Zarrow Foundation Gift Benefits OSU Vet Students, Tulsa Animals

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

(STILLWATER, Okla., Aug. 25, 2009) – Thanks to the generosity of the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, the quality of care for Tulsa animals will improve this fall.

The Zarrow Foundation has made a $150,000 commitment to the Oklahoma State University Foundation to benefit the Cooperative Shelter Medicine Program between the city of Tulsa and the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.  The Zarrow Foundation has provided the first $25,000 in funding and will make further payments annually. This gift covers the costs necessary for the program to expand to Tulsa this fall after succeeding in Edmond, Norman, Perkins and Stillwater.

“The recent Zarrow Foundation gift is greatly appreciated,” said Dr. Michael Lorenz, dean of the CVHS. “It will allow us to implement a shelter medicine internship at the City of Tulsa Shelter. The internship will provide in-depth training to veterinarians interested in shelter medicine careers. The interns will also serve as additional clinical instructors to OSU veterinary students studying at the Tulsa Shelter.”

Lorenz noted the Zarrow Foundation had previously helped fund an endowed professorship in shelter medicine at OSU.

Through the shelter medicine program, CVHS students complete three-week rotations at the shelters, where they perform spaying, neutering and wellness care. The city of Tulsa will pay for the veterinarian and OSU will provide the support staff. The public will receive spay and neuter services at a reduced rate. This program also promotes the adoption, rather than euthanization, of sheltered animals.

“Unfortunately, animals are often injured or neglected prior to arrival in the shelter so they provide unique learning opportunities for vet med students,” said Jeanne Gillert, Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation grants manager. “We are happy to see them provided the quality care they will receive from OSU vet med students with this grant.”

The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation is a broad-based funding foundation based in Tulsa. Its areas of emphasis include Jewish causes, the indigent, the disenfranchised and the homeless. The Zarrow Foundation also awards college scholarships and post-secondary school scholarships to students based on financial need and aptitude for continuing education. The Zarrow Foundation has pledged and donated more than $450,000 to OSU since 1998.

For more information or to help the Cooperative Shelter Medicine Program, contact Jeff Cathey at jcathy@osugiving.com or 405-385-5115.