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Base vet supports mission, your pets

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Morris
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  U.S. Army Capt. Jeffries enters the exam room where the patient and his escort are waiting. The room is sterile and cool. The visit starts out with a typical exchange of greetings, but the only sound the patient makes is a whine. Jefferies turns her attention to the patient and kneels down to his level. The patient charges towards her, and greets her with a big, sloppy kiss to the face so powerful it knocks her off of her feet.

A kiss is a perfectly acceptable greeting from patients in Army Capt. Amanda Jeffries line of work. She is a veterinarian and the officer in charge at the Dover Air Force Base Veterinary Treatment Facility. Jeffries and the vet team are responsible for the health of the base's military working dogs and many privately owned animals of Team Dover members.

The primary mission of the VTF is to perform preventative medicine for the 436th Security Forces Squadron Military Working Dogs.

"We do regular health exams, blood work, radiographs, dental cleanings and everything that we can do on a preventative medicine basis to keep them healthy and at the top of their game," said Jeffries.

Unfortunately, it isn't only preventative medicine that the VTF performs on the MWD's.

"Things come up just like with you or I. We go to PT, we twist our ankle and get a sprain. These dogs do the same thing," said Jeffries. "We basically have sick call for them just like we would go to sick call. It's these things that we take very seriously for these dogs because we want them to be able to function at their best all the time."

"The VTF is vital to the Military Working Dog mission. Much like medical group, the VTF keeps our most valuable security assets on base world-wide qualified and ready to deploy," said Staff Sgt. John Sutherland, 436th SFS kennel master.

The mission of the MWDs that the VTF indirectly supports is a complex one.

Sutherland said the MWDs at Dover Air Force Base is all dual purpose. Each dog is capable of detecting concealed substances and apprehending people.

"MWD teams at Dover support contingency operations abroad, United States Secret Service technical support for president of the United States and vice president of the United States missions and Department Of State missions for cabinet members and dignitaries, as well as fulfilling a law enforcement role on the installation," said Sutherland.

"Furthermore," said Sutherland, "in a matter of life or death situations where explosive detector dogs can be employed, MWD teams can provide support to local law enforcement agencies."

"This work is important because these dogs do a lot for the military service as a whole. They provide something that we as humans can't do," said Jeffries.

While the primary purpose of the VTF is taking care of Dover's military working dogs, they also offer support to military members' pets as well.

"Our primary mission is taking care of the military working dogs but at the same time we maintain good preventative medicine for privately owned animals of service members, retirees, Reservist and National Guard members," said Jeffries. "MWD's will always have our priority but they don't take up all of our time, so we spend that additional time with those kind of patients."

The VTF offers preventative health vaccinations, health certificates for pets of families that are being shipped overseas, and they now have the ability to do same day sick call appointments, said Jeffries. They also offer nail trims, ear cleanings and ring worm testing among many other services.

The advantages of bringing pets here are the cost savings, proximity, prices and availability.

  "I think clinics off base do a fantastic job, but the military doesn't pay for their facilities and for their lights to be on, so they have to cover their costs," said Jeffries. "We are able to be very affordable comparatively to a lot of other clinics in the area."

The VTF is open from 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and starting this month on select weekends from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. established patients can walk in for strictly wellness appointments.