PetSmart launches new fellowship program

PetSmart Charities has launched a new initiative—The PetSmart Charities Veterinary Fellowship—designed to cultivate leaders in community veterinary medicine through education, mentorship and long-term professional connection. The program is part of PetSmart's efforts to address the barriers that limit access to veterinary care. According to the company's research, 94% of veterinarians say clients' financial constraints sometimes or often limit their ability to provide recommended care, and cost is cited as the reason pet parents decline treatment more than twice as often as any other factor. This new program helps address that by investing early in the practitioners best equipped to meet families where they are, part of a broader commitment to increasing accessible care, the company said. The Veterinary Fellowship program will launch in partnership with five universities recognized for their leading veterinary studies: Colorado State University; Cornell ­University; the University of Arizona; the University of ­California, Davis; and the University of Minnesota. ­Fifteen fellows have been selected for the program's inaugural ­cohort, the company said. Applications will be accepted on an annual basis. For more information, visit https://petsmartcharities.org.