Event: Annual Pacific Veterinary Conference, June 21-24, Anaheim
Awards: Distinguished Life Membership Award: Drs. George Bishop, Carmel, and Richard Sullivan, Palos Verdes. A 1965 graduate of The Ohio State University, Dr. Bishop founded the Animal Hospital at the Crossroads in 1969. He is a past president of the association and serves as its delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates. Dr. Bishop co-chaired one of the country's early symposiums on dog and cat population control. A 1972 graduate of Purdue University, Dr. Sullivan owns the Bay Cities Pet Hospital. A past president of the association, he serves as its alternate delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates. Dr. Sullivan led successful legislative opposition to a state bill that would have allowed laypeople to perform dental procedures on animals. Outstanding Registered Veterinary Technician of the Year: Gene Rukavina, Los Angeles. Rukavina is a veterinary technician in the Department of Corrective Medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Health System. He constructed a behavioral enrichment program for animals at Cedar-Sinai and created the Web site and newsletter for the Southern California branch of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. Meritorious Service Award: Forget Me Not Farm in Santa Rosa, Calif., Carol Rathmann, and Nathan Rathmann. Run by the Humane Society of Sonoma County, the farm offers a program, founded by Carol Rathmann and coordinated by Nathan Rathmann, which teaches gentleness and empathy to abused and neglected children and at-risk youth, through interaction with animals and plants.
Officials: Drs. Jeff Smith, Middletown, president; Bill Grant II, Anaheim, president-elect; George Bishop, Carmel, treasurer; and Ron Faoro, Santa Barbara, immediate past president