Colorado Animal Welfare Conference Session
Access to Veterinary Care Crisis
1:30-3pm - Day 2 – August 27, 2024
Westminster Ballroom I and II
General Session
Access to veterinary care challenges continue to negatively impact animal welfare and endanger pets nationwide. Shortages of veterinarians are projected to worsen placing millions of family pets and livestock at risk. Hear from a panel of professionals working to increase access to veterinary care through connecting pet families with financially friendly pet service providers advocating for rule changes to permit mid-level practitioners and to expand access to veterinary telehealth.
Apryl Steele
Dr. Apryl Steele is the President and CEO of the Dumb Friends League in Denver, CO. After practicing veterinary medicine for 18 years, she had the honor of joining the League in 2014 to advocate for animals who are vulnerable due to homelessness, mistreatment, or their owner’s financial situation. Since becoming the CEO in 2018, she has overseen expansion of the League’s impact to include a veterinary hospital that provides subsidized veterinary care to underserved pet caregivers, led a $43 million shelter renovation, helped develop the Socially Conscious Animal Community framework, and enhanced animal welfare opportunities in rural Colorado. She is currently a board member for the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA). Steele served as a delegate for the American Veterinary Medical Association, has served as president of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, the Denver Area Veterinary Medical Society, the Animal Assistance Foundation and the American Association of Feline Practitioners. She is also a veteran of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps.
Dr. Sarah Wallace Mitten
Dr. Sarah Wallace Mitten has been working in telehealth since 2018. First, as lead digital health veterinarian at Fuzzy Pet Health. She then worked as virtual care veterinarian with Modern Animal, vice president of Telehealth for Galaxy Vets, volunteer telehealth veterinarian with Animal Help UA, relief telehealth veterinarian with BondVet and lead virtual care veterinarian with MySimplePetExpress. She has performed tens of thousands of telehealth consults.
Heather Cammisa
Heather Cammisa is the chief enterprise officer for Open Door Veterinary Collective and the project manager for Pethelpfinder.org.
She has a master’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and worked in financial and social economics before devoting her career to the humane ethic. She is a certified animal welfare administrator, holds a graduate certificate in wildlife forensics and conservation, and worked as a certified animal control officer and cruelty investigator.
Cammisa lives off-grid in Colorado.