Why has the Aiken County Animal Shelter been so successful in saving so many adoptable animals? The credit goes to Aiken County Council, dedicated shelter management and staff, an army of FOTAS volunteers, and the generosity of the Aiken community.

But the bedrock of that success depends on one important factor—that shelter residents are healthy enough to make good pets when their time comes. That’s why the quality of medical staff at the County Shelter is so critical, and in that regard, the homeless animals of Aiken County are singularly lucky. For eight years, shelter residents have been evaluated, vaccinated, spayed, neutered, treated for mange, fretted over, and patched-up from injuries large and small by the shelter’s full-time veterinarian, Dr. Lisa Levy, whose outstanding expertise and big heart have made the difference between life and death for so many animals.

Recently Dr. Levy passed the full-time baton for the shelter’s medical program to an equally exceptional veterinarian, Dr. Nancy Rodriguez. Nancy is no stranger to the high-paced, high-stakes practice of shelter medicine; she has practiced at other public facilities in the CSRA for most of her career. She is also no stranger to empathy; for years she was one of two consulting veterinarians with Lap of Love, which provides in-home pet euthanasia, consultation, veterinary hospice, and pet loss support services. There’s a special place in heaven for people like Nancy, who help the rest of us cope with the seemingly unbearable loss and heartbreak of our pets. (She continues to be particularly attuned to the needs of senior dogs at the shelter, who are often overlooked by adopters.)

Dr. Rodriguez brings all that expertise and big love to the shelter, where every day brings different medical issues calling for quick solutions. Many of the animals picked up by animal control or surrendered to the shelter are in various states of physical distress, from routine neglect to heart-stopping abuse or injury. They may be covered with fleas, ticks, or mange. They may be desperately hungry—so thin you can see their skeletal structure. They may have broken bones from abuse or circumstance (like being hit by a car). They may be heartworm positive. The large percentage have most likely never had basic health care like vaccinations or flea, tick, and heartworm prevention meds. “I enjoy the element of surprise,” Nancy says, “the challenge of working through medical emergencies of all sorts.”

Nancy is impressed at the quality of the medical program at the shelter. “It’s wonderful,” she says, “to see all the good that can be done when there are sufficient resources to truly care for the animals.” Amen. FOTAS takes great pride in working with the county to make certain the appropriate medical equipment and services are available for every animal—everything from laboratory analysis, to x-ray machines, to heartworm prevention, to specialized care when needed, to medical foster services for recovering animals.

It takes passion, patience, expertise, and resources to care for Aiken County’s homeless animals, and the County Shelter has all that in spades. The shelter’s remarkable success rate is possible thanks to the accomplished medical care provided by Dr. Levy and now by Dr. Rodriguez. We thank them for their incredible service.

Their lives are in our hands.

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President