Biographical Sketch for

Jennifer Scarlett, DVM

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett is the Director of Shelter Veterinary Services at the San Francisco SPCA and a Lead Veterinarian for the Humane Society’s Field Services Program, (formerly RAVS). Her duties at the SF/SPCA include oversight of the 7000 procedures per year performed at the SF/SPCA Spay Neuter Clinic and Shelter Medicine Program, which escorts approximately 4200 homeless pets to adoption each year.

Dr Scarlett has a strong interest in understanding and using knowledge about shelter population dynamics in order to maximize the shelter’s life saving capacity. Recently, she has been actively involved with the SF/SPCA “Fospice” Program, in which shelter volunteers take in and foster homeless animals who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. In essence, these volunteers act as “foster parents” for the duration of the animal’s life, providing them with hospice care in the loving and protective environment of their own homes.

These “special-needs” animals may be strays that have come to the SF/SPCA and can no longer be adopted due to their condition or even adopted pets whose families cannot care for them due to their life-limiting condition. Fospice providers take these animals into their homes with the knowledge that the animal is nearing the end of his/her life.

Fospice volunteers administer prescribed treatments and work closely with SF/SPCA veterinarians in ensuring the animal’s comfort until the end. By providing this kind of comfort care, they enable homeless animals to live and die with dignity and within a loving environment.

Abstract

Title of Presentation: Fospice: How the SF/SPCA utilizes foster homes to provide hospice care for aged or ill homeless pets (presented in conjunction with Alison Lane, Volunteer Coordinator, SF/SPCA)

Fospice is the combination of foster and hospice. Fospice Care was created at the San Francisco SPCA to explore how our shelter could extend our life-saving capacity to the aged and terminally ill pets unfortunate enough to find themselves abandoned in their time of greatest need.

This presentation covers basic shelter parameters, the formation of the Program and the logistics and concerns of caring for these animals through a shelter environment.