Associate Veterinarian – Denver Animal Shelter

About Our Job

Please read the information in this job post thoroughly to understand exactly what is expected of potential candidates.

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise.

Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $89,144 - $147,088.

We also offer generous benefits for full-time and part-time employees (minimum 32 hours a week) which include but are not limited to :

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service.
• 457B Retirement Plan.
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 11 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday and 1 volunteer day per year.
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date.

Location

In this position you can expect to work on site at Denver Animal Shelter, located at 1241 W. Bayaud Ave. The clinic operates 7 days per week with rotating on-call work for emergency consultation.

This position may require weekend and / or holiday shifts. Generally, this position works four 10-hour days. This position may be available for full-time OR part-time work (minimum 32 hours a week).

What You’ll Do

Within the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE), Denver Animal Protection (DAP) protects the safety and welfare of Denver’s animals and residents by fostering the human-animal bond.

DAP emphasizes public and animal safety and health, encourages responsible pet ownership through education and enforcing compliance with animal-related municipal code requirements, and cares for animals at the Denver Animal Shelter (DAS).

More information can be found at : DDPHE : Denver Animal Protection.

The veterinary clinic at DAP is one of the two shelter clinics (and the only municipal shelter) in Colorado that is American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accredited.

We see a variety of patients, including dogs, cats, small mammals, farm animals, fish, poultry, and reptiles. We are well equipped with dental radiographs, digital radiographs, oxygen cage, ultrasound, and cautery.

As the Associate Veterinarian you will have the opportunity to work on a variety of cases in a high-paced and exciting environment, including :

• Cases including lacerations, ear infections, dental disease to more traumatic cases such as toxin ingestion, foreign body obstruction and polytrauma.
• Rare cases of animals as patients include snapping turtles, chameleons, other reptiles, and farm animals.
• Cases involving animal cruelty and neglect in conjunction with Animal Protection Officers.

Specifically, you will :

• Provide high quality medical care to shelter animals, oversee the health management of shelter animals, and provide for the medical and surgical needs of animals.
• Perform traditional duties of a veterinarian which includes health assessment, diagnosis, spay / neuter, other soft tissue surgery, dentistry, and treatment of various medical conditions.
• Implement medical protocols and standard operating procedures for medical evaluations and treatment of animals including disease control, sterilization, improvement of health and quality of life issues, and the alleviation of suffering.

This also applies to managing animal flow through transfer and foster programs.

• Investigate possible cases of zoonotic diseases and report confirmed cases to state and federal officials when needed or requested.
• Administer and promote rabies immunization programs.
• Train division staff on shelter related topics that include euthanasia and euthanasia certification, animal evaluation and treatments, disease control, and other pertinent topics.
• Write medical reports, process cruelty and neglect cases, and present cases in court.
• Assist in volunteer programs for the animal shelter and educate the public regarding zoonotic diseases and pet ownership.
• Perform euthanasia when needed or required.
• Build relationships with community veterinarians and local veterinary technical colleges.
• Present in local and national conferences.
• Help to coordinate and to participate in public vaccination clinics organized by DAP.
• Along with all department staff, this position will actively participate on an emergency preparedness and response team to support DDPHE’s responsibilities outlined in the City’s Emergency Operations Plan.

This may require being on-call’ from time to time to help respond to emergencies. Additional training commensurate with assigned duties will be provided.

Other duties as assigned or requested.

What You’ll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels.

You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics :

• Interest in orthopedic surgeries or willingness to learn.
• Previous shelter medicine experience.
• High-Volume High-Quality spay / neuter surgery experience.
• Soft tissue surgery experience.
• Internship-trained, preferably in shelter medicine.
• Currently practicing veterinarian.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until filled. Please submit your application as soon as possible to be considered as it could close without notice.

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume / CV section on the My Experience tab) :

• Cover letter
• Resume

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement : Doctor of Veterinary Medicine accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
• Experience Requirement : Two (2) years of professional veterinarian experience in a general practice or shelter environment including the control, diagnosis and treatment of animal diseases or completion of a shelter medicine internship.
• Education / Experience Equivalency : No substitution of experience for education is permitted.
• License / Certifications : Requires a valid Driver's License at the time of application.
• Requires possession of a license to practice veterinary medicine issued by the State of Colorado by the time of hire.
• Must be registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for the use of controlled substances in the State of Colorado prior to completion of the probationary period.
• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

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