On Monday morning on the Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital on the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo, Jennifer D’Agostino, senior director of veterinary companies, examines a disgruntled feminine peacock and takes a blood pattern.
D’Agostino conducts common well being checks on all the pieces from toads to birds to bears to the zoo’s largest elephant. She collects blood from the tails of cobras in zoos, teaches elephants to carry and study their large stump-like paws, and collects stool samples from even probably the most irritable animals giant and small. Did.
D’Agostino has been managing zoo animal well being for over 19 years. However her ardour for animal welfare is not restricted to the wooded neighborhoods of the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo. Along with conservation efforts to advertise native habitats in Oklahoma and survival efforts for the endangered Texas horned lizard, she can be an avid advocate in locations like Kenya and a wildlife lover. working with the Painted Canine Analysis Belief to handle land that helps individuals thrive. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Her images shares the fantastic thing about the pure world and all its creatures, and helps different organizations of their conservation and animal welfare efforts.
“At zoos, I’m an advocate for the Conservation Motion Now analysis grant program, which requires functions for small conservation-based grants,” she says.
“I’m coordinating that program by accumulating these functions and discovering workers to be concerned in reviewing these functions. We provides you with a small grant.”
D’Agostino has been named considered one of two recipients of the 2022 Kirkpatrick Animal Welfare Award for his passionate dedication to animal welfare and conservation. Drew Edmondson, the long-serving Lawyer Basic of Oklahoma, additionally acquired the award. This honor is a part of the Kirkpatrick Basis’s mission to make Oklahoma a protected and humane state for all animals by way of its Secure and Humane Initiative.
“Function of life” to assist animals
D’Agostino acquired his PhD from Michigan State College and joined the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo in 2003 for residency and graduate coaching in zoology. After her residency, she took a place as an affiliate veterinarian on the zoo.
A local of Davison, Michigan, D’Agostino was born with a love of wildlife. From an early age, she wished to grow to be a veterinarian, particularly a zoo veterinarian.
“I knew I wished to be a zoo veterinarian once I was about seven years previous,” says D’Agostino. “I’ve at all times cherished animals.”
“I grew up in Flint, Michigan with my grandma. Grandma was a member of the Flint Metropolis Faculty District. Grandma ran a farm, so we had cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and farming. I I spent a lot of my childhood on the farm, simply following the veterinarian.I knew my life’s objective, my life’s function, was to assist animals.”
D’Agostino’s mom observed that veterinarians had been serious about the way in which animals had been cared for on farms, particularly the care of large horses, and he or she wrote a e-book about Zoobooks, {a magazine} that solely fed her ardour for caring for animals and veterinary medication. I bought a subscription.
After becoming a member of the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo for residency in 2003, the Michigan native mentioned the group and state really feel like house. Whereas she bonded together with her colleagues and folks throughout the state, her zoo’s applications had been a giant motivator for her ongoing mission to look after animals.
D’Agostino was instrumental in a capital marketing campaign to ascertain the Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital Facility, which acquired a $1 million kickoff present from the Kirkpatrick Basis and the Kirkpatrick Household Fund. His $9.2 million hospital, which opened in 2015, is likely one of the few accredited zoos within the nation that gives the general public the chance to watch procedures starting from preventive well being checks to surgical procedures. By means of her new hospital, D’Agostino continues to coach the general public and her personal crew on the significance of her animal welfare.
“Given what veterinarians do right here on the zoo, and the breadth of experience that’s actually unmatched, Jennifer has to juggle all the pieces from frogs to giraffes on the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo.” and unique medical certifications, which is a bit uncommon, however have constructed a fantastic crew round her to assist with that. I’m keen about.”
Continuity of conservation
D’Agostino is keen about conservation and animal rights. She is a supporter and a part of the African Painted Canine Analysis Belief, the Zoo’s Horned Lizard Program and the Northern Rangelands Her Belief of Kenya. Her experience in animal welfare is simply complemented by her photographic expertise that she shares with the group.
D’Agostino has traveled to Africa many instances and has labored intently with the Painted Canine Analysis Belief.
“Jen utilized and was accepted into the zoo and is right here to signify Oklahoma Metropolis. I used to be in a foul scenario.
Moms and puppies had been ravenous as a result of so many herds had been killed by vehicles. The Belief was capable of get hold of permission from the Nationwide Park Service to feed the carcasses of struggling wildlife to avoid wasting the inhabitants.
“Clearly you’ll be able to’t give them kibble, so we needed to get carcasses. They’re wild animals,” Rasmussen mentioned. “These carcasses weighed about 60 or 70 kilos and the burrows had been fairly far-off. Jen was the primary individual to assist carry the our bodies. They belonged from the day they arrived.
This involvement led to a deep partnership between D’Agostino, the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo and the Painted Canine Analysis Belief.
“The best way she runs her veterinary division is exemplary. It is actually particular to see how she runs her crew,” says Rasmussen.
D’Agostino can be keen about conservation and sharing wildlife by way of nature images and is energetic in zoos’ world and regional conservation efforts. She designed her house and land to be as pure as potential, rising native vegetation and maintaining her wild spots wild on her property.
“My passion is images. In fact, I really like photographing wildlife and nature. To get nice wildlife images, you want the fitting habitat. Even in your yard, you’ll be able to work together with native wildlife and know you are doing good for them and giving them what they should hold going,” D’Agostino mentioned. say.
The $25,000 prize can be invested in new digicam gear and the remainder can be donated to 2 conservation organizations.
“I’ll donate a portion of the cash to Gorilla Medical doctors, an incredible group in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is nonetheless alive at present and because of the efforts of rangers and veterinarians, it hasn’t gone extinct,” she says.
“I’ll donate the remainder to the Painted Canine Analysis Belief as a result of they’re doing a fantastic job and I wish to advance what they’re doing to assist painted canine.”
The Kirkpatrick Basis continues to assist D’Agostino’s work on the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo, persevering with an extended custom with the group. John Kirkpatrick was a founding member of the Oklahoma Zoological Society, a nonprofit assist group.
“The Kirkpatrick Basis has been very supportive of the work we have been doing right here, particularly the work that is targeted on veterinary applications and animal care,” Lawson says. “The Basis has constructed a whole lot of the infrastructure to assist our veterinary applications and folks like Jennifer, actually offering the assets wanted to offer the animals right here the most effective care. ”