 St.
Francis was born in 1181 at Assisi, Umbria, Italy as Francis Bernadore.
He took the Gospels and Jesus Christ literally. He gave up his
worldly possessions and begged for his meals. He lived with animals,
did manual labor and cared for the sick, including lepers. He
considered all men and women as siblings. He founded the Franciscans
in 1209. In 1224 he received the stigmata. He died on October
4, 1226. He was canonized in 1228. He is most commonly know as
the patron saint of animals. He is an exerpt from a letter he
wrote:"Let us also love our neighbors as
ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give
alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose
all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they
carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For
these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they
deserve. We must not be wise according to the flesh. Rather we must be
simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others.
Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being
for God's sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this
way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them.
They will be the Father's children who do his work. "
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| Our board members are Dr. Susan Shelton, Dr. Michal Anne
Harris, and Ms. Stacey Cihlar. Dr. Shelton and Dr. Harris provide their
services at St. Francis without monetary compensation. They both
also work at
Wells Road Veterinary Medical Center in
Orange Park. Dr. Shelton graduated from the University of Florida
College of Veterinary Medicine in 1991 and Dr. Harris followed in 1996.
| Dr. Michal Anne
Harris grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where she was proud to be a
child volunteer at her local veterinary hospital. She began
undergraduate studies at Warren Wilson College and graduated
from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in
1996. Dr. Harris was the Valedictorian of her graduating
veterinary class and the winner of the Merck Award for
Excellence in Internal Medicine. Dr. Harris has been working
for Wells Road Veterinary Medical Center since 1991. She
began as a technician and has been the associate
veterinarian here since 1996. We call her Dr. Mike.
Dr. Mike's professional interests include cancer treatment and
internal medicine. She is the wife of race car
fanatic and local race car driver Dave Harris. Dave does
high-performance automotive work for a living. On Friday
evenings they can both be found at Gainesville Raceway
campaigning their 1995 Sportsman class Chevy Camero. They are
also avid NASCAR and Jaguar fans. The Harris' are the proud
parents of a Weimeraner named Tsunami, two African Grey parrots,
Burnout and Roxanne, and a Blue and Gold Macaw named Penny. |
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Dr. Shelton grew up in
Jacksonville. She began undergraduate studies at Jacksonville
University. She completed her bachelors degree at the University of
Florida. Dr. Shelton graduated with honors from the University of
Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 1991. She had opened Wells
Road Veterinary Medical Center in 1990. She obtained Board
Certification in Canine and Feline Practice from the American Board of
Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) in 2000. Dr.
Shelton first became involved in
animal welfare issues when she was concerned about conditions at
Jacksonville's Animal Care and Control (ACC) following media coverage of
the situation in the year 2000. She was invited to participate on Mayor
Delaney's Task Force to investigate the problem in January 2001. Dr.
Shelton agreed to provide interim veterinary services to Animal Control.
She then served as Senior Veterinarian for Animal Control from January,
2002, until July, 2002. Dr. Shelton was tasked with designing and
implementing the first on site sterilization service at ACC. When Dr.
Shelton arrived at Animal Control approximately 1200 animals were adopted
out annually and most of them were not sterilized. Over 3600 were adopted
out in 2002 and they were sterilized. Dr. Shelton's greatest interest lies in
pet dentistry including endodontics (such as root canals), periodontics
(treatment of gum disease), oral surgery, and even some orthodontics.
Thara Jackson is the
Operations Manager and veterinary technician supervisor for Saint Francis
Animal Hospital. Thara grew up in Brunswick, Georgia and graduated
from Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia. She
received her BS degree in veterinary technology. Thara worked at the
City of Jacksonville's Animal Care and Control for 2 1/2 years prior to
joining the team at Saint Francis.
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