Serving the Community
A love for animals. This is why veterinarians do what they do, why anyone who works with animals everyday does what they do. Combining that love with a dedication to helping creatures who cannot help themselves and a passion for medicine has resulted in a team of veterinary professionals at VIMS who strive to provide the best veterinary care available to their patients. Sometimes love is not enough though. Just like in the human medical field, not every animal who needs and deserves medical treatment has access to it. In an effort to improve the lives of those animals who have no human benefactor, Dr. Hamilton has taken it upon herself to seek out worthy causes to donate her time, fund raising efforts and her medical expertise to. With her volunteer efforts, dedicated team of veterinary technicians and Western Veterinary College students, Dr. Hamilton has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of animals from California to Arkansas and many points in between. Here are the stories.
Puppy Mill Rescue
Internet purchase of Puppy Mill produced puppies is a huge business. In the past decade, unscrupulous Puppy Mill Breeders have discovered that the Internet is a fast and easy way to sell the massive number of dogs that they produce every year. As pet store purchase of puppies in the state of California is decreasing, direct purchase of puppies from puppy mills via the Internet is increasing. With endless pages filled with photos of “The Perfect Puppy,” fairytale descriptions of a nonexistent loving home environment the puppies are raised in and the ease and speed of ‘Point, Click and Buy it Now’, the Internet is allowing Puppy Mills to not just exist, but thrive. The reality is a tidal wave of genetically compromised and most often medically and mentally unsound puppies sold at a premium price, shipping not included. The intentionally hidden and consequentially overlooked byproduct of those adorable puppies advertised and sold are the over-bred and unwanted “breeding stock” from which they were produced; always emotionally deprived and most often in desperate need of medical care.
After noticing an increase in seriously ill Internet-acquired puppies presented at VIMS, Dr. Hamilton felt the need to not only help as many dogs as she could, but to increase public awareness of this serious problem. Dr. Hamilton organized a Rescue Team of veterinary technicians to attend a kennel dispersal auction in Arkansas and bring back as many unloved, unwanted “breeding stock dogs” as her fund raising efforts could afford for veterinary evaluation and placement in loving homes. Only a kennel dispersal sale was attended, as she specifically did not wish to contribute money to active Puppy Millers. One technician drove 28 hours to the auction in a borrowed cargo van with crates, bedding, food and various medical supplies donated by MWI and the Purina company. Dr. Hamilton and her remaining team of veterinary technicians flew to Arkansas to rendezvous with the cargo van. Together, the Rescue Team attended the dog auction and purchased 71 various breeds of dogs with the donated money. Donated funds were used solely for the acquisition of the cast-off dogs. Airfare, accommodations and travel costs were provided by donated frequent flier miles and out-of-pocket by the rescue team. Because of the large number of dogs the team was able to acquire, and the limited space available in the van destined to return to California, approximately half of the dogs were sent south to Florida with Sanctuary Animal Rescue. The remaining 49 dogs and three veterinary technicians were safely tucked into the van and brought back to Dr. Hamilton’s clinic for medical evaluation and treatment. After an initial examination and treatment by Dr. Hamilton and several other area veterinarians who donated their time and services to the project, the dogs were turned over to various local breed rescues who had volunteered to rehabilitate, foster and eventually permanently place the dogs in loving homes.
Above and beyond immediately impacting the lives of the 71 individual dogs rescued from the dooming fate of a life spent behind the bars of a Puppy Mill, Dr. Hamilton wanted to make a difference for the hundreds of thousands of dogs present and future that she could not directly help by directing media attention to the dirty little secret of the Internet Pet Industry: Online Puppy Mill Sales. Interviews with local television news teams, radio shows and notably a journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle helped to raise public awareness and hopefully decrease at least local demand for Internet puppies.
PetConnection Dr. Hamilton Puppy Mill Article
“They’re the Lucky Ones”, a movie about the rescue.
TownCats Volunteer Effort
Times are hard, the economy is down. For the past several years animal shelters have seen an alarming upswing of abandoned pets as a result of the massive numbers of foreclosures and increasingly unemployed pet owners. Many pets are dropped off at city animal shelters where they are given a limited amount of time to be adopted before they are sadly euthanized. The lucky ones find safe haven with no-kill organizations like Town Cats of Morgan Hill. Over the years Town Cats, a no-kill cat shelter founded in 1997, has saved the lives of over 10,000 surrendered and rescued kitties. Every cat accepted to the shelter is either adopted out to a carefully screened new home or allowed to live out their lives under the careful watch of countless caring volunteers at the Town Cats facility.
After losing two of her cats to old age last year, it was finally time for Dr. Hamilton to start the search for a new kitty. In the course of treating one of VIM’s patients, Dr. Hamilton learned of Town Cats and scheduled a visit to the shelter where she found Bacchus, a handsome black cat who had been left on the shelter’s doorstep with a heart wrenching letter from a young child that began “Please take with great care, we lost our house” and ended with “please do not kill”, a sad story too often heard now days. After her visit, Dr. Hamilton was inspired to help the cause in any way she could. Together with her staff and three 4th year Western Veterinary students Dr. Impett, Dr. Painter and Dr. Sanchez, Dr. Hamilton reached out in two separate visits to Town Cats to provide donated exams, diagnostic testing (with the generous help of Antech Diagnostic Labs and MWI veterinary suppliers) and medical treatment for 165 cats (!). Dr. Hamilton single-handedly coordinated donations of overnight care with Ohlone Veterinary Emergency Services, specialist surgical care with Dr. Gary Brown of Veterinary Orthopedic and Surgery Services and donated specialist eye exams with Dr. Deborah Friedman of Animal Eye Care to help many of Town Cat’s “special needs” kitties. In an economy flooded with loss and need, it felt good to give a helping hand to a group of people who dedicate their time and their hearts to these animals who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance.