With the retirement of Dr. MaryEllen Zoulas and Dr. Nick moving back to the east coast, it opened the door for a new team of veterinarians to come aboard at the Seattle Animal Shelter and set a new course for animal care. Now under the care of new veterinarians Dr. Jenn and Dr. Sarah, the shelter is bringing the operations of both the Spay and Neuter Clinic and Shelter Clinic together to best serve the animals in the care of the SAS and the community. They will also be guiding the buildout of Ziva’s X-ray Suite which was funded at SASF’s Annual Raining Cats & Dogs gala event and we’ll share more about that soon. This issue, we’ll meet Dr. Sarah and in the first issue of 2018, we’ll introduce Dr. Jenn.
Sarah Mantovani, DVM Associate Shelter Veterinarian
How long you’ve been with SAS and role: 2 ½ months
What was your path that got you to animal welfare work? I worked alongside the vet at San Francisco Animal Care and Control prior to going to Vet school. I also did externships while finishing vet school at San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, San Diego Humane and Yolo County Animal Services. For the last 10 years, I worked with the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) Veterinary Field Services, which is known more commonly as Rural Area Veterinary Services (RAVS).
How did you get to SAS? We relocated to the Washington area for my husband’s work and I started looking at openings at local municipal shelters.
What is a typical day like? Busy busy busy. Somedays it’s spay and neuter in the morning and taking care of shelter animals in the afternoon. Some days it’s all working on medicine with the shelter animals. We do our best to make their stay more comfortable and safe.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Seeing an animal walk out healthy and happy with their new adopted family. Being able to take in animals from public with no where else to go and make them feel better, giving them a new lease on life. And also being able to take pain and suffering away in a peaceful, loving and humane way. As hard as it is, I don’t take it lightly that sometimes I am the last face this animal will see. I always try to make it as stress free and kind as I can.
Who are your pets at home? Guinevere (Guinny) a Golden Retriever from Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue; Leonadis (Leo) a GSD from Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue; IT a domestic short hair cat who showed up in our bushes at 6 weeks old and couldn’t find an owner. We named him IT because we didn’t think we were going to keep him and were certain he already had a home. This was 6 years ago.
What are favorite activities outside of SAS? Music, theater, snowboarding, scary movies