Robin's Nest from American Humane - Dr. Richard Goldstein, Chief Medical Officer at Zoetis

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

In this episode of Robin's Nest, Robin talks with Dr. Richard Goldstein, Chief Medical Officer at Zoetis. As a veterinarian, Dr. Goldstein is committed to enhancing animal welfare worldwide. His dedication extends across borders and species, exploring innovative approaches that address the diverse health challenges animals face. Zoetis is also a terrific partner and supporter of American Humane, listen as they discuss pet preparedness, especially ahead of storm and hurricane season, and so much more.

Welcome to Robin's Nest. So many of us have a deep connection with the animals around us and want to protect them from the pets in our homes to endangered species in the wild. That's why I joined American Humane. As one of the oldest and most effective animal protection groups, we help billions of animals around the world. Join us as we explore how we can build a more humane world together. Hello and welcome to Robin's Nest. I'm Dr. Robin Ganzert and this is the official podcast of American Humane and Global Humane, the nation's first and most experienced humane

organization focused on the humane treatment of animals all over the world from certifying zoos to being the first boots on the ground in crisis and rescues helping to ensure that animals are safe in the filming of movies on sets globally and that one billion animals in farms are treated humanely and our military veteran and military dog programs. Today, I'm speaking with Dr. Richard Goldstein, Chief Medical Officer at Zoetis. As a veterinarian, Dr. Goldstein is committed to enhancing animal welfare worldwide. His dedication extends across borders and species, exploring innovative approaches that address the diverse health challenges animals face. Zoetis is also a terrific partner and supporter of American Humane, and we have worked closely

on pet preparedness, especially ahead of storm and hurricane season. Welcome Dr. Goldstein, and thank you so much for joining us. Oh thank you, thank you so much for having me. This is a really really important topic and great to be with you. Well, you know, Dr. Goldstein, I live in Florida and I have a lot of animals, just like many of our incredible listeners to podcast today. And I know that we're all anxious because we hear such incredible dire predictions about this year's season of storms. such incredible dire predictions about this year's season of storms. Tell me, what can Zoetis share with us and what can you share with us for how we can be best prepared to keep our furry best friends safe in times of disaster? Yeah, thank you, Robin. I think, you know, probably the most important thing is to actually think about it, which is what we're doing right here, which is

great, because we have to have a plan. People should have a plan. What we don't want is for people to panic at the last minute and either not do the right thing for themselves because they don't want to leave their pets or not have the right things prepared for their pets. So having a plan in advance is really, really important, just like we do for ourselves. And I think that's not just in Florida, but that should be true for everyone. And unfortunately, everyone could face some type of natural disaster, even if it's just a long-term power outage, right? And may have to leave their home or be evacuated. So having a plan

for those kind of scenarios, I think is truly the most important thing. And as we think about a plan, I know Zoetis has best practices and tips, and particularly in your role as chief medical officer. What does a plan look like and how can we go about creating that, particularly now, so that we can be prepared for the season of storms? Yeah. So I think, you know, we need, pets are family members, right? So think of what you would do, you know, for your child or another loved one. We have to make sure that all of their needs are kind of organized and taken care of. So we have food for them. We have water for them.

We have medical supplies prepared. We have their medical records prepared because, you know, our pets, you know, they're living for a longer time now. And a lot of them have chronic illnesses. They need chronic treatments. So we need a summary of their medical records. We need their medications, their food, bedding, everything we could possibly need. And then we also need good identification for them because there is a chance that we'll be separated. We might come to a point where pets go one direction, we go the other direction. So ideally, you know, with having them chipped

or at least other type of really good identification on them so that we can be reunited when the disaster is over. So getting all that together, getting this, having a kind of a kit, which includes all that, I think is really important. You know what I do at my house is we keep a Rubbermaid tote full of bottled waters.

We have extra leashes because always when you're in the last minute in a panic, you can't find the leash. We have the little harnesses. We have an extra round of the medical supplies. There are heartworm pills and those sorts of things. And I keep little bags of the food. But I do that for about a week for each of my animals. Is that good enough? that for about a week for each of my animals. Is that good enough? Yeah, yes. I think that's a good start. You never know how long these are going to happen. Unfortunately, we've seen people have been separated from the animals for months with some of our national addresses, but that's hard to prepare for a month. So I would say a week or two is probably the best place to start. And then hopefully, if the pets are with you, you'll be able to take care of them.

If not, they'll be in a place where folks like American Humane come in and help take care of them, even if they're separated from their pet parents. Yes, yes. And I also keep dog crates, which is wonderful. So I have those ready to stick into our large car that we would evacuate in. So I have all the dogs have their own separate crates and their bedding, and that's all always ready to go at a moment's notice too. That's great. I mean, you are prepared. Well, I should be in my role, but I know there's, I still have to remind my family members and friends that this is absolutely critical. And some of our pets

haven't been crate trained, you know. And as we know, I've seen a lot of disasters firsthand, and I'm sure you have too. Having the use of the crate to keep the pets safe, especially in an evacuation, perhaps in a temporary shelter, that's critical. Do you have any advice, doctor, for how we can advise our friends and family members to work on crate training now too? Yeah, I am a big fan of crate training. I think most veterinarians are. And it is a natural thing that dogs like. Dogs like to have a, puppies or adult dogs, like to have a relatively small, safe place where they can go when they need some time alone, where they can go to sleep. If you think about wolves in a den,

that is their crate, right? So starting at puppies, getting them used to sleeping in their crates. You can perhaps feed or give treats in the crates. Getting them used to that in an early age is really important. There's a lot of benefits to that, including a natural disaster situation, but even just everyday life. Sometimes people come over to the house that have issues with dogs or there's another dog that comes through. Having the ability for the dog to actually enjoy going to their crate. My dogs at home, when I say go to bed, they just run into their crates, each one to their own specific crate, and that's how they like it. That's wonderful. Speaking of dogs, how many do you have? I would love to know. I have two at home, both kind of medical rescues with different kinds of chronic diseases. My wife's

a veterinarian as well. And so we tend to collect them. So two dogs and one cat at the moment. Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. So we haven't talked about cats, and I also have a cat. His name's Julius Caesar, and let me tell you, he rules the roost with all the other dogs in our family home. But you know, cats love to hide when storms come and sometimes very hard to find them in a home. So what do you recommend about evacuation with our feline friends? Yeah, great question. You know, cats can get to like their crates as well. It's a little harder maybe than dogs. It comes a little bit less naturally. But I would say if you're anticipating a national disaster, keep the cat in one room with a litter box and food. And don't risk losing that cat for when you really need it. So as soon as you see the cat, if you know it's coming,

open the door, make sure the cat is with you in that room, or in that room at least with litter and water and food, so that when you do need to collect the cat, you can in a hurry. And I've also found in grocery stores, there's those small litter boxes that are already made up, and you just have to pull off the top for litter. So we keep a couple of those on hand. And I believe now I always like to be prepared. Girl Scout part of me, I guess, to really stock those things up now, particularly the bottled water, the cat litter, the cat food, the dog food, all of that. I keep stocked up now.

And again, I use those Rubbermaid totes that are really nice and easy to grab when you're getting ready to evacuate and you're thinking about all the other things that your family's facing as you're trying to get out of harm's way. So Dr. Goldstein what else can we think about in terms of a plan just to make sure we're ready? I know I always like to print out medical records because I recognize that our local veterinarians may not have power or electricity. They themselves may be impacted by the disaster. So I like to have a printed copy, a little file that I keep in my disaster prep kit. Yes. So that's a really great point. I think, so there are the pieces that, in addition to kind of that rubber crate with the food and the bowls

and the water, is the medical piece. So we have pets with chronic diseases, right? We have diabetic cats. We have dogs on chronic medication. And those can't stop just because there is a natural disaster, right? So make sure that we have a good supply of the medication and the records because if we are separated, we need to make sure that the veterinarians at the site know how to continue the treatment of the pet and then identification. We need to make sure that if we are separated, it'll be really easy for us to find our pet

and our pet to find us. So having them microchipped is really a wonderful thing. And then having really good paper identification as well is really important. I also love photographs. And the reason I love photographs, which never occurred to me before working at American Humane and responding to a disaster, is that I've seen our shelters in action.

Dr. Goldstein, I remember our rescue teams deploying in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Those devastating floods in Houston were heartbreaking to witness and I personally remember the story of one family. This family, they had floodwaters rapidly approaching their neighborhood. They had beagles. They loved their beagles and they had a senior beagle, an old grand dom dog. She was gorgeous. And they had some younger beetles. They had some small children

and they were trying to load everything into their SUV and get their children in and their dogs. And the senior beagle was so disoriented that she ran off and they couldn't grab her and they had to evacuate without her. I'll tell you to this very day, I still get goosebumps when I remember the story of our shelter. Our shelter was set up, our emergency shelter, where we were rescuing pets, bringing them in every single day. We had over 400 pets that needed to be reunited with their family members

who had been separated in the time of the evacuation with those floods after Hurricane Harvey. What happened in that was we had everyone bring their pictures to reunite. So we took pictures of all those dogs, had them on huge boards posted in our temporary emergency shelter. And there this family came and they brought a picture

of this senior dog this incredible beagle and sure enough our team remembered and I'll never forget those little kiddos running down this whole row of crates and finding their dog and reuniting with that dog and those photographs are really really important So I always keep recent photographs of my pups because I know that that is a really important tool when we're creating an emergency disaster shelter where we're trying to reunite these pets with their homes. That's such a great idea and such a great story. And I don't know that everyone understands and

knows exactly what you do at American Humane. It's such amazing work. Things like that affect those people involved at that moment, and the other people around the country, around the world might not know. But it's such wonderful work that you do, so thank you for doing that. Oh, Dr. Goldstein, we do it because of you and Zoetis. We're so grateful. In fact, at Hurricane Harvey, you were so gracious to donate medicines, very important

life-saving medicines, so when each of these animals came in, we could treat them with our veterinarians on site. That saved so many animal lives. But we, you and I both know it's not just saving that one animal life rescued in a disaster. It's also giving that family hope who've lost everything. If you remember Moore, Oklahoma, there was that devastating EF5 tornado and American Humane responded. And again, thank you, Zoetis, for giving us access to those vaccines and all the help. And it was so incredible what you do for us

to allow us to serve these animals. In that devastating EF5 tornado, humans and animal lives were lost. This community was devastated. And in pulls in our incredible rescue trucks. And so Addis was so just generous in allowing us to put together these rescue trucks too so thank you we pull in with our logos we're ready with

our team members and we're there bringing them hope there were so many animals missing and one lady had lost everything and I'll never forget this woman's face I'll never forget her telling her story. All she wanted was her gray kitty back. So she talks to our rescuer, Manny, who had been in most of our rescues for over 25 years. Talk about a humane hero and an angel. So Manny hears the story and this gray kitty's missing and he recognizes in tornado debris piles where cats can hide. So he's out setting a few traps to be able to catch this scared and frightened cat. And honest to goodness, two days later, he's able to pull up to this lady who's out trying to clean

up the debris pile at her home and said, you were looking for a gray kitty and I found him that lady gives a jump for joy and a dance like no other the pure happiness on her face after experience so much devastating loss of tragic proportions she had her family back with her kitty thanks to what we did together. That's another example of Zoetis and American Humane in partnership after a devastating, devastating storm. We have so many stories like this that give me hope. We could do this all day, Robin. These are such good stories. Oh my God, it's so much. I want to pivot back because I know that you have provided

so much at Zoetis for pet partners, allowing our pet parents to do so much more. Share with us a little bit more that Zoetis does, such as helping out our rescue team. Yeah, so I think there's two sides to this, right? So there's the rescue piece where we need to make sure that all the pets are getting what they need in that short period. If they're injured, they need to be taken care of, obviously. They need to stay on their chronic medication. But there's also the wellness piece. Unfortunately, some of these instances, the pets are separated from their families for a long time or the veterinarians had to shut down their clinics, right? So if the clinics have been damaged and they had to evacuate the hospitalized pets in their clinics and they can't see new appointments, someone also has to do, and this is a wonderful thing that American

Humane is doing, is taking care of the day-to-day, even the wellness piece, right? We don't want dogs in Louisiana, for instance, getting heartworm in the middle of this, everything else that's happening because they're off their heartworm preventatives or getting infectious diseases because they're late for their vaccines because they've been separated from their normal veterinary care. So the wellness clinics that you folks do and that we are very, very proud to help and support are maybe not as exciting as the disaster itself, but they're really important for the long-term care of these pets. And so I love that partnership. I think it's just a wonderful thing that you do. And we are very, very proud as a latest to help with that.

Oh, Dr. Goldstein, we just did one, as you know, in Louisiana a few short weeks ago. And, you know, they are so important because, you know, we have to keep our best friends well. And that preventative health is really, really critically important. And we couldn't do that work, boots on the ground work to really help that human animal bond continue to strengthen and grow without our partnership. And those pet wellness clinics are some of the most exciting. I understood, and from Louisiana reports, that there were cars a mile long waiting to get in to bring their animals. Hundreds of animals were treated in that clinic. And that's just one of many we've done together. So thank you so much. Yeah, my understanding is that many hundreds,

which is great. And then our local teams get to be involved. And for them, this is such an amazing opportunity to give back and to do something so meaningful. So when you talk to our field folks, veterinarians and other representatives, and ask, you know, what is the most impactful thing you've done over here, they will quote these clinics as something that was just so important to them and the feeling that they're really doing the right thing for the pets and the pet parents. That makes me so happy. And I know our teams love them too, because we always love to be preparing for the seasons of storms and those sorts of things. And if an animal comes to us in a well condition, that means

better outcomes as we face other issues that are beyond our control. So I love those pet clinics too. I think one more point that I think is important to emphasize that you folks do, and maybe don't give yourselves enough credit. These clinics are not just in the disaster areas. They're also in very remote areas that just don't have a lot of access to veterinary care. And, you know, so these are places where people would have to travel a long way to get to a veterinarian, may not be able to afford to do that. And so you providing care and basic wellness support to those pets out there is just phenomenal as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. And all of those clinics for our listeners and Robin's Nest today, they're all free of charge. And Zoetis and American Humane do that together.

And that free of charge care, again, allows us to uplift that human animal bond that we all celebrate so much as our shared values at Zoetis and American Humane is uplifting that incredible bond that we know is so valuable, especially in today's times with families. For sure. One thing that I wanted to talk about is something very, very exciting to us at American Humane as we're educating and sharing with our wonderful listeners and animal lovers around the world. We do want to make sure everyone's prepared. And you are so right, Dr. Goldstein, this is not be prepared just for

hurricanes. This is for fires, for floods, for any sort of natural disaster where there's an emergency evacuation. And in some cases, there's not time. In times of fires, for example, you may already be separated from your pets and not be able to go back in to rescue them, to bring them with you. Our pet preparation campaign that's underway this month also involves a matching campaign. I'd love to hear you share a little bit about how important this is. This is just another wonderful opportunity for us to make sure that all of these endeavors are supported as best we possibly can. So we're matching the donations that are made on this special site up to a significant amount of money, dollar for dollar, to make sure that American Humane can continue to pursue all these wonderful things that they're doing.

It's just a nice, really important part of what we can do as an animal health company. And it's our pleasure to support the American Humane. We are so grateful because I know together we're going to save so many animal lives with this matching campaign. You're allowing us to do this incredibly important work. And we are beyond grateful. Dr. Goldstein, you're one of our humane heroes, and we're so proud to know you. So thank you so much. There's an area that I haven't covered with you yet, but I know you see a lot in your role as chief medical officer at Sowet's. One thing that we see a lot that we haven't talked about

is some of those cases of cruelty and neglect too. And not only does our rescue team respond in times of disaster, but we also respond to cases of hoarding, cruelty, and neglect. And it was just a year ago where we found a hundred precious kitties in a woman's house, a hundred of them that were part of a hoarding case. And we went in there and were able to save so many lives. Those cases are also hard for our humane heroes to see,

our volunteers to see, but I wanted to give them a big shout out because I know they've been on two very hard and difficult cruelty cases very recently. So a shout out to our rescue team. And again, thank you to Sowetis for providing us with critical care support in times of cruelty, abuse and hoarding cases, because that work doesn't get enough attention,

but it's real work that we do, gritty work we do every day, and thank you for helping us in those cases as well. Yes, for sure. It's really sad to see animals that are not treated well, and doing the right thing for them at that time by bringing them to a safe environment, providing them basic support, is again just such a wonderful thing to do for those animals.

So hopefully this doesn't happen a lot and hopefully it won't happen anymore, but when it does, saving them is just really, really, really important. Yes, absolutely. And I know you've been tremendous supporters of our annual Be Kind to Animals campaign. And that's the longest running commemorative week in American history where we celebrate the values of humane education, ensuring that kiddos learn the values of kindness, compassion and love with their animal friends. And if we can build that base with our with our kiddos, our young people, that will just help us together to build a more humane world. Yes, yes, no question. It will be a better society when everyone treats pets and all species.

We're not just talking about dogs and cats. We're talking about horses and donkeys and everyone else that's out there. That is really what we need is just to be kind. Absolutely. And that is really what we need is just to be kind. Absolutely. Well, Dr. Goldstein, as we wrap up our time together, I want to see if there's anything else you'd like to share inside Robin's Nest today. Again, we're so proud to know you and we're so grateful for your partnership.

What other tidbits of advice you'd like to provide for our incredible listeners? Well, I can tell you I'm going home tonight to make my rubber bin a little bit better. I need to check on my supplies. No, I think this was wonderful, Robyn. I think that just taking a few minutes out of your day when things are calm and okay to be prepared, think about everything in the future. Think about what might happen in the next few minutes if there's a big power outage or a natural disaster. And then I just want to thank you again for all the work that you're doing and with the clinics and everything else. And it is truly our pleasure to support you.

And this has been going on for over a decade and I hope many decades more for as long as it's needed. Well, we are too. And we're so grateful to be a partner with Zoetis in our ongoing fight to build a more humane world and to be a great advocate for our furry and furry friends. And you're right, it's more than our cats and dogs. We also have to think about our horses, our donkeys, our mules, all sorts of animals who

need to be thought about because that's our responsibility as we have them in our lives. So thank you for being an incredible partner. And again, we encourage everyone to look at AmericanHumane.org. Find out more about this exciting matching campaign. Let's get that donations coming in. Let's get that going so we can be prepared to respond to communities across our great country and save animal lives. And importantly, I believe in we're saving animal lives and reuniting them with the families. We're making our community so much stronger by allowing them to heal in times of crisis and tragedy. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Goldstein, a pleasure to have you on today.

And again, thank you for your support from Zoetis. Thank you so much, Robin. Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode of Robin's Nest. I'm so grateful for Dr. Richard Goldstein, Chief Medical Officer of Zoetis. His information is so timely and it reminds us this very moment to do a little extra pre-planning to make sure our animals are safe in this upcoming season of storms. And to learn more about how to prepare your disaster preparation kit for your pets, check out AmericanHumane.org and our fact sheets are there and we help to make sure that all of our best friends are kept safe. Again, thanks so much for listening to this episode.

Stay tuned. We hope you'll tune in next time for another exciting episode of what's happening here in this nest. I hope you have a wonderful week, and thank you for joining us to build a more humane world. Take care.