Thanks to the generosity of three key donors, the future of veterinary care at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County has never looked brighter. Recently, the organization has been gifted several major pieces of medical equipment including an x-ray machine, dental x-ray machine, incubator, and more from the VCA Animal Hospital, Fleming Foundation, and the Jay and Elaine Rosenson Fund.
VCA Animal Hospitals
For several years, the ARL has maintained a partnership with VCA Animal Hospitals to promote free wellness exams to new adoptees and their families. When two of VCA’s local veterinary hospitals merged, the ARL was offered to select anything they needed at the closing clinic and the items would be gifted to them. Donations of oxygen cages, anesthesia machines, autoclaves, and even a full body x-ray machine was offered at no cost, changing the medical capabilities of ARL forever.
The Fleming Foundation
With a new x-ray machine comes a plethora of electrical and logistical needs to prepare for to be able to transport and use a machine like that – not to mention the equipment needed to keep staff technicians safe such as gloves, lead gowns, etc. When the Fleming Foundation told the ARL at the beginning of the pandemic to let them know if they ever needed anything, they knew just who to call. Thanks to their generosity, they were able to
prepare and outfit the space, as well as our staff, for the arrival of our new x-ray machine. Since its installation, the ARL has performed 50 x-rays on animals within their care to diagnose ailments ranging from congenital heart conditions to broken bones.
Jay and Elaine Rosenson Fund of Berks County Community Foundation
Mr. Rosenson, a longtime friend of the ARL, generously donated a new dental x-ray machine, oxygen concentrators, blood analyzers, fluid warmers, and an incubator to grow cultures to diagnose ringworm – which is perhaps the most time-intensive and resource heavy disease that we content with at the shelter. In addition, Jay’s gift included a new custom outfitted van for their Animal Protection team.
When asked how these gifts will impact the care of animals at the Animal Rescue League, lead shelter veterinarian Dr. Banning states, “This equipment puts our diagnostic and treatment capability on par with many private practice clinics. As an animal welfare organization, we strive to shake the stigma that animals in our care might receive cut-rate or subpar medical attention. We are now able to offer a higher quality of care to all
animals in our community, helping both homeless animals awaiting a fresh start, or by offering accessible veterinary care to families in our community. For our organization, this furthers our mission of raising the standard of care for all animals in Berks County, with the hopes that soon all animals in our community can be guaranteed humane care when needed.”
Since 1995, spay and neuter efforts have been a pillar of the mission at the Animal Rescue League. For years, the organization has worked within finite resource limits to provide critical care to those animals in need, outside of spay and neuter, but often have needed to outsource many of those cases to private practices who had the advanced equipment we simply could not afford. As a result, outsourced veterinary services cost the ARL $153,000 since 2018. Now, the ARL’s scope of services for animals in need of medical care will be expanding in significant and lifechanging ways thanks to these major donors. While we will always continue to outsource medical cases that are beyond our current capacity for care, these donors and their gifts have transformed the ARL’s medical treatment capabilities to be on par with many private practice clinics.
The Animal Rescue League of Berks County has been expanding its services over the last 12 months, to join other animal welfare industry leaders in a new and innovative shift towards a HASS model – Humane Animal Support Services. At the forefront of this movement, the ARL and other animal welfare leaders are operating under the guiding elements of envisioning a new world of animal services, where most pets are housed in foster homes and communities, not in the shelter, leaving more space for the neediest animals at our facilities. In this reimagined system, the role of animal services is to proactively assist families to enable them to keep their pets, help lost animals return home quickly, and support pet owners who are struggling to meet their pets’ needs.
The Animal Rescue League of Berks County serves nearly 5,000 animals per year and is the county’s only provider of animal cruelty and humane investigation. The organization’s full-service adoption center works to find responsible and loving homes for thousands of kittens, puppies, cats and dogs, as well as working/barn cats and other farm animals each year.
For more information and photos on this story, please visit https://www.berksarl.org/thefuture-of-arl-veterinary-care/
