HERE - the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society

something our clinic workers all too
often encounter.
“We get that exact scenario, but
with a different dog or cat and a
different bone, many times a week,”
Dr. Steketee said. “That’s not unusual.
But what’s amazing at our shelter is
that we have the kind of resources
to do this kind of work. In the vast
majority of shelters, Hannah would
have lost her leg or worse – she would
have been euthanized.”
Very few shelters have a
veterinarian trained in orthopedic
surgery, she said, or the equipment
needed to do the exacting work. In
addition, with many shelters forced
to euthanize so many animals because
of overpopulation, dogs like Hannah
wouldn’t normally stand a chance.
“In many places, there is just
no space to hold animals who need
extensive care or the time it takes to
anything but routine. While spaying
and neutering Shelter animals form
the primary mission of the clinic,
those surgeries are just one of the
many duties thrust upon the staff.
“Every day is different and
completely unpredictable,” she said.
“You never know what animal control
is going to bring through the doors
at any given moment. It could be
We’re fortunate that we have the backing
and the support of our community.
heal,” she said. “We’re fortunate that
we have the backing and the support
of our community. It’s what people
have come to expect from us.”
U U U
On any given day, the shelter clinic
is a cacophony of meows, yelps and
howls. The noise level, along with
the hustle and bustle of saving lives,
is something staff and volunteers
eventually get used to.
“It’s a very busy place,” Dr.
Steketee said. “We have a lot of
animals who are just waking up
from anesthesia that tend to be
very vocal. And then we have
animals in here who are ill and
sometimes we have puppies that
squeal as puppies do. It’s just a
hectic, loud place.”
And much like an
emergency clinic anywhere,
the Shelter clinic is a place
where the routine is
an animal that’s been hit by a car, or
found in someone’s yard, injured or
sick. Or it could be an animal that’s
been brought in as a result of a neglect
situation. Every time you feel you’ve
just caught up, a sick or injured
animal will come in. There’s never a
dull moment.”
Dr. Steketee came to shelter
veterinary work as a fluke, she said,
but has grown to see it as the defining
moment in her career. As a recent
veterinary school graduate in 1997,
Dr. Steketee said she was looking to
relocate to Northern New Mexico and
took a position at the Española Valley
Humane Society. She considered it a
temporary step.
“It just really opened my eyes to
animal sheltering and what a huge
influence shelter medicine has on
the general population of our pets,”
she said. “I ended up taking a job
in private practice so I could further
my skills since I was a fairly new
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