On any given day, ACS has 350 – 400 companion animal residents. The sanctuary serves a rural, economically disadvantaged area including Bradford and Tioga Counties in Pennsylvania and bordering communities in New York. Its constituents, adopters, donors and volunteers, come from throughout the US. ACS receives animals from local residents and regional shelters. ACS staff includes two licensed veterinarians, two licensed veterinary technicians and a behavior consultant. It adopted the standards of the American Association of Shelter Veterinarians and participates in Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. ACS also transports sick or injured animals to Cornell for specialized treatments and surgeries by their shelter medicine team. Janet May Scarlett, DVM, Professor Emerita, Epidemiology, who created and taught the first shelter medicine course in the country at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, serves on the ACS Professional Advisory Committee.rnEvery animal ACS takes in is vaccinated, treated for parasites and other ailments, spayed or neutered, microchipped for identification and receives high quality nutrition. The veterinary staff ensures that each animal is in excellent health and spayed or neutered prior to joining the general population and before being put up for adoption. ACS has a vigorous adoption program, taking care to match the animal with a compatible family and counselling the adoptive family on needed care and any medications. rnACS’ community clinics offer the only accessible, affordable spay/neuter and vaccination services in Bradford and Tioga Counties. To assist pet owners, ACS offers animal care workshops, dog training courses, an urgently needed pet food pantry and canine and feline behavior help lines. ACS has established a humane education program for all ages. Preschool children in daycares and libraries are introduced to shelter pets and elementary school children learn the joy and responsibility of pet ownership. ACS has the only known live-in college internship for companion animals in the country with three 12-week sessions annually including both sites. Four students of veterinary science and animal science from colleges throughout the US participate each session. They perform a 12 week rotation through the cattery, canine care and clinics to experience all facets of the sanctuary as well as working events and attending a conference in shelter medicine at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine.In addition to above described programs designed to promote the human animal bond by helping pet owners and their animals, ACS also has special programs, which harness and reinforce the bond between animals and humans to change lives.
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