PCVMA Important News – PCVMA BASEBALL OUTING
Posted in Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News
PCVMA BASEBALL OUTING
Over 80 veterinarians, staff, friends and families enjoyed a wonderful Saturday evening at Tropicana Field.
Thanks to Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Idexx Laboratories who sponsored our annual event.
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Latest PCVMA Newsletter
Posted in View PCVMA Newsletters
PCVMA News Letter 01/2019 Volume:30 No. 1
PCVMA News Letter 02/2019 Volume:30 No. 2
PCVMA News Letter 03/2019 Volume:30 No.3
PCVMA News Letter 04/2019 Volume:30 No.4
President’s Message
Dear PCVMA Members,
This month we have a great meeting planned with BI and a presentation by Dr. Alice Wolf. If you haven’t paid your annual dues, please see or contact Dr. Godfrey. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!
Sincerely,
Hillary Maedel, DVM
President | PCVMA
Northeast Animal Hospital
TREASURER’S REPORT – 2019 PCVMA DUES NOTICES HAVE BEEN MAILED
Please support your county organization providing you with information and opportunities on continuing education, political/legislative issues, business/financial issues, Pharmacy & Laws and Rules required CE and social events throughout the year. Practice owners, please help your associates with their membership and the PCVMA with your continued support.
Dues are $100.00 per year per veterinarian.
Checks and inquires can be address to:
Dr. Ernest Godfrey
PCVMA Treasurer
Pinellas Animal Hospital
7791 52nd Street North
Pinellas Park, FL 33781
WOULD EVERYONE TAKE A MINUTE TO REVIEW ANY CLASSSIFIED ADS YOU MAY HAVE POSTED IN THIS NEWS LETTER. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT THEM REMOVED, OTHERWISE YOU MAY CONTINUE TO GET LOTS OF UNNECESSARY PHONE CALLS OR E-MAILS. ANY CORRECTIONS ARE ALSO WELCOME.
Meeting Schedule for 2019: Dr. Maedel outlined the following meetings.
April 15, 2019 – TBD – BI/Merial – Bascom’s
May – Please Attend the FVMA Conference in Tampa
June 17, 2019 – Cervical Myelopathy – SCAN – Dr. Jim Cook
July 20, 2019 – PCVMA Baseball Game – Hill’s/Idexx -Tropicana
August 19, 2019 – Oncology – BluePearl – Bascom’s
September 7, 2019 – BOWser & CATsino Ball-Belleair Country Club
October 21, 2019 – TBD – Merck – Bascom’s
November 18, 2019 – TBD – Idexx – Bascom’s
December – No Meeting – Happy Holidays
General discussion and agreement : Bascom’s charges $75.00
for plated dinners with two drink tickets. Most sponsors have a
limit on what they can spend. Board members agreed that
Bascom’s was an great place to have our meetings. Centrally
located, well known, great food and service and we have always
been treated fairly. We decided to continue to have our meeting
there even if we need to supplement the cost from PCVMA funds.
We also discussed having unsponsored meetings with local
speakers and using membership dues/PCVMA funds to pay.
Election of Officers and Directors:
President – Dr. Hillary Maedel – Plantation Animal Hospital
BOD voted to have the President serve a two year term.
President-Elect – open
Past President – Dr. Don Howell – Midway Animal Hospital
Secretary – Dr. Samantha McHenry – Midway Animal Hospital
Serving last of a two year term
Treasurer – Dr. Ernie Godfrey – Pinellas Animal Hospital
Serving last of a two year term
Directors – Dr. Janell Dowling – Serving the last year of a two year
term.
Drs. Kim Donovan, Michael Rumore and Mark Scribano.
Served their last year of two year terms and up for re-election.
Dr. Donovan wishes to be re-elected to the BOD.
Drs. Rumore and Scribano were not at the meeting and no
response of their intentions at this time.
Drs. Marie Raver, Joel Murphy and Scott Trefz have agreed to
have their names on the ballot for election at the January 14th
meeting of the PCVMA at Bascom’s Chop House.
Tallahassee FVMA Legislative Days: March 12-14th.
Drs. Howell and Maedel will be representing the PCVMA
Drs. Klemawesch, Godfrey and Morgan will be representing
the PCVMA & FVMA.
Commissioner John Morroni Memorial Awards Banquet February 16th:
The PCVMA will be purchasing a table at the event; we have been
sponsoring the annual “Outstanding K-9 and Officer of the Year”
for several years. A great recognition for our organization.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Samantha McHenry | Secretary
PAF News
Posted in Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News, PAF News
24TH Annual Commissioner John Morroni First Responder Appreciation Dinner
(L-R) Scott Haley, Hill’s, Drs. Morgan, Maedel, Howell, Wilkes, Godfrey and Sergeant Blickensdorf, Largo PD Center is Officer Patrick Vann and K9 Partner Chase, Largo PD K9 And Officer Team Of The Year Award for Pinellas County This award is sponsored and presented annually by the PCVMA. Over 500 people, elected officials and first responders attended. County Commissioner Janet Long and Sherriff Bob Gaultrieri hosted the Dinner
Your Foundation continues to support the practice of veterinary medicine in Pinellas County.
The Pet Professor Program, the Pet Loss Support Program, the Veterinary Office Exhibit at the Great Exploration’s Museum for Children in St. Petersburg, CASA Kennel Program and home for
abused women and supporting SPC Scholarships continue to be our main focuses.
Your continue hospital support from the Pinellas County License Service Fees continues to be our primary source of financial support keeping your foundation and programs active.
We need your support!
Please contact our office at 727-397-7387(PETS) for more addressed envelopes for your donations from the license fees, more of the Pet Loss Support Cards and coloring books.
Please contact us for more information
Sincerely,
Donald H. Morgan DVM
President – PAF
Animal Services News
Posted in Animal Services News, Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News
Pinellas County Animal Services News
It has begun! It’s that dreaded time of year at the shelter where the arrival of pregnant cats is increasing and the all too familiar squeaky baby–sized meows can be heard as you walk the building. Yes, kitten season is beginning. And soon, our cages will be full of moms and babies and once again we will be scrambling to get these little jewels out of our scary shelter and into loving foster homes. It will be a race against time. Will we have enough space? Will we find fosters before illness threatens? It is a daunting task for staff and sometimes end results can leave lasting scars.
We as a community of professionals can help. We can continue to remind people of the importance of spaying and neutering their pets first and foremost. Many people are looking for ways to help and fostering or volunteering either at our shelter or one of our neighboring shelters cannot only be beneficial to them but lifesaving to an animal. The conversation starts with us.
This is a great time of year to not only encourage spaying and neutering, but to also give good advice if a person is faced with a found underaged kitten or a litter of their own. If someone finds a kitten under 2 lbs., recommend they leave the kitten as long as it is in a safe location for 2-4 hours to see if the mom returns. Kittens will do best when left with their mother. If the mom does not return, recommend that they or a friend foster the kitten until it is at least 2 lbs. or 8 weeks. A shelter is not a good place for underaged kittens EVER. The same advice goes for moms with litters of kittens less than 8 weeks.
If you don’t already know, Pinellas County Animal Services has a wonderful program called Step Up For Kittens. It provides a much healthier path to adoption. By waiting until kittens are of adoptable age and weight (2 lbs. or 2 months) to leave them at the shelter, people can help ensure a quicker and healthier adoption for them. Medically, PCAS is here to support them too. Kittens will receive health and behavior check-ups, vaccinations, parasite control, spay/neuter, and microchips free of charge. We will also provide medical treatment within our capabilities for the kittens free of charge while in foster care. If you know anyone needing assistance, please have then contact our shelter at 727-582-2600. Someone will be glad to speak with them and share more information about this program.
Robbie Asher, DVM, HABc
Pinellas County Animal Services
12450 Ulmerton Road, Largo, FL 33774
Phone 727-582-2600
SPCA Tampa Bay News
Posted in Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News, SPCA Tampa Bay News
SPCA Tampa Bay
I’d like to thank PCVMA for the opportunity to speak to the membership for a few minutes, at our last meeting, regarding spay/neuter. When we opened our hospital in St. Pete in late 2016, one of our primary goals was to provide a mission driven business that helped focus on the continued problem of homeless and unwanted pets. Around 20,000 animals enter Pinellas County shelters each year, and several thousand are euthanized as a result of disease and lack of space.
Organized high volume spay/neuter has a direct effect on this problem, and SPCA Tampa Bay is proud to be one of the providers in our county. In 2017 we performed about 2100 surgeries on public owned cats and dogs, and in 2018 we performed just over 2800 surgeries (mostly on a 3 day a week schedule). In addition, we have a separate purpose built holding room for feral (community) cats, and have performed several hundred sterilizations each year. We work directly with individual citizens, but also provide TNVR days for the larger groups that can bring in 20-30 cats at a time.
For 2019, we have been awarded the PetSmart Charities Spay/Neuter Grant, and we’ve now added a 4th day to our weekly schedule to support those patients with $10 surgeries, with the goal of performing an additional 1000 surgeries on top of our normal business. Clients must have provable financial need, and are still required to update their rabies vaccine status and tag (extra cost), if not current.
Many of our clients don’t typically have regular veterinarians, and we get some clients driving from other counties, sometimes driving 1-2 hours to bring pets in for surgery. Some clients have existing relationships with local veterinarians, and in most cases if we find evidence or issues with the pets, our conversation is always steered at having the client return to their own vet to pursue treatment (lots of skin, ear, and dental problems, as you might guess). Our focus in spay/neuter is exactly that, to keep prices reasonable, so we do not deviate from that mission by doing other procedures (like extracting teeth, removing masses or fixing hernias). Again, we usually refer people back to their regular veterinarian for procedures such as those. Lastly, we only admit pets that are reasonably healthy, under the age of 6. Our veterinarian (that’s me) can decline a surgery the day of exam, if something concerning is found.
Business is growing due to word of mouth and positive reviews, but we of course deeply appreciate referrals from the PCVMA community, and are honored to have that trust. We respect the relationships you have built with your clients and have focused our efforts on one specific aspect of animal welfare management, while hopefully preserving your long term relationships.
If you have any questions about our service, please don’t hesitate to contact me at our Veterinary Center, in St. Petersburg.
Rizal Lopez, DVM
Spay/Neuter Services Program Director
SPCA Tampa Bay Veterinary Center
Rlopez@spcatampabay.org
12450 Ulmerton Road, Largo, FL 33774
Phone 727-582-2600
St Peterburg College News
Posted in Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News, St Petersburg College News
St Petersburg College – College of Veterinary Nursing
SPC’s associate degree program in Veterinary Technology, under the guidance of Academic Chair Trish Gorham, was selected as a finalist for the Teaching and Learning Center Award through the Association of Florida Colleges.
This new award is given to exemplary centers that “inspire and advance teaching and learning . . . as demonstrated by their impact on student success, retention, and graduation” (https://www.myafchome.org/2019-conference-on-teaching-and-learning-awards).
The AFC Conference on College Teaching and Learning will take place April 3-5, 2019 at the St. Petersburg Hilton Bayfront. On Friday, April 5, at the Awards Luncheon, the winner of the Learning Center Award will be announced.
Cynthia Grey, DM
Associate Dean
College of Veterinary Nursing
St. Petersburg College |
727.302.6724 |
