SpayUSA founder Esther Mechler introduced me to Jeff Young at one of her first spay/neuter conferences in 1993. "Opinionated & stubborn" he may be, in his own self-description, & I'm not exactly Casper Miquetoast, but in 32 years of acquaintance I can't remember having a significant disagreement with Jeff, & I might add eleven years of his acquaintance with my wife Beth, too. Dr. Jeff arrived in the veterinary field with animal care & control experience that most of the profession lacks, and added experience on Native American reservations & the hinterlands that most of the country lacks, plus international perspective, & when he speaks, he knows what he's talking about.
George Carlin many years ago excellently summarized what it's like to be a journalist:
"Goddamn there's a lot of stupid bastards walking around. Carry a little pad and pencil with you [which every reporter does] - you'll wind up with thirty or forty names by the end of the day. Look at it this way: think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.
"And it doesn't take you very long to spot one of them, does it? Take you about eight seconds. You'll be listening to some guy [a news source], you say, 'This guy is fucking stupid!' Then, then there are some people, they're not stupid, they're full of shit. Huh? That doesn't take very long to spot either, does it? Take you about the same amount of time.
"You'll be listening to some guy, and saying, 'Well, he's fairly intelligent... ahht, he's full of shit!' Then there are some people, they're not stupid, they're not full of shit, they're fucking nuts!"
Jeff Young is exactly the opposite. When Jeff talks, intelligent people listen.
Ed, This article profile of Dr. Jeff Young very timely and important perspective as animal rescue/pet care has been commodified and corporatized to a great degree. I have long admired him.
He has pioneered the MASH (Mobile Animal Surgical Hospitals) style volume s/n/clinic outreach services for underserved areas. The Rocky Mountain Vet episodes (now paywalled) that demonstrate this it resembles a military field hospital and can service and entire communities animals VERY economically. See below quotes.
I am encouraging our municipal shelter with chronic overcapacity crisis to consider this format as the mobile clinic frequently has mechanical issues with patient limitations and we are FLOODED with unaltered litters and strays from outlying areas.
Thank you for interviewing this champion in animal welfare!
Mobile Animal Surgical Hospitals
Finding the mobile clinic approach inefficient, Young went on to pioneer mobile animal surgical hospitals, MASH units for short, which could be set up in any vacant building with running water and electricity.
Explained Young, “We eventually came to realize that using our vehicle mainly to haul supplies could enable us to fix more animals, faster.
“Finding space to work on the road is not a problem,” Young said. “All we need is electricity and running water. Anywhere we might set up has a community center or church or town hall or schoolroom where we can work for a weekend. Resupply is our problem. We can’t get surgical materials out in the boondocks, so when we run out, we have to go back to some city.
“Using our vehicle to haul supplies instead of as a clinic, we can fix 1,000 animals before we have to visit a city. We can stay on the road for several months if we want to.”
Mobile animal surgical hospitals are now the standard for working in remote places worldwide.
Thank you for telling me about Dr. Young. So few veterinarians actively participate in animal advocacy that goes against convention. Are your familiar with Humane Veterinary Medical Alliance (changed from HSVMA)?
SpayUSA founder Esther Mechler introduced me to Jeff Young at one of her first spay/neuter conferences in 1993. "Opinionated & stubborn" he may be, in his own self-description, & I'm not exactly Casper Miquetoast, but in 32 years of acquaintance I can't remember having a significant disagreement with Jeff, & I might add eleven years of his acquaintance with my wife Beth, too. Dr. Jeff arrived in the veterinary field with animal care & control experience that most of the profession lacks, and added experience on Native American reservations & the hinterlands that most of the country lacks, plus international perspective, & when he speaks, he knows what he's talking about.
George Carlin many years ago excellently summarized what it's like to be a journalist:
"Goddamn there's a lot of stupid bastards walking around. Carry a little pad and pencil with you [which every reporter does] - you'll wind up with thirty or forty names by the end of the day. Look at it this way: think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.
"And it doesn't take you very long to spot one of them, does it? Take you about eight seconds. You'll be listening to some guy [a news source], you say, 'This guy is fucking stupid!' Then, then there are some people, they're not stupid, they're full of shit. Huh? That doesn't take very long to spot either, does it? Take you about the same amount of time.
"You'll be listening to some guy, and saying, 'Well, he's fairly intelligent... ahht, he's full of shit!' Then there are some people, they're not stupid, they're not full of shit, they're fucking nuts!"
Jeff Young is exactly the opposite. When Jeff talks, intelligent people listen.
Ed, This article profile of Dr. Jeff Young very timely and important perspective as animal rescue/pet care has been commodified and corporatized to a great degree. I have long admired him.
He has pioneered the MASH (Mobile Animal Surgical Hospitals) style volume s/n/clinic outreach services for underserved areas. The Rocky Mountain Vet episodes (now paywalled) that demonstrate this it resembles a military field hospital and can service and entire communities animals VERY economically. See below quotes.
I am encouraging our municipal shelter with chronic overcapacity crisis to consider this format as the mobile clinic frequently has mechanical issues with patient limitations and we are FLOODED with unaltered litters and strays from outlying areas.
Thank you for interviewing this champion in animal welfare!
Mobile Animal Surgical Hospitals
Finding the mobile clinic approach inefficient, Young went on to pioneer mobile animal surgical hospitals, MASH units for short, which could be set up in any vacant building with running water and electricity.
Explained Young, “We eventually came to realize that using our vehicle mainly to haul supplies could enable us to fix more animals, faster.
“Finding space to work on the road is not a problem,” Young said. “All we need is electricity and running water. Anywhere we might set up has a community center or church or town hall or schoolroom where we can work for a weekend. Resupply is our problem. We can’t get surgical materials out in the boondocks, so when we run out, we have to go back to some city.
“Using our vehicle to haul supplies instead of as a clinic, we can fix 1,000 animals before we have to visit a city. We can stay on the road for several months if we want to.”
Mobile animal surgical hospitals are now the standard for working in remote places worldwide.
Great profile on Dr. Young. I'm familiar with his work and have so much respect for him.
I just wrote,"60 Minutes", asking them to consider doing a segment on their program to spread the word.
Their address is:
investigates@cbsnews.con
I hope others will do the same.Let's not fiddle around. There is so much wisdom in this interview.
My love to all advocates, rescuers, and journalists,
💙Kathleen Martin
So glad to know about Dr. Young. Thank you.
Thank you for telling me about Dr. Young. So few veterinarians actively participate in animal advocacy that goes against convention. Are your familiar with Humane Veterinary Medical Alliance (changed from HSVMA)?