Veterinarian's nonprofit not horsing around

Ever since she was a little girl, Northwest Equine Stewardship Center (NWESC) founder Dr. Hannah Mueller knew she wanted to work with animals. What she learned in veterinary school, coupled with a passion for providing holistic care, inspired her to achieve even more.

Alongside Mueller's Cedarbrook Veterinary Clinic north of Monroe, NWESC is a multifaceted nonprofit focused on equine education and Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL), along with the comprehensive care and rehabilitation of rescue horses. The rescue rehabilitation program is not an adoption organization, but rather a refuge for rescued equines not yet healthy enough for adoption.

NWESC, one of only two nonprofits in Washington to earn a spot on the GreatNonProfits.org top-rated nonprofits list, achieved its federal nonprofit designation in 2008.

Through NWESC, Mueller works collaboratively with local rescue groups, temporarily housing the animals and handling their acute medical needs until they are well enough to move on.

"We don't take ownership of the horses. We do the medical care and triage, and then once they are well, they go into their respective rescue organizations for adoption,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "Sometimes they go straight into homes from here too ' that's always the goal.GÇ¥

Mueller received her first horse when she was nine, and has been caring for them ever since. She has a heart for rescue, and will sleep out in the barn with a traumatized animal until it is safe for it to be on its own. It can be dangerous work, she said. When animals come in after being starved, abused or neglected ' sometimes all three ' it takes a lot of work to get them back on their feet.

Recently, Mueller rehabilitated a mule named Rowan that had been nearly starved to death. He was barely able to walk, so Mueller had to use a special sling to help him stand.

"I had a number of weeks of sleeping in the barn and volunteers around the clock if I wasn't here,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "It was a community effort; it was really neat to see.GÇ¥

Rowan is healthy now, and was adopted into his new forever home in March.

Education is an integral part of NWESC's mission and vision. The educational facet of the nonprofit has two primary areas of emphasis. Horse husbandry includes classes like first-time horse ownership, nutrition, hoof health and first aid. The second component involves working with veterinary students and providing opportunities for internships and preceptorships, which is when a practicing physician gives direct supervision to a veterinary student.

The program offers veterinary students the opportunity to perform necessary medical procedures on horses. The inspiration to provide this type of educational platform stemmed directly from Mueller's own experiences in veterinary school, which included terminal surgery classes. In a terminal surgery class scenario, students are given live animals to perform surgeries on; at the end of the class, the animals are euthanized.

Mueller attended the Oregon State University (OSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, completing a portion of her studies at Washington State University, because OSU did not have the full, four-year veterinary medicine program that it has now.

Terminal surgery classes have long been a status quo in veterinary education, and are considered by some to be necessary. But Mueller thought differently.

"I didn't feel that that was right,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "The animal didn't need to die; it could have been recovered.GÇ¥

Mueller and her classmates were given ponies to use for surgical procedures. To her, it seemed counterintuitive that she was in school to learn how to save animals, yet her pony would be killed. Deciding she could not stand by and allow that to happen, Mueller immediately went to work to ensure a different outcome.

The idea of terminal surgery class had caught her completely off guard.

"I was so na+»ve. I knew there were some animal-use issues, but I didn't know the extent of it,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "It was quite an experienceGÇ¥ ' one that helped shape her career and inspire her to start her nonprofit.

Tucked away next to Mueller's veterinary practice, NWESC sits on 60 acres of lush pastures, wooded riding trails and fragrant evergreens. Forest, her junior surgery pony from veterinary school, is enjoying the good life at NWESC as a permanent resident.

"He is amazing. He's probably 21,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "I had to buy him from property surplus at the vet school. The students who euthanized their ponies didn't have to pay a dime for killing them, yet I had to go to auction.GÇ¥

And Forest was not the only surgery pony Mueller saved that year. By raising awareness among her classmates and advocating for the ponies, half of the 12 were saved, coming to live with Mueller until she could find them homes. Over the years, she has continued fight for the lives of animals used in medical education, choosing to take a solution-based approach rather than an adversarial one.

One of the arguments for terminal surgery is that schools don't have the means to navigate the logistics of locating rescued horses in need of medical treatments. And using horses owned by people in the community is problematic because it takes away from local veterinarians. By serving as a link between veterinary students and horses in need of services, the NWESC can help facilitate what Mueller and NWESC executive director Kim Sgro feel is a vital change.

At NWESC, students get hands-on experience administering vaccines, taking blood samples, aiding in dental procedures and assisting with minor surgeries. The nonprofit offers low-cost castration services at its gelding clinics, in which the surgeries are performed by veterinarians and veterinary students.

"These students are overseen by expert veterinarian staff,GÇ¥ Sgro said. "This isn't students coming in and doing surgery on their own; there are multiple veterinary professionals who have been doing this a very long time, who are actually overseeing the program.GÇ¥

Now, the NWESC is working to establish a formal partnership with the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine that will continue matching medical students with licensed veterinarians and horses at NWESC that need treatment.

"I decided I want to do something positive, where I can work with them, infiltrate and make change within the system,GÇ¥ Mueller said.

The third facet to NWESC is its Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) program. Mueller said the program offers exceptional capacity for healing and gives added value to horses that may not be rideable due to injury or other health issues.

"It's life-changing for the horse and it's life-changing for the person,GÇ¥ Mueller said. "We have professional facilitators that work with the people and the horses to provide these educational learning experiences and therapy.GÇ¥

NWESC Veterinary Care Liaison Lisa Dobbin said she knows from firsthand experience the healing power of bonding with an animal and how it can ease trauma. Within a few days of being diagnosed with breast cancer, Dobbin was asked to rescue and care for a donkey that had been slated for death because of his lameness. He was in terrible condition when he arrived at her home, she said, but the mutual healing process was incredibly powerful.

"He was the reason I got up in the morning. He needed me and I needed him,GÇ¥ Dobbin said. "It was amazing, the healing process. What I couldn't talk about with my own family, I could go out in the barn and cry with him, and he didn't judge me. It was amazing.GÇ¥

Her donkey, Jackson T. Pickles, is also known as her breast cancer awareness donkey.

Moving forward, NWESC is looking at increasing its outreach and needs volunteers to spread word of its mission. It's a time of growth at NWESC, Sgro said.

"We're kind of in this really exciting period of time for Northwest Equine Stewardship Center,GÇ¥ she said.-á "It's really great.GÇ¥

From donations to gelding clinic sponsorships, there are many ways to get involved at NWESC. Volunteers who enjoy a hands-on approach are invited to NWESC's work party on Saturday, June 11. For more information on the event, email volunteer@nwesc.org.

For more information on NWESC, visit www.nwesc.org or the Facebook page.