I currently serve as the Medical Director. I have an incredibly hard-working team of 12 volunteers. Together, we review the medical records of each pet that enters our program and determine what each pet needs in order to be healthy and adoptable. We work with a variety of vets across the metroplex, and we help to coordinate the appointments for our fosters to ensure everyone is getting the care that they need. I work closely with our vets to create treatment plans for our pets, which can vary anywhere from antibiotics for a cough to an extensive surgery and therapy for a severe injury. We have anywhere from 125-300 pets in the program at any given time so this is no easy feat!
I work as a special education teacher for a local school district. I’m really lucky to do what I’m passionate about, both professionally and in my volunteer role!
3.) How long have you been involved with the organization?
I’m approaching my four year anniversary with DPA! I started as a foster, then a Foster Representative, then as the Foster/Medical Director, overseeing 50 volunteers and every pet in our program. We saw astronomical growth in our foster program, and needed to split up the role into more focused areas, so I transitioned to Medical Director last year.
4.) What drives you to dedicate your time to DPA?
I love seeing the transformations of our pets – physically, emotionally, behaviorally. Dallas Pets Alive focuses on the most “unadoptable” pets at the shelter and puts in the time, energy, and resources it takes to see them grow into absolutely wonderful family pets. I’ve been with DPA for so long and have seen literally thousands of lives not just saved, but changed. It gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about the impact we’ve collectively made as an organization!
5. On average, how many hours per week do you volunteer?
Being the Medical Director means I’m on call all the time. I probably volunteer between 10-20 hours a week now, but sometimes that means making phone calls at 3 AM to get a pet to the emergency room!
6.) Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I have one cat and three dogs, two of which are foster fails – Luna, Chloe, Bone Jovi, and Ozzy Pawsbourne. All of our fosters are named after an artist or band!