Med center tackles toughest cases involving pets
— Waddling in with limegreen booties on his front paws, Harrison, a beloved 7- year- old French bulldog, is a familiar sight at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City.
“Between myself and surgery, the neurology team, the internal medicine team, the dentistry team — so Harrison has a large crew here taking care of him,” said Dr. Daniel Spector, senior veterinarian during a visit in March. He added the rehab team to the list later.
Harrison doesn’t have an overall diagnosis beyond being a French bulldog — an increasingly popular breed prone to health problems. His human, Manhattan resident Grace Kim, said they come to AMC for “top notch” care, the coordination between teams, and the ability to get referrals in-house for something like a dental procedure, which brought them in recently.
Located on Manhattan’s east side, the animal hospital and its more than 130 veterinarians logged nearly 60,000 patient visits in 2023, as one of a handful of centers across the country equipped to manage the most complicated medical cases, which clinics with fewer resources cannot handle.
While most patients pay out of pocket, AMC offers multiple initiatives to cover charity care, especially for rescue animals and working dogs. In 2022, the hospital donated $4.4 million in care through very specific programs like the Kiki White Umbrella Cockatoo
Avian Fund and the Honey Bunny and ROU German Shepherd Fund, which help families with limited financial means care for their birds, rabbits and German Shepherds, and broader programs like the Buddy Fund, which supports animals with cancer.
The price of veterinary services have increased in recent years because of inflation, but also because of advances in care.
AMC is certified at the Veterinary Committee on Trauma’s highest level, reflecting the resources the hospital has on site, from a blood bank to anesthesiologists, as well as its aroundthe-clock staffing.
The same day Harrison visited the surgical suite, Lynx was brought in by a rescue group. The short haired cat from Brooklyn had a groin wound no other clinic had been able to heal for many months.
“We get to take extraordinary care of rescue animals,” Spector said.
The veterinary staff take Lynx out of her carrier and turn her over to get a view of the wound, holding her to snap a photo as they debated how to proceed. No one was scratched. No voices raised — not even Lynx’s.
Downstairs in an office off the waiting room that is lined with tile mosaics and wooden molding carved with animal shapes, Spector told Jennie Anne Simson, of Brooklyn Animal Action, that he planned to remove the wound entirely, “lifting” the infection out. Simson had applied for funding from AMC and the hospital confirmed one of its charitable funds would cover the $5,500 that Lynx’s treatment will cost.