8/20/03

AU VETERINARIAN WINNER GIVES PRIZE TO ANIMAL CHARITIES

AUBURN -- An Auburn University veterinarian, who was named the companion animal veterinarian of the year by the American Veterinary Medical Association, donated the entire $20,000 prize to charities that help animals.

Dr. Brenda Griffin, an assistant research professor in the AU College of Veterinary Medicine's Scott-Ritchey Research Center, received the 2003 Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award.

The award recognized her work to control pet overpopulation and her efforts to promote the human-animal bond.

"This is one of the AVMA's highest honors," said Dr. Timothy Boosinger, veterinary dean. "We are very proud of Dr. Griffin. She is very dedicated to promoting the bond between people and their pets, and her work to humanely reduce pet overpopulation is among the nation's best."

Griffin is donating all funds from the award to the college's student educational program "Strategies for Pet Population Control," the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians, and the humane societies in Lee County, Ala., and Muscogee County, Ga.

"These programs and the people involved are so dedicated that they should be recognized, too," she said. "I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this award. Practicing veterinary medicine is very rewarding in itself. For me the most satisfying aspects are sharing and protecting the bond between clients and their pets, and hopefully inspiring future veterinarians to take leadership roles in reducing the epidemic of homeless pets without euthanasia."

In 1999, Griffin established Auburn's Operation Cat Nap, a program in which feral cats are trapped, neutered and returned to their home areas. The innovative program has stabilized several colonies of cats so that they maintain their territory without uncontrolled breeding. She also created the college's shelter medicine program where students provide health care for animals at the Lee County Humane Society.

Her research involves developing an immuno-contraceptive vaccine for cats and dogs, with the aim of reducing euthanasia of companion animals in humane shelters.

"Respect for life and compassionate care are not abstract concepts for Dr. Griffin, they are her benchmarks," said Dr. Henry Baker, director of the Scott-Ritchey Research Center. "Her commitment translates into action at the college, in shelters, in board rooms, on the lecture circuit and in her personal relationships with dog and cat companions."

Griffin is the pre-veterinary medical advisor at Auburn, a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and a board member of the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians. In 2002 she co-organized the first international symposium on non-surgical methods for pet population control and will assume this role again in 2004. The Lee County Humane Society recognized Griffin in 2000 with the Friend of the Year Award.

The Bustad award is named for the late Dr. Leo Bustad, former dean of the Washington State University veterinary college and past president of the Delta Society, a group that provides service and therapy animals to sick or disabled people. It is cosponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association, Delta Society, and Hill's Pet Nutrition.

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