Weitzman came to the San Diego in May 2012. Since then, he has brought his energy and vision to unify and strengthen all of San Diego County’s animal shelters.
On July 1, 2014, the SDHS and SPCA merged with the Escondido Humane Society with Weitzman remaining as president and CEO, and Sally Costello [former executive director of the Escondido branch] becoming Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. They also work closely with the East County Animal Rescue. Together, they want to rescue and give a second chance to as many animals as possible.
Weitzman is spearheading what he calls “The Treatable Pet Initiative”. The goal is to save the life of every adoptable animal in San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition (SDAWC) shelters by targeting four key areas:
Weitzman, 54, grew up in Boston. From the time he was a child, he knew he wanted to be a vet and assist others. Although he loved animals, he could not convince his parents to get a dog until he was 16. Ironically, the dog, a chow mix, became his mother’s faithful companion.
Weitzman received a B.A. in Biology and English from Colby College, an M.A. in Public Health from Boston University’s School of Public Health, and completed his formal education with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Tufts University. While in Veterinarian school, at age 25, he got his second pet dog, a greyhound. Not only did he love that breed, he wanted to give back after having worked on 80 greyhound cadavers while in training.
He joined the Air Force in 1993 where he put his Public Health degree to use as he was in charge of food safety, workplace safety, and nuclear safety. He was stationed in both Texas and Washington, D.C. After being relocated to Wyoming for duty, he began to moonlight at an emergency vet clinic in Boulder, Colorado, to which he would drive on weekends. This allowed him to combine both of his passions. The Air Force then sent him to work with the army where he managed a breast cancer research program. He served very actively for four years, and spent another five years in the Air Force reserve.
In 1997, he moved to northern California taking over a practice of a companion animal hospital in Burlingame. He worked there until 2003 when he was hired as the president and CEO of The Washington Animal Rescue League in Washington, DC.
The next chapter in his life as president of the Washington Animal Rescue League was a successful one. During his tenure there, he guided the organization into becoming a national resource for disaster and puppy mill rescues as well as leading a large, urban, homeless animal rehabilitation and adoption center through a period of unprecedented growth. Weitzman stated that he felt satisfied with all that he accomplished during the years he spent there, but he had a longing to return to California, and in May 2012, he accepted when the position at the San Diego Humane Society was offered to him.
Weitzman says he really enjoys his new life in San Diego. He feels that this is one of the best cities in terms of lifestyle. He lives here with his two beloved rescue dogs, Jake, a three legged, very expressive German shepherd, and Betty, a calm and sweet pit bull mix. He also believes that as the president of one of the largest shelters in the nation, they have the tools be a role model for others and lead the way in making a difference.
Finally, Weitzman is the co-host of The Animal House on KPBS (89.5). He answers people who call in asking questions about their pets. The show airs locally on KPBS on Saturday mornings at 5:00 AM and Sunday evenings at 7:00 PM. In addition, he has co-authored a book with Aline Alexander Newman called, “How to Speak Dog” for National Geographic. Their next book, “How to Speak Cat” is coming out in January 2015. “I am never going to retire”, Weitzman declares. “I have too much to do and give back to the world”.
]]>Up until 2006, there was not even a Humane Society in Tijuana. That changed when Richard Massa, a retired dean and vice president of San Diego City College, Leticia Coto, a long time animal rights activist in Baja, and Alejandro Arias, a local lawyer, merged their vision and energies and founded the society. Leticia Coto is now the acting president. They do not have a building or shelter, but rather rely on dedicated fosters on both sides of the border who help them. All their clinics are also mobile which enables them to go around Tijuana and northern Baja, and to some of the poorer neighborhoods where there is a great need for their services. They want to foster more responsible ownership that isn’t always there by explaining the importance of spaying and neutering, deworming, using flea medications and even just the basics like food, a bowl of water, and some shelter. They try to have four clinics a month which includes neutering almost 50 animals, 70% dogs and 30% cats. Their organization is strictly non-profit and they rely on donations that mostly come from San Diego and this side of the border.
Because of this, in 2007, with the help of Nicole Riley and Michelle S. Grycner, Friends of Humane Society de Tijuana was founded. Richard Massa is the president of Friends of HSTJ, Michelle is the vice-president and Nicole is the secretary. This organization was set up to give support to HSTJ, and they help to organize volunteers and veterinarians for the low cost spay/ neuter clinics, and the itchy/scratchy clinics where they treat the animals for fleas, ticks, mange, and parasites. They also find suitable fosters, set up adoptions of the rescued street animals, run the adoption events they hold at local shopping centers, including Whole Foods in Hillcrest and Petco on Friars Road, and help raise funds to pay for all the bills and supplies. Finally, they are also promoting humane legislation and working to sustain suspension of electrocutions at public dog pounds in Mexico. They are the angels working to protect the animals of Tijuana and Baja, provide them with a better life, and to promote more responsible pet ownership among the people. It is a daunting task. They have received funds from the Petco Foundation, but they are always in need of donations, supplies, medicines, and people to foster and volunteer. To find out how you can help and when their next event will be, go to their website www.friendsofhstj.org. They also have a Facebook page.
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]]>That prospect has helped the pet insurance industry grow an average 13 percent every year since 2009. The number of insured pets rose 14.6 percent in 2013, to more than 1 million, according to the most recent figures from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA). The nation’s largest and oldest pet insurer, Nationwide-owned Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), administers 525,000 policies, more than double what it wrote a decade ago. And on Feb. 12, the fourth-quarter earnings of pet insurer Trupanion (TRUP) showed a 29 percent year-over-year jump in pets enrolled, to 218,684, and average monthly adjusted revenue per pet that rose 4 percent, to $44.27.
Kelly Ray knows how quickly unexpected health-care costs can add up. Ray, a software marketing specialist at Lodestar Solutions in Tampa, didn’t have insurance on her first cat, a stray she rescued as a kitten near her home. She figured the vet bills wouldn’t be big and she wouldn’t need insurance because the stray, which she named Gizmo, would be a house cat. At age 4, Gizmo started having seizures and was diagnosed with a brain disorder.
Ray spent $4,000 on Gizmo’s initial diagnosis and treatment. She had to turn down additional tests offered by a pet neurologist because they would have cost an additional $3,000. The effects of the disease lingered until May, when Gizmo died at age 12. So when Ray adopted two kittens, Zinnia and Lily, in mid-2014, she immediately started shopping for pet insurance for them and for her 16-year-old cat, Sunny.
“I wanted to mitigate my risk,” says Ray. “I did the cost analysis and figured it would take me five years to save up $3,000,” which she realized might only be enough to cover a single pet health emergency. After shopping around, she found a policy that covered all three cats for $563.89 per year in premiums—a financial decision she refers to as “a no-brainer.”
Choosing health insurance for your pets can be as challenging as sorting between the options for yourself. When deciding whether pet insurance is worth it, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, it costs more to insure dogs than it does cats—$457 in annual premiums, on average, for a single accident and illness policy versus an average $290 for a cat, according to NAPHIA.
Certain breeds will drive up your bill even more. Trupanion reports that large breeds such as Rottweilers, Great Danes, and Bernese mountain dogs run up the highest premiums, while lap dogs like Shih Tzus and poodles cost the least to insure. Large breeds are genetically predisposed to expensive-to-treat conditions like hip dysplasia and cancer. So for a policy with a $250 deductible on a male Great Dane puppy in the Boston area, Trupanion would charge a premium of $66.07 per month. A Bostonian who owns a Puggle, which is a cross between a beagle and a pug, would pay just $39.29 a month for the same coverage.
When comparing quotes, pay close attention to the strings attached to a deductible. They work the same as deductibles for home or auto insurance—you’ll get a lower premium if you accept a higher deductible. But many pet insurers levy separate deductibles on each condition. So if Rex has to be patched up after a scuffle at the dog park and then needs emergency surgery to extract the pennies he eats the following week, you’ll be responsible for meeting two deductibles before the insurance on either procedure kicks in. How you’re reimbursed might differ from insurer to insurer, too. “Some companies reimburse flat amounts, while the newer companies will pay a percentage,” says Michael Hemstreet, a Web developer who manages PetInsuranceReview.com, where pet owners can compare policies.
Don’t be surprised if your premiums increase each year. It’s perfectly legal for pet insurers to hike premiums, which they may do in anticipation of the fact that dogs and cats are more likely to develop illnesses as they age. Kerri Marshall, chief veterinary officer at Trupanion, says her company doesn’t raise premiums based on aging or claims experience, but it might do so to cover the expenses it incurs for providing the coverage. “Sometimes regulatory fees in certain markets rise, but the most common reason is an increase in the cost of care,” Marshall says.
Unlike human health insurers, pet insurance providers don’t have to cover preexisting conditions, and most won’t. Many companies won’t write new policies for older pets, either, although that is changing. Ray says she chose Petplan because it was willing to cover her 16-year-old cat. The company also offered her a multi-pet discount of 10 percent for each cat she enrolled after the first policy she purchased. She signed up all three cats for accident-and-illness policies, which each have deductibles of $200 per incident.
Be wary of insurers offering to cover “wellness” care such as annual vaccines and check-ups. The premiums on those policies are more than double the cost of accident and illness plans, according to NAPHIA. In most cases, all you’re really doing is pre-paying for services that might cost less if you pay out-of-pocket for them. “Distemper shots and heartworm tests should be looked at as the cost of pet ownership, not as an insurable risk,” says Peter Glassman, director and surgeon at the Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington. Ignoring such come-ons is a way to practice “wellness care” for your wallet.
Arlene Weintraub is a freelance writer in the New York area.
Bloomberg.com
~ Ambrose Redmoon
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