ASV AWARDS

ASV made a commitment to drive the advancement of shelter medicine in an inclusive way, giving our members the opportunity to be leaders in shelter medicine best practices. These awards recognize those members who have continued to push our mission forward.

Meritorious Service Award (MSA)

Established in 2010, this award recognizes remarkable members of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians who have made significant contributions to the advancement of shelter veterinary medicine via leadership, public service, research, education, advocacy, and/or clinical practice. The ASV's intent in conferring this award is to bring attention to excellence in shelter medicine by recognizing those who serve as exceptional ambassadors of the profession. Current and past veterinarians, veterinary students, and affiliate ASV members are eligible; current ASV Board Members are ineligible. Anyone may nominate qualified individuals who are members of the ASV for this award. Recipients receive a plaque, a shelter medicine textbook of their  choice, a $250 donation to a non-profit organization of  their choice, and are recognized at the ASV Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners Symposium in the Spring. Funding is available to help cover the recipient’s travel expenses. Nomination packages for the MSA are to be submitted by email to [email protected] and must consist of a nomination form and nomination letter. The nominee's resume or curriculum vitae (CV) is highly recommended but not required. A professional summary can be used in place of a CV. Deadline for submission is November 10. Additional letters seconding, endorsing, or supporting nominations for awards will not be used in evaluating candidates, nor will self-nominations be accepted. The nominations committee will review the nominations and recommend a recipient to the ASV Board, and the ASV Board will vote on the recipient. 

The 2021 Meritorious Service Award was recently presented to Janet Scarlett, DVM, MPH, PhD. Dr. Scarlett has been devoted to the field of shelter medicine for nearly 30 years. Among her many accomplishments, she founded the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell, which has been a benchmark for shelter medicine programs across the US. She has mentored many veterinary students, interns, residents, PhD students and junior faculty over the last two decades.

Her program successes have extended well beyond her tenure at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Scarlett’s research subjects have encompassed a wide variety of topics and include pet food safety, feline leukemia tests, risk factors for feline hypothyroidism and resorptive lesions. She has also studied conundrums such as why animals are relinquished to shelters, how spay-neuter clinics impact shelter intake, URI, parvo and aggression in shelter animals, the safety of early age spay-neuter, GIS mapping of kitten intakes, and a host of other relevant topics. Although now retired, Dr. Scarlett continues to collaborate on research projects (ringworm in shelters, spay/neuter clinic clients), books (“Every Nose Counts”), and veterinary student education.

Previous Meritorious Service Award Recipients 

Nominate an outstanding member