50 ForOregonState.org/Stater OUR COMMUNITY A VOICE FOR THE SILENT How one alumna is helping veterinarians stop animal abuse. BY > JENS ODEGAARD What is a veterinarian’s role in investigating animal cruelty cases? That’s the central question that Dr. Kris Otteman, ’82, DVM ’86, has sought to answer for the past two decades. A pioneer in the field of veterinary forensics, she co-wrote a practical guidebook to the subject that was recently adapted into an online certification course for veterinary professionals and students. But the question wasn’t on her mind for the first 20 years of her career. After graduating from Oregon State University’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, she practiced in her hometown of Klamath Falls for almost nine years before helping found Banfield Pet Hospital, which currently operates more than 1,000 veterinary clinics around the world. “In both of those scenarios, the private practice or the Banfield practice, I didn’t ever really have animal cruelty on my radar,” Otteman said. That all changed when she joined the Oregon Humane Society, the Northwest’s largest animal welfare organization. In 2006, Otteman became its first veterinarian and helped establish a medical center in its Portland headquarters. (She also launched an enduring partnership.All PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93
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