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Health & Fitness

NEWTOWN VETERINARY SPECIALISTS PROVIDES SIGHT-SAVING EYE EXAMS FOR SERVICE ANIMALS

Newtown Veterinary Specialists (NVS) participated in the ACVO®/Stokes Pharmacy National Service Animal Eye Exam Event last month by providing sight-saving eye exams for 30 service animals at no cost. Located at 52 Church Hill Road in Newtown, CT, NVS is a 24-hour veterinary emergency, critical care and specialty hospital offering advanced life-saving medical and surgical care for ill and injured pets. 

 

Dr. Cory Mosunic, NVS board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, performed the eye exams and has donated her time and resources to this event since 2008. She explained, "I feel very special to be able to give back to the Newtown community and the state of Connecticut. It's fun to meet such a wide variety of service animals, from the highly intelligent, tough military dogs to the sweet therapy dogs and the dedicated service dogs. Each one of them has a very important job that they relish doing," Dr. Mosunic stated.

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Guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, registered therapy, and search and rescue animals  qualified for the exams. They must be “active working animals” that were certified by a formal training program or organization or are currently enrolled in a formal training program.

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During the complete ocular exam, Dr. Mosunic utilized her specialized equipment to look for problems including redness, squinting, cloudy corneas, retinal disease, early cataracts and other abnormalities.  Early detection and treatment of eye disease are vital to working animals and to all pets. Some warning signs of eye problems include squinting, redness or tearing with discharge.  Pet owners and service animal handlers should seek veterinary attention immediately if they suspect an eye problem to prevent a small issue from developing into a big one.

 

The ACVO®/Stokes Pharmacy National Service Dog Eye Exam Event brings together veterinary ophthalmologists and thousands of service animals across the U.S. for free exams each year. Since the program was launched by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2008, nearly 22,000 service animals have been examined by more than 250 veterinary ophthalmologists in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.    

 

For more information call NVS at 203-270-VETS (8387) or visit www.newtownvets.com and www.ACVOeyeexam.org.

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--Story written by Joan Eve Quinn, Communications Specialist, Newtown Veterinary Specialists, joan.q@newtownvets.com





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