Boks press release:
Dr. Jeremy Prupas, VMD has accepted the position of Chief Veterinarian for the Department and is scheduled to start Monday, September 15th.
Following veterinary school, Dr. Prupas served as an associate veterinarian in Stamford, CT before moving to San Diego where he owned and operated his own practice. For the past 2 years, Dr. Prupas served as Program Director for Anthem College School of Veterinary Technology in Phoenix, AZ, where he took over a troubled program and successfully guided it through AVMA accreditation.
Dr. Prupas will replace Dr. Steven Feldman, DVM, who has served as Acting Chief Veterinarian for over a year. Dr. Feldman recently promoted to a Veterinarian III position and will serve as Dr. Prupas’s second in command.
“Dr. Feldman helped rebuild the Department’s medical program over the past year,” said Ed Boks, general manager of the Department, “making it the finest municipal veterinary shelter program in the United States. Our anticipation is that under the capable leadership of Dr. Prupas and Dr. Feldman, with the support of our extraordinary team of veterinarians, we will now be able to take the program to the next level.”
This guy sounds very capable, and he specialized in cats. I love him already. Also, his San Diego practice was located about a mile from where I used to live in La Jolla. Why on earth would any rational human being leave the land of endless Spring to move to Phoenix?
A reality check. Boks says Feldman served as Acting Chief Vet for over a year. That is true to an extent, but it also true that until this appointment Dr. Feldman was the actual Chief Vet according to various documents I listed in my August 22 and 25 posts.
Far be it from me to defend Dr. Feldman just because he used to be my own vet, but Boks says: "Dr. Feldman helped rebuild the Department’s medical program over the past year, making it the finest municipal veterinary shelter program in the United States."
One would want to know why Boks replaced someone who made LAAS "the finest municipal veterinary program in the United States."
We'll see. I hope for the best. We'll watch what happens to the Died in Shelter and euth numbers. I truly hope to see the cat euth figures go down.
None of this matters (like writing to you doesn't matter) but I maintain that Dr. Feldman was PROBABLY acting as he could not be "demoted" without protracted legal wrangling, even if the Chief position is exempt. Addressing Feldman as the Chief was probably a formality when in fact he was really "acting."
ReplyDeleteHey, read Boks' flyer.
ReplyDeleteIt said Feldman was PROMOTED to Veterinarian III, not demoted.
Responding to your uninformed speculations does not matter either.
I see nothing that this new vet can do that Feldman can't, unless Boks wants the new guy to lie or something. The cats are getting sick in the shelter, so are the dogs. That's just the way it is. They aren't cleaning cages properly, have too many cages too close together, employees are overloaded and probably not giving animals all their meds. The solution is not to hire a different vet. The solution is to reduce intake and gets the animals adopted or fostered. I know, easier said than done, true.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote: "Rumor also has it that Feldman was demoted because he knows me."
ReplyDeleteYou are uninformed.
I don't doubt that.
ReplyDeleteTell me the truth