CAPE ANN ANIMAL AID SHELTER MEDICINE DEPARTMENT
Veterinary care is a crucial component of a homeless animal's journey to finding a forever home. For many years, we have relied on the generosity of area veterinary hospitals to work alongside our staff providing needed medical and surgical care. We are immensely grateful to our area partners who have worked with us since our rescue work began in 1964. Thanks to our community of supporters, Cape Ann Animal Aid is expanding to provide more essential medical and surgical care on-site to shelter pets.
FINDING HOMES FASTER
Managing routine veterinary needs and the extra veterinary needs of sick and injured shelter animals on-site reduces the amount of time each animal needs to spend in our shelter. Decreased shelter time is not only beneficial to their health and well-being, but, more importantly, means they find the comfort of a loving family faster.
MEET SOME OF OUR RECENT SPECIAL CASES
This 8-year-old sweet senior boy came to CAAA locally, and as you can see, he has sustained wears and tears along the course of his life. He arrived FIV+ with severe dental issues. Thanks to our Veterinary team, he has since had all of his canine teeth extracted, leaving him with an adorable little gape of the mouth. Despite his rough start in life, he is the mushiest mush, and handsome to boot with his raggedy edges and all.
Mr. Mush
Bingo arrived at the shelter with what is called "Cherry Eye" (you can see this condition in his left eye above). Our veterinarian performed surgery to remove and correct the prolapse. He happily made his way to his forever home just a few short days after his surgery!
Bingo
Faye suffered an injury to her hind leg. The leg was badly fractured, and the bone had partially healed in the wrong position. Concerned about her current comfort and the possible secondary arthritis problems she may develop, our Veterinary Team decided that her best chance at a comfortable life was to remove her hind leg. While this procedure may seem like a radical thing to do, Faye was used to not using this leg and she would be prone to a lifetime of difficulty from the abnormally healed bone.
Faye
"Being able to attend to our animals' medical and surgical needs on-site without the additional step of having to visit an external veterinary clinic has been beneficial to the health and safety of our animals. This means that our dogs and cats get medical attention without needing an offsite appointment. Our amazing foster care providers and staff now also have an in-shelter resource for medical questions and concerns"
- Cape Ann Animal Aid's Director of Shelter Medicine, Dr. Alex Becket
MEET OUR VETERINARY CARE STAFF
Dr. Alex Becket, Director of Shelter Medicine
After providing veterinary care for CAAA for 5 years, he became the shelter's Director of Shelter Medicine in 2018. With the expansion of the Shelter Medicine Department in 2020, his role was extended to include managing all of our surgical needs. Dr. Becket graduated from the Ohio State University in 2009, and has interned at Akron Zoo, Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital, and the Barberton Vet Clinic. His prior experience includes work as Associate Veterinarian at Zoo New England. When not at CAAA, Dr. Becket can be found gardening and tending his many house plants, walking in Dogtown with his 3 dogs, and enjoying the Gloucester seaside with his wife Andrea. He can also be spotted in Salem and Gloucester eating fire and laying on beds of nails with a troupe of circus performers in Dr. Bones' Circus of Marvels.