergency medicine and orthopedic and general surgery.
Melanie’s primary goal for our clinic is to improve efficiency, finally executing our long-planned transition to a paperless system that will help us work smarter and maximize our capacity. She’s also a great teacher and will be improving our pre-veterinary student intern program (a longstanding partnership with the University of Maryland). Finding a new home for our clinic is also a priority.
A lifelong Marylander, Melanie lives with her wife Tina, their two dogs (Winston James and Mabel Lynn), and five cats (Shadow, Ulysses, Ferris, Albert, and Tucker).
|
|
|
An Adoption Success Story
|
|
|
Everything we do is for the animals, and we are beyond happy to see them go to their fur-ever homes. Saving that one cat or dog will not change the world, but surely for that one cat or dog, the world will change forever! We're excited to feature a Happy Tail from Boomer, who found a wonderful home of his own on Christmas Day 2021!
From Boomer's Family: Boomer joined his forever family on Christmas Day, and Yoko and Jock say he was the BEST present! He quickly became good friends with his new brothers, Rossi and Mikke, and they chase squirrels and dig for moles together. Rossi was a good teacher for Boomer on various activities. When Yoko was trying to teach Boomer to SIT, Rossi would come over and sit right next to him and get a treat.
Yoko says “Boomer is a strong runner and our 30 acres of mountainside pleases him. Occasionally he visits our neighbors, but our Boomerang always comes back.” She says that’s how he earned his last name, RANG.
Curious about his breed, Yoko and Jock did a DNA test, and learned there’s a lot of dog in Boomer – he’s a mix of Lab, Golden Retriever, American Eskimo, Rottweiler, Alaskan Malamute, and German Shepherd!
Yoko says, “Boomer has been learning a lot and is definitely a member of our family now.” She’s even writing a song about him, which includes the lyrics;
I came to the mountain on Christmas Day.
A family met me on the driveway,
Two border collies were friendly souls.
I can stay here and play with them.
I like the mountain to roam free,
Deer and chipmunks to chase around.
Moles to dig and big bears to see.
Always come back like a Boomer-ang.
If you or someone you know is looking for a new pet, check out our adoptable cats and dogs at www.pgspca.org/adopt.
|
|
May - September 2022
Making a Difference
2,299
Low-cost vaccinations & microchips administered
1,183
Animals altered at our spay/neuter clinics (most for free!)
23
Cats and dogs adopted into their forever homes
562
Assistance and abuse calls handled on our 24-hour hotline
|
|
|
Brianna Anthony
I was always interested in working with animals since I was a kid, but there hasn't been a specific event that drove me to it though.
I'm most excited to get to know everyone and learn more about the nonprofit and shelter aspects of veterinary medicine. In the future I'd like to be a small animal veterinarian and possibly specialize in some aspects of surgery.
|
|
|
|
Ayeesha Fadlaoui
Ever since my family adopted a stray cat from the streets of Washington, D.C., I’ve been inspired to help animals in any way I can. As a young child, I was always very attached to my stuffed animal collection, and would give each animal frequent "medical check-ups" using my toy doctor's kit. Since then, I’ve wanted to become a real animal doctor, and have had opportunities to work with less fortunate animals in shelter environments. Giving back to the animals that humans often use for our own purposes is something I find to be very rewarding, and certainly something I hope to do through this internship.
I am most excited to play a role in animal procedures and surgeries that could potentially save lives of humans and animals. I’ve never seen a procedure being performed up close on an animal, nor have I ever been able to assist with one, so possibly having the opportunity to do this is exciting. I am also looking forward to learning from veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, and other interns all about what being a vet is like, and getting just a small glimpse into some of what they do.
In the future, I hope to become a veterinarian and continue volunteering with shelter animals, particularly cats. Through my work as a veterinarian, I hope to also conduct research in order to determine new ways of disease prevention among animals, as well as ways to reduce the spread of diseases from animals to humans. I am unsure as to whether I’d like to work with small or large animals, but either way, I think this would be a very rewarding career.
|
|
|
Cassidy Kercheval
Animals have always been a large part of my life! Growing up my family has had dogs, horses, bees, chickens, and even a cow. I was always extremely involved in the care of these animals and developed a deep love and appreciation for each of them. There has never been a life that I've seen for myself that didn't involve animals, but I didn't know in what capacity that would be until a summer job I had at a veterinary clinic.
What drew me to this job was seeing how the veterinarian I worked with was able to drastically improve the wellbeing of the animals brought to the clinic, and how his quick thinking in emergency situations saved lives. I realized there that I wanted to take my passion for caring for animals to another level by going into veterinary medicine.
In the future I would like to attend veterinary school and, while I'm not exactly sure yet what my focus area there would be, I know from working in a rehabilitation clinic that I'm especially drawn to orthopedic surgery. I'm really looking forward to getting to work with everyone at the SPCA, including my fellow interns! Having only ever worked at one other clinic before, I'm probably most excited to see how other places handle daily operations, and how patients and protocols here compare to those at a small private practice. Looking forward to meeting everyone!
|
|
|
Olivia Rosen
I have always wanted to work with animals, ever since I was a young age. I started working with shelters in particular after adopting my own cats from a shelter and volunteered with that same shelter for several years in cat adoptions.
I’m most excited to learn about the surgery side of veterinary work, as I have never been able to work behind the scenes before. I also really hope to help with the huge stray and feral cat population in Prince George’s county!
In the future I’d like to work with wildlife, and I’m interested specifically in pursuing work in the field of conservation biology!
|
|
|
|
Megan Schall
I am inspired to get involved with working with animals because my sister was once deathly afraid of dogs, but was able to overcome this and even went as far as to adopt a rescue dog from her local area. Watching her overcome this fear made me realize my desire to care for animals and their owners and switch my desired career from human-doctor to a veterinarian.
I am excited to gain hands-on experience with animals to be able to help them lead their healthiest lives. I don’t have much experience with animals, so I am excited to learn and be able to assist the doctors and veterinary techs when needed.
My goals with working with animals in the future are to be able to continue keeping animals happy and healthy by attending veterinary school and being able to help them for the rest of my life.
|
|
|
Autumn Wenstrom
There were a few things that got me inspired to work with animals. I love being with animals and ever since I can remember, I've been volunteering for different shelters or just visiting PetSmart for fun before I had a pet. When I was older, however, I became more intrigued with the ethics of how animals should be treated and their welfare, specifically farm animals, which ultimately sparked my interest.
I am most excited to learn more about small animal procedures and get to observe surgeries and have the opportunity to ask questions. In the future, I hope to either become a mixed-practice veterinarian or work in the animal welfare field.
|
|
|
|
|
Laura Picard (Lead Intern)
Hi! My name is Laura Picard and I am a clinic management intern this year with PGSPCA. I worked last year as an intern and had a great year learning about veterinary medicine and getting to work in a clinic environment. I was able to see many surgeries and unique cases from the multitude of animals we had come in for spays and neuters. My intern project also taught me a lot about the sterilization systems in medical facilities and I read many interesting studies about bacteria combination through different fabrics and weaves.
For all these reasons I decided to stay on for another year at PGSPCA! I want to work with the new interns and guide them toward success and having a good learning experience just as I did.
|
|
|
Stacey Revesz (Lead Intern)
I decided to become an intern manager this year because I really enjoyed my experience with the PGSPCA last year and want to continue to support what they do.
Over the past year, I have learned a lot about working in veterinary medicine and the importance of spaying, neutering, and vaccinating our pets.
I valued the hands-on learning opportunities and gained perspective into shelter medicine. It has fueled my passion for helping animals and made me excited to pursue vet school!
|
|
|
Please follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pgspca/), Facebook (www.facebook.com/pgspca), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/pgspca), and remember to comment, like, and share our posts. You can help spread our good news and help us make a difference. Let us know what kind of content you enjoy most!
We are so grateful to all of our volunteers and donors for their support throughout the year. We truly couldn't do this meaningful work without you and all our rescue partners who help the animals of PG County.
|
|
IMPORTANT: Due to the pandemic, many of our in-person events are modified. Be sure to view the online calendar at www.pgspca.org/events to confirm times and locations.
|
|
|
Free Spay/Neuter Services
Can’t afford to spay or neuter your pet? Thanks to private grants and donations, we can help qualified county residents have their pets altered at reduced or no cost. LEARN MORE
|
|
|
Foster Homes Needed!
We are desperately short on foster homes. Our current fostering volunteers are doing an awesome job, but they can’t do it alone. LEARN MORE
|
|
|
|
|
