VETERINARY TOURNIQUET FOR L.A.? COLLEGE'S STUDENTS COULD HELP AT SHELTERS.

Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW

Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH -- Veterinary technician Amir Liaghat cradled a wizened Chihuahua, stroking its back as he inspected an infected ear.

"C'mon, old man," the 34-year-old tech said at the West Valley Animal Shelter sick bay. "(You're) taken care of."

Liaghat, a foreign veterinarian on the verge of getting his American credentials, could soon be joined by vet college graduates hoping to help erase a shortfall of vets at six city shelters.

The Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine in Pomona is negotiating to serve the Los Angeles shelters and to have 105 seniors train in the facilities this fall.

A plan for the college to manage the city's strained veterinary program could also be in the works.

"This has the potential to be the most innovative and creative veterinary shelter medicine program in the nation," said Ed Boks, general manager of the Department of Animal Services. "Never before has a large city shelter system served as an extension of a veterinary college. The real winners are the animals in our care."

With the resignation of its head veterinarian last week, Animal Services is down to two veterinarians -- and has 10 job vacancies.

The department has budgeted two vets for each city shelter, mostly for future spay-neuter clinics, Boks said. For years, the city has employed four vets.

But the city, which raised vet salaries to a minimum $92,000, has struggled since last year to recruit animal doctors who can either earn more in private practice or are unwilling to oversee shelter euthanasia.

Care for the roughly 1,000 animals living at city shelters is now administered by two city vets and 30 vet techs, many with foreign veterinary licenses. In addition, the city contracts medical care to a pool of 150 private veterinarians.

Some say it's not enough, considering a $160 million shelter makeover that will soon increase animal kennels from 600 to 1,770.

"Having two vets to cover that kind of herd is bound for catastrophe," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles, which has one vet to care for more than 300 animals.

"In order to run a shelter, you don't just need any vet, but someone who knows how to practice shelter medicine."

"I think it's critical," added Kathy Riordan, vice president of the Animal Services Commission. "It's a burden on the staff and on the shelter system if we only have two vets for six shelters."

That's where the Western University College of Veterinary Medicine comes in.

Founded nearly 10 years ago as one of two vet schools in California with a "Reverence for Life" philosophy to harm no animal, the college aims to launch a shelter medicine program in conjunction with the city's no-kill animal goal.

In addition to students, the school is now looking to supply an unspecified number of vets to the city on a short-term basis.

"I'm excited," said Phillip D. Nelson, associate dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "It would be a win-win for us."

Short-term, he said, the school could supply an unspecified number of vets and students; long-term, the school could manage the city shelters' veterinary program. As yet, no contract has been drafted or signed.

"There might be some long-term possibilities to provide expertise from our faculty, or to provide veterinary support on a long-term basis, as well as our managing the medical program," Nelson said.

Boks declined to say how much he believes the program will cost.

At the West Valley Shelter last week, construction crews worked to finish what Boks dubbed a $15 million "doggie paradise."

With no vet in sight, Liaghat and vet tech Rene Espindola, a licensed vet from Mexico City, saw that 74 dogs, 32 cats, 11 guinea pigs and 10 rabbits were fit for adoption.

A desert tortoise and wild opossum were also in their care.

"We need vets," said Liaghat, who grew up in Iran and hopes to pass the national veterinary exam this month for a career as a shelter vet. "But it's not like we're not functioning without them.

"If people think animals are being neglected here, come and look around; show me the ones that are neglected."

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Veterinary technician Amir Liaghat, left, and animal-care technician Victoria Harrison tend to a 15-year-old Chihuahua mix at the West Valley Animal Shelter in Chatsworth.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Ed Boks, general manager for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, stands in the new addition at the West Valley Animal Shelter in Chatsworth on Friday. The new addition is still being worked on and is not yet open. At left is Vet tech Amir Liaghat.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer