ACCT Philly shelter gets $100,000 X-ray facility for injured dogs and cats
Injured animals will get faster medical care with on-site X-ray examinations instead of having to be transported to a veterinary facility.
ACCT Philly, the city’s primary animal shelter, now has its first X-ray machine and radiology suite, paid for with a $100,000 donation, to provide ailing dogs and cats faster medical care.
Injured animals will be able to get X-ray examinations at the facility, in North Philadelphia, instead of having to be taken to a veterinary facility, said Sarah Barnett, ACCT Philly’s executive director. Off-site X-rays usually cost about $150 per examination.
The shelter receives animals that come in with gunshot or stab wounds or broken bones, or may have ingested foreign objects. One dog found in an abandoned house had seven pounds of trash in her stomach, Barnett said.
The new machine will be part of the Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation for Animal Welfare Radiology Suite.
”We are thrilled to finally have the ability to perform radiographs,” Barnett said. “There are few worse feelings than trying to determine how to help an injured animal with extremely limited information and diagnostics, and having X-rays will help countless animals at ACCT in the future.”
Philip Randell, vice president of the animal welfare foundation, which paid for the suite, said in a statement: “I knew that having their own radiology capacity would shorten the suffering of animals, save the ACCT tens of thousands of dollars a year, and reduce the time staff members had to be off-site ... in waiting rooms.”
Having the ability to perform X-rays will help animals to get the appropriate care they need faster and allow them to be released more quickly to adopters, rescues, and fosters, Barnett said.
“It would have helped us immensely during the [recent] respiratory outbreak, as X-rays are the only definitive way to diagnose pneumonia,” she said.