WesternU CVM Community Comes Together to Help Pets and Clients in Need

infectious disease screenings, and microchips, plus a few individual diagnostics. The team treated 23 dogs and 17 cats. In addition, clients were offered a variety of hygiene care products and free items for their pets, such as collars, toys, treats, and pet food.

The school has a rich history of educating veterinarians and veterinary scientists, making discoveries through a robust and progressive research enterprise, and setting the standards in animal health care. Innovation and collaboration are at the core of the school’s success and professional advancements. The faculty have developed new disciplines, new clinical treatments, and advanced the One Health approach to address complex health issues at the intersection of animals, people, and the environment.

Today, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is home to more than 600 DVM students and also offers MPVM, MS, and Ph.D. degrees. Its teaching hospital is one of the most comprehensive in the world with the largest advanced training program anywhere in veterinary medicine, training veterinarians in more than 35 specialty disciplines.

student and staff family members. Faculty members Gillian Angliss, DVM; Allison Marsh, DVM, MPH; Ana Alcaraz, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPA; Jose Peralta, DVM, MSc, Ph.D.; Street Dog Pomona Team Lead Rhea Hanselmann, DVM, MPVM, Ph.D.; and staff member Christiana Benoit helped oversee the activities.

Forty animals received free preventative treatment from the caring volunteers of the Street Dog Coalition/WesternU Team last fall. The event marked the organization’s second free clinic for the pets of unhoused and low-income community members, with another scheduled in the coming months.

Together, the team provided physical exams, vaccines, anthelmintics, flea/tick prevention,

Second-year student organizers Andrea Brkić, Savanah Vieira, and Caitlin Rolle pulled together and streamlined the successful clinic.

“As an undergrad, I also volunteered with the homeless,” Andrea said. “This program felt like a great continuation of something I’m already comfortable with.”

Twenty-seven students, representing all current WesternU DVM classes, were involved in the event, along with three

Dr. Peralta said the organizers initiated a new registration system utilizing a QR code, allowing clients to schedule a time for their pets to be seen by clinicians. “Allowing people to sign up ahead of time allows us to spread things out— more like appointments—instead of [people] just showing up and waiting in line,” Dr. Peralta said.

The latest clinic was co-sponsored by the Street Dog Coalition, Merck, and Student American Veterinary Medical Association. Learn more about the Street Dog Coalition and its critical work on the organization’s website at thestreetdogcoalition.org.