Tupug, canine beneficiary of the Shelter Medicine program (Photography: John Donges)
Nationally, an estimated 70 million dogs and cats lack a home. Of those, about 6.5 million wind up in shelters each year. Ensuring that more of these pets find a loving, caring home—and receive the proper veterinary care to stay there—is a daunting challenge, one that motivates the veterinarians and students who make up the Shelter Medicine Program in Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.