NEWS RELEASE  

Maddie’s® Fund                                                                      

Contact:  Laurie Peek, DVM,
Veterinary Program Director
Telephone: 510.337.8989  

MADDIE’S FUND^® GIVES $1.7 MILLION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Alameda, CA – June 2008 -  Maddie's Fund® has awarded the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine a $1.7 million grant to support the first three years of a comprehensive six-year shelter medicine program. The Program will begin on July 1.

     Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program will focus on four central strategies:

• Shelter evaluation and extension services, including shelter assessments and disease diagnostic, control and prevention services.

• Shelter medicine training for shelter medicine residents, shelter veterinary technicians, shelter veterinarians and animal cruelty investigators.

• Veterinary student training through core courses, shelter medicine electives and externships.

• Development of new knowledge through "in shelter "research projects, shelter medicine symposia, continuing education seminars and the development of a shelter medicine website.

Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, will direct the program. She will be assisted by Cynda Crawford, DVM, PhD, and Natalie Isaza, DVM. "This is truly a dream team of outstanding individuals," remarked Maddie's Veterinary Program Director, Laurie Peek,DVM. "Each has incredible academic, research and teaching credentials, and a history of involvement in animal welfare programs and issues. We are extremely lucky to have their leadership."

In 2006, Maddie's Fund® awarded Dr. Levy a $257,000 grant for Maddie's Outdoor Cat Program, a two year research project to study the effect of an intensive TNR program on shelter cat admissions at Alachua County Animal Services.

Maddie's Fund® has also worked closely with Drs. Levy, Crawford and Isaza on Maddie's Pet Rescue Project in Alachua County. 

"We are thrilled to expand our relationship with this incredibly talented team of veterinarians," said Maddie's Fund President, Rich Avanzino. "I'm certain their work in shelter medicine will take this emerging field to a whole new level."

About Maddie's Fund

Maddie’s Fund®, The Pet Rescue Foundation, (www.maddiesfund.org) is a family foundation funded by Workday and PeopleSoft Founder Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl. Maddie's Fund is helping to create a no-kill nation where all healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats are guaranteed a loving home.

To achieve this goal, Maddie's Fund is investing its resources in building community collaborations where animal welfare organizations come together to develop successful models of lifesaving; in veterinary colleges to help shelter medicine become part of the veterinary curriculum; in private practice veterinarians to encourage greater participation in the animal welfare cause; and in the implementation of national strategies to collect and report shelter statistics. Maddie’s Fund is named after the family’s beloved Miniature Schnauzer who passed away in 1997.