We invited Dr. Helena De Tar from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, to organize a special lecture and research exchanges on shelter medicine.
As the number of dogs and cats adopted from animal shelters increases year by year, the number of their culling reduces in Japan. The special veterinary medical cares provided in these shelters are generally known as shelter medicine, which is a new specialty in the field of veterinary medicine. Shelters keep a lot of dogs and cats with different backgrounds together, thus, a collective health management of the sheltered animals (group animal veterinary medicine) is required in such facilities, but the method is significantly different from individual animal health management practices in general households.
Given this situation, we invited Dr. De Tar from College of Veterinary Medicine, the Cornell University from April 3 to April 6, 2018 to promote education and research activities concerning shelter medicine in our university.
On April 3, the university organized a special lecture on “Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Shelter Medicine” for faculty staff and students interested in shelter medicine, as well as people involved in shelter activities outside the university, Dr. De Tar gave a lecture on the veterinary practice in the shelter, which is very different from individual treatment of companion animals. Other interesting relevant cases, such as animal hoarding, were also discussed in the lecture.
During her stay, Dr. De Tar visited our educational and research facilities for veterinary medicine, including the sterilization operation station for sheltered animals in the Veterinary Medical Center, and local shelters to have opinion exchanges with the staff members of the facilities.
In Tokyo, Dr. De Tar met Dr. Aki Tanaka from University of California, Davis, to share views and exchange information on shelter medicine in Japan.
We continue our engagement in promoting the academic discipline of shelter medicine in collaboration with local shelters and experts from inside and outside Japan.
Written by: Keiko Kawamoto
