Dr. Rebecca A. Rodriguez, D.V.M., has joined the City of Laredo Animal Care Services Department (ACSD) as staff veterinarian of the City’s animal shelter facility.
As resident staff veterinarian Dr. Rodriguez will assist in achieving the primary mission of the ACSD and address the overwhelming need in the community to care for animals left at the shelter.
The department’s mission is to promote responsible pet ownership; prevent the spread of animal borne diseases; protect the public by providing anti-rabies vaccinations; perform rabies control investigations; make accessible mandatory spay or neutering services; and provide a temporary shelter for stray, unwanted, or homeless animals in compliance with local, state, and federal laws and ordinances.
Dr. Rodriguez will perform spay and neuter surgeries at the ACSD facility; conduct public outreach special events; administer vaccinations on animals; perform humane euthanasia; diagnose current health conditions/statuses to screen for contagious diseases as well as terminal illnesses; enforce best practices of disease prevention to minimize and/or eliminate the spread of potential disease; and oversee the general welfare of shelter animals.
With Dr. Rodriguez on staff, animal care and chip distribution will be more accessible to low and moderate income residents of Laredo through targeted outreach. This will ultimately lead to a reduction of strays on the street and facilitate responsible pet care practices.
The ACSD, the City’s most recently established department, operates with a budget of about $2.2 million.
Dr. Rodriguez is a native Laredoan, the fifth of seven children born to Elmer and Esther G. Buckley. She graduated salutatorian from United South High School in May 2000 and graduated in May 2004 from Texas A&M International University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. She taught at Cigarroa High School and LISD’s Early College High School before undertaking studies at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine at College Station in 2008. She graduated in May 2012 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and was an associate veterinarian at Laredo Animal Clinic.
