News
July 1, 2009 ITHACA NY The Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York partners with Shelter Outreach Services (SOS) to provide high quality, high volume spay neuter services to animals in need in the region. The FL SPCA of Central NY is also proud to have been selected to participate in a new collaboration between SOS and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University to provide this much needed community service. Through this new collaboration, Cornell veterinary students, along with a faculty veterinarian and a licensed veterinary technician, will join SOS at the shelter to provide sterilization surgery. The initiative was launched on June 19, with the first spay/neuter clinic devoted solely to area barn cats that were brought to the shelter by their owners.
"The partnership is an excellent opportunity to broaden the College's relationship with the Shelter Outreach Services and other animal welfare organizations in an effort to provide students with more opportunities for quality surgical experiences that benefit patients whose access to medical care is limited," said Dr. Lorin Warnick, associate dean for veterinary curriculum. "The students will gain highly supervised hands-on surgical experience as well as experience in shelter medicine, skills that will serve them -- and society -- well." Dr. Paul Maza, a lecturer at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, along with Natalie Spaulding, LVT, instructs fourth-year veterinary student Marina Tejada, who provided sterilization surgeries for five area barn cats under the supervision of Dr. Maza at the June 19 event. "We are all very excited about this opportunity to help in addressing the problem of cat overpopulation and in educating future veterinarians," said Carol Russell, executive director of the FL SPCA of Central New York."The barn cats will receive spay/neuter surgeries through this arrangement that will ultimately help the students, the animals, and local farmers."