I'm walking because I love my job. SPCA Florida does amazing work, and I am proud to be apart of the team.

Part of my reason for leaving specialty practice was the emotional toll taken on me when we'd have to send someone away due to the inability to afford a complex surgical procedure. And while I know we have to charge for services, I wanted to make a difference for those that need it.  

As one of our surgeons at SPCA Florida I have the responsibility to perform a wide array of surgical procedures on animals in our shelter and those that are owned.  Since joining the SPCA I have vastly increased our surgical offerings- procures such as plating of fractures, cholecystectomies (gall bladder removal), and thoracic produces are now possible within our walls. And soon we will offer neurosurgery (hemilaminectomies and ventral slots) for paralyzed patients and TPLOs for dogs with cruciate ligament disease.

By donating you help me help people who can't afford to take their pet to a specialist. And you help shelter animals who need basic, and not-so basic, surgical procedures. There is a shelter dog now (her name is Sasha) who has torn both of her cruciate ligaments and luxated (dislocated) one of her patellas (knee caps). Without surgery she will be in severe pain for the rest of her life. Help me help her.

And of course, the dog in the picture- that's Ever, the greatest dog I've had the pleasure of knowing. She's gone now, but her paw print tattoo on my chest reminds me of her every day. Miss you, my little shadow.