AVMF mulls expanding its focus to include welfare societies

SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — As the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) rises to new economical heights with its focus on disaster relief, insiders suggest directing energy toward a new objective — animal welfare.

It's a shift geared toward tapping into a national movement focused on the welfare of animals. Many humane agencies, especially those tied to shelter systems, take in huge donations annually, says Dr. Sherbyn Ostrich, AVMF board member and former American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) president. During the March 12 AVMF meeting, he pitched plans for the foundation to tap into what he calls a "phenomena".

"Funds are going into humane societies, supporting what's now known in academia as shelter medicine," Ostrich says. "People pull money out of their pockets for shelters. Adopting this objective will really cause veterinary medicine to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with humane associations. We need that badly as a profession."

AVMF's Development Committee was charged with considering the viability of adding an animal welfare segment to the group's charitable mission. At presstime, a meeting date to discuss the issue had not been set.

Ostrich proposes that the collected donations pay for Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT) members to enter shelter systems to educate and advise on public health, sanitation, disease prevention and care. "Once the foundation becomes synonymous with this work, I believe we can really encourage people to donate," he says.

Labor issue

AVMF Chairman Dr. R. Tracy Rhodes considers the expansion viable, but says the foundation's small staff can't currently handle the initiative. AVMF in-house support was scaled back last year after the charitable group took hits from AVMA members for allegedly overspending and falling short on charitable giving. Now in rebirth mode since receiving an influx of donations following the 2005 hurricane disasters, Rhodes and his colleagues are working to draw up a concrete business plan.

"We're just going to have to look into the structure of how the welfare initiative would work into the foundation," Rhodes says.

New jobs

In the meantime, AVMF has hired a consultant to iron out the foundation's employment issues by drawing up job descriptions for its staff members. A report is expected in the coming weeks concerning two new positions slated for AVMF: operations manager and development planner.

While the operations manager likely will run day-to-day duties of the foundation, the development planner will work as a fundraiser. It's likely both jobs will be located at the foundation's headquarters within the AVMA building in Schaumburg, Ill.

Jim Clesceri currently serves as the group's contracted business manager. The jobs tentatively will be opened to the application process late this month.

In other business

During the meeting, leaders reported the AVMA Animal Disaster and Relief Emergency Fund has gifted 209 reimbursement grants to veterinarians who aided animals during hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as 71 grants for humanitarian purposes to practitioners who suffered losses as a result of the storms.

Foundation leaders have agreed to furnish the Auxiliary to the AVMA $11,250 to replace software needed to take over responsibility of its student loan program. Auxiliary members ended a contract with AVMF to manage the loan project last year following accusations of the program's mismanagement.

The group plans to host a fundraising convention during AVMA's annual meeting in Honolulu. The July 16 event is a dinner cruise. Tickets cost $150 per person.