New veterinary surgery center opens in Tri-Valley to ease increased caseloads
PLEASANTON -- A much-needed resource that will save the lives of thousands of animals has opened in the Tri-Valley. Valley Humane Society in Pleasanton unveiled its long-awaited Phil Sholz Veterinary Surgery Center.
The focus of the new center wll be on high-volume spaying and neutering. It will be able to accommodate up to 140 surgeries per week, significantly supporting adoption and pet overpopulation efforts.
Currently pet caseloads outnumber the number of vets who can take them in .
"There is a highly emotional aspect to taking care of animals," said Dr. Nozoni Watanabe, Valley Humane Society Medical Director and a veterinarian for close to twenty years. "It can be very taxing."
Watanabe says are like family and her job at times is to keep someone's fragile family member alive, which can sometimes take a toll on her.
"I think Vets are the hardest on themselves," said Watanabe. "We are hard on ourselves because we kind of strive for perfection and I think that contributes to a lot of things."
The pandemic also added to the stress with so many people buying pets, adopting pets, and even breeding pets.
"Each vet took on a bigger caseload," she said.
California is in the midst of a veterinary crisis, with more caseloads, not enough vets to handle the caseloads, an animal backlog and a veterinarian shortage.
"You've got this craxy influx of animals and literally not enough veterinarians to supply all needs and services," said Valley Humane Society Executive Director Melanie Sadek.
It is the main reason for the Humane Society's push to open the new Sholz Surgery Center. Watanbe said she will be handling 30-40 spayings/neuterings a day along with other surgeries.
"If we didn't have a vet that was willing to do this we would be waiting and looking for one," she said.
Watanabe says that while her job is stressful, this surgery center gives her hope more animals will get treated and finally find their forever home.
"We try to get them in as soon as possible to get them spayed or neutered," said Watanabe. The center will be the cat's or dog's last stop before going to their forever home, and Watanabe's says its a bright spot in her day, the reason she does what she's doing
The new center was named in honor of Phil Sholz, a Pleasanton resident and Valley Humane Society supporter who lost his life in 2014 rescuing another man from the Santa Clara rail tracks during his commute home. Sholz's colleagues at NVIDIA raised more than a third of the total funding for the surgery center.
For more information on how to support the project go to https://valleyhumane.org/surgery-center.