Lerner Clinic Partners with Community Groups to Ready Pets for Adoption

When a rescued Toy Poodle named Sophie suffered from a bladder stone, the first person Animal Control Officer Kevin Sullivan called was Paula Dryden, scheduling coordinator at Luke and Lily Lerner Spay/Neuter Clinic (Lerner Clinic) at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Dryden arranged cystotomy and spay surgeries for Sophie, who soon returned to health and was placed up for adoption.

"Lerner Clinic saved Sophie's life," says Sullivan. "She was adopted out to a special needs adult. It was absolutely incredible."

Lerner Clinic partners with shelters, rescue organizations, and animal control officers (ACOs) to provide medical care for underserved dogs and cats all over New England. Feral cats brought in by community cat trappers and pets from local families unable to afford veterinary care are also treated at the clinic. The main surgeries performed at Lerner Clinic are spay and neuter, with some urgent cases, such as foreign body extraction or amputation, and more recently, dental procedures.

"It's a win-win situation," says Dr. Laurence Sawyer (she/her) V99, director of Lerner Clinic and assistant teaching professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Cummings School. "Working with rescues, shelters, and ACOs is a very positive experience—we help each other. We're helping animals in need, and it's a surgical training ground for veterinary students."

Sullivan has collaborated with Lerner Clinic for more than a decade. He serves six communities in the Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts and Woonsocket, Rhode Island. ACOs enforce local and state laws regarding animal cruelty, recovering stray animals, rescuing neglected and abused pets, and securing veterinary care for unclaimed, surrendered, or seized animals.

By Massachusetts law, rescued animals must be spayed or neutered, administered rabies and DHPP vaccines, treated for any tick-borne diseases or heartworm, and implanted with a microchip before being placed up for adoption. Fortunately, many families are looking to adopt rescues, so homes are found relatively quickly once animals are vetted.

"By working with Lerner, we can get animals out of shelters sooner rather than later, which is better for their overall health. Lerner has been there for us, been there for the animals really," says Sullivan. "When the animals get adopted out, most stay local—there's a direct link between Tufts [Cummings School]and our community."

Dryden, a veterinary technician who has been with Lerner Clinic for more than 20 years, coordinates surgeries for the ever-increasing number of patients. "The rescues are trying to get animals spayed and neutered to place them into homes, so I try to get them in quickly," she says.

Lerner Clinic was named after two cats, Luke and Lily, who had been adopted from shelters by Sandy Lerner, who was part of the foundation that helped fund the clinic's building. Cummings School founded Lerner Clinic in 2003 in partnership with Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC). For the first few years, veterinary students trained at the clinic, and MAC provided weekly spay and neuter services for local shelters and rescue organizations. Lerner Clinic was later fully integrated into Cummings School's preclinical and clinical training programs, and today plays a key role in Clinical Skills courses and fourth-year electives. D.V.M. students gain hands-on skills caring for underserved animals five days a week.

"From the techs to the doctors to scheduling, it's a team atmosphere over there, and it's incredible to watch the way they work, it's very family-like," says Sullivan. "That type of atmosphere with the job they're performing, the number of animals they're helping, and the learning environment for the new doctors coming up—there are so many pros all around."

Demand is high for Lerner Clinic's services. Community partners funnel their requests through Dryden, who has developed long standing relationships with organizations throughout New England and continues to add new ones each year.

"Paula is uniquely responsible for fostering those relationships with shelters, rescues, and ACOs—and it works both ways," says Sawyer.

Dryden and Sullivan stay in regular communication, Sullivan texts intake of animals in need of medical care, and Dryden reaches out when slots open for surgery. After a recent dental day cancellation, Sullivan brought in a dog in critical need of dental care at the last minute.

With so many groups contacting Dryden to schedule surgeries, she has a backlog of cases to work through. She balances the demand to align with the veterinary school curriculum throughout the year.

Sawyer works with Dr. Yuki Nakayama, V14, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Cummings School, to train students in surgery, anesthesia, and dentistry, while treating underserved pets. Veterinary students are first introduced to surgery in community cat clinics during the second year. Students assist in performing spays and neuters, administering vaccines, and assessing the overall health of the feral cats brought in by community cat trappers for the monthly clinics.

In the Spay Lab, third-year students perform four spays, two as the surgeon and two on anesthesia, closely supervised by Sawyer and Nakayama. The lab runs six months a year, with a minimum of 12 canine patients needed each week. To ensure enough patients for the students, Dryden pulls from the waitlist and reaches out to her community contacts like Sullivan, who know of breeders going out of business, families that cannot afford surgery, and shelter animals that need to be spayed for adoption. One organization she works with regularly rescues stray dogs in Aruba.

"The Aruba dogs are perfect in size and temperament for the third-year student spay program," says Dryden.

This lab is students' first live spay experience, where they hone their technical skills and learn professionalism and patient care. "It's a crucial step before entering clinics," says Sawyer.  

Dryden makes the biggest dent in the waitlist during volume clinics, when fourth-year students can return to Lerner Clinic for three separate one-week electives in surgery, anesthesia, and dentistry. Sawyer and Nakayama lead students in performing up to 30 surgeries and four dental procedures daily. The spay/neuter waitlist dropped from a year out to six months since electives started up in February.

"When veterinary students graduate and start their first jobs, they will be responsible for the patient's entire care, including surgery, anesthesia, and dentistry. We are trying to give them enough supervised experiences to feel prepared for caring for their patients when they are the primary veterinarian," says Sawyer. "Shelters, rescues, and ACOs provide the caseload to make that happen. Without those partnerships, we could not provide that experience for students." 

While Sullivan brings most animals needing medical attention to Lerner Clinic, he notes that vetting can be challenging and often impossible for many ACOs and organizations without enough funding.

"Lerner Clinic is phenomenal. I don't think I'd still be in my profession if not for Lerner," says Sullivan. "We see so much negativity every day. It can be emotionally draining. Through the partnership with Lerner Clinic, we can help these animals. I can prevent compassion fatigue because I can see the positive and the other side."

When an unclaimed stray bulldog mix needed surgery for an elongated soft palate, Sullivan reached out to Dryden. He credits Lerner Clinic for saving the dog's life. "He's alive and well and adopted today."

"Rescues help us out a lot, so we help them out a lot," says Dryden. "It makes us happy to hear that a dog is doing well."