Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach, Inc.

03/17/2025

Our 2025 clinics are underway and we have been providing veterinary care for several beloved pets through our Helping Hand program. We could not provide this critical support to pets and their owners in remote Alaska communities without our generous supporters.

Alaska residents: please keep us in mind when filing your PFD.

Pick.Click.Give. allows Alaskans to share their Permanent Fund Dividend with causes they care about. Your donation - big or small - goes directly to your chosen non profit.

03/16/2025

Help feed Alaska's Rural Pets!
We have teamed up with PetZoo and The Honest Kitchen to help feed Alaska's rural pets. Now through April 30th buying select The Honest Kitchen products at your local PetZoo helps support dogs and cats in need.
Buy. Give. Make a difference.

03/09/2025

Many thanks to Denise Abel and Kim Shogren, LVT for coming out and helping with surgery packs today! 36 packs ready for the autoclave! Kim went to Nome with us last weekend and was ready for more! Thank you both for your willingness to help out behind the scenes on a sunny Saturday!

03/03/2025

Our first rural clinic of 2025 is complete! Thanks to PAWS of Nome we were able to travel to Nome and complete 36 surgeries! Our team was so upbeat and happy at the airport, successful all around! Pics are coming in to give us all a snapshot! Thank you to our DVMs and Techs for being willing to give up a weekend to help rural pets!

03/02/2025

Our first clinic of the year is successfully underway in Nome in coordination with PAWS of Nome.
The clinic team has completed 36 surgeries so far!
We are grateful to all of our supporters, including our volunteer veterinary professionals, who make these clinics possible!

02/14/2025

We are grateful to all of our volunteers and supporters.

Reminder to Alaska residents that it's not too late to contribute though the Alaksa PFD pick.click.give. Every donation regardless of amount helps us to improve the lives of more animals in rural Alaska.

For more information:
https://www.pickclickgive.org/how-to-pick-click-give/

On behalf of the animals, we thank you!

02/14/2025

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_YS6L5sHG5HEBlJ_iTy87IFFV_Pv4z82/view?usp=sharing

02/11/2025

Meet our Operations Manager, Lori Kauffman!

Lori Kauffman, born and raised in Anchorage, began volunteering for ARVO in 2022, bringing her skills as a veterinary technician to our rural clinics. As the board was preparing for founder and (now past) President Sally Clampitt’s coming retirement, Lori jumped at the opportunity to get more involved with ARVO by supporting this transition as ARVO’s part-time administrative assistant. Lori has since successfully been taking on a myriad of “behind the scenes” tasks that Sally was formerly responsible for.

Lori has been instrumental in ARVO’s ability to move forward without Sally’s leadership. She brings fresh insight and her varied experience, including her role as president (and founder) of the non-profit Alaska Crocodilian Rescue, to support not only the continuity of ARVO’s programs, but also to help us grow and increase our efficiency, moving our clinics towards online appointment scheduling, for example. As such, we have recently converted her position to Operations Manager to better capture all that she brings to ARVO.

Lori continues to volunteer her time above and beyond her part-time ARVO position, not to mention her full time job as a veterinary technician with Southside Animal Hospital, including contributing her expertise to clinics (Lori has participated in every 2024 clinic!).

We so appreciate Lori’s support of ARVO’s mission!

02/10/2025

Thank you Dr. Greg Closter for your dedication to ARVO as our Lead DVM and Medical Director!

Dr. Closter has travelled with us to 19 clinics since 2015! We are grateful for his steady leadership, commitment to patient care, and calm master skills as a surgeon and mentor! He is stepping back from his role on our board as his plate is pretty full but will still be with us on at least 3 clinics this season.

Thank you Dr. Closter for your willingness to triage patients from all over Alaska whose families have reached out with a question. Thank you as well for the incoming dogs you've been able to foster and congratulations to your adopted pets and fosters! We as ARVO are grateful for your service.

02/09/2025

Welcome new board member Becky Sawyer!

Dr. Becky Sawyer lives and works in Anchorage as a small animal veterinarian. She grew up in California, where she attended veterinary school at UC Davis before moving to Georgia to practice medicine. There, Becky worked part-time at a high quality, high volume spay and neuter clinic to help reduce the number of homeless pets in the Atlanta area. After 5 years in Georgia, Becky moved to Alaska and has been loving it ever since. She started volunteering with ARVO in 2024, putting her HQHVSN techniques into practice. Becky looks forward to helping address the large and growing need for access to veterinary care throughout Alaska through her volunteer work with ARVO.

Dr. Sawyer is replacing Dr. Greg Closter as our Medical Director.

Many thanks to Dr. Closter for his service on the board. We are grateful that he will continue to be a critical member of the ARVO rural clinic veterinary team.

02/09/2025

Our hearts are heavy over the loss of life from the Bering Air accident. Bush plane travel is the way of life in rural Alaska. It's how we are able to get our volunteer teams and supplies to and from the communities that ARVO serves.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragedy.

02/08/2025

We are happy to announce that appointment requests are now available for the following 2025 clinics:

Nome: February 28-March 2 (please contact Paws of Nome at [email protected])

Glennallen: April 11-13
https://www.akrvo.org/glennallen-april-2025.html

Dillingham and Togiak: May 9-12 https://www.akrvo.org/dillinghamtogiak-may-2025.html

Cordova: June 20-22
https://www.akrvo.org/cordova-june-2025.html

Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] or visit https://www.akrvo.org/ for more information

02/02/2025

THANK YOU!
We would like to thank all of you who have donated dog food so far! We have been receiving Amazon packages and individual dog food bags, and cans - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
We just shipped pff a load destined for Manokotak. A kind soul in Manokotak (who has rescued a few pups from Manokotak as well) will receive and distribute the food. We will keep shipping food to make this winter a little bit easier for pets and their people.

01/28/2025

Dog Food Drive!
We are still collecting dog food! Please help us feed dogs in remote Alaska!
We have already sent out dog food to Kokhanok, Togiak, Marshall, and Shugakig. We dropped off lots of dog food with a pilot who will distribute the food to pet owners in various remote communities. This food helps save lives! Many rural pet owners struggle to feed their families and pay high prices for dog food at the local stores - our help is much appreciated!
PLEASE HELP US! PLEASE DROP OFF A BAG OF KIBBLE, OR CANNED FOOD!
Drop-off location: Southside Animal Hospital and Wellness Center
Southside Animal Hospital and Wellness Center
12000 Industry Way Bldg. N, 5-6, Anchorage, AK 99515
As long as folks donate dog food, we will keep on shipping it out! THANK YOU.

01/28/2025

Saving A Life
In a remote community without veterinary access, a small young dog got severely injured. He instinctively knew that there was a person in town who he could reach out to for help. He dragged himself up the stairs to her house. She let him inside and contacted ARVO for help. She cared for him until we could arrange flights for him to Anchorage. A kind person in Dillingham gave him an overnight stay between flights. The Alaska Alaska SPCA accepted him into their adoption program. A thorough exam revealed that he had gotten attacked and had bite wounds throughout his little body. We assume large stray dogs attacked him. Hunger, or the presence of female dogs in heat, can contribute to aggressive behavior with male stray dogs. Spay and neuter surgery not only prevents unwanted puppies, but also aggressive behavior, and dog fights! We are glad we were able to save his life, and we are grateful to the Alaska SPCA for accepting him into their adoption program. We are GRATEFUL to the kind person in his village, and to the kind person in Dillingham to help us get him to ANC.
If you would like to support our Helping Hand Program, please consider donating here: https://www.akrvo.org/donate-here.html

01/22/2025

UPDATE: We were able to work with another organization to bring this sweet dog to Anchorage this week for much needed medical care!
URGENT: Foster needed
Dear all, we need somebody who is able to foster an injured dog for approximately 2 weeks starting Friday 1/24. It is a 7 month old male puppy who got hit by a car. He has injuries to his hind legs and unknown injuries. You would need to be able to adequately care for an injured dog, per vet's directions, for approximately 2 weeks. Please send us a PM if you are able to.

01/13/2025

2025 Clinics are in the works!

We are excited to announce the following tentative locations and dates for our spring and early summer clinics:

Feb. 28-March 2: Nome in collaboration with PAWS of Nome

April 11-13: Glennallen in collaboration with Friends of the Valdez Animal Shelter

May 9-12: Dillingham and Togiak (with support from Resolve Aviation and GoGoMeds)

June 20-22: Cordova in collaboration with Friends of the Valdez Animal Shelter

More dates to come!

Alaska residents: don't forget to consider supporting ARVO though pick.click.give when applying for your PFD. Any amount helps!