Meritorious Service Award given to North Carolina leader who orchestrated disaster response

In late September 2024, western North Carolina suffered greatly from the effects of Hurricane Helene with floods and mudslides wiping away entire towns and wreaking havoc on those who remained. North Carolina alone suffered 230 fatalities, and property damage has been estimated at $59.6 billion across the state. Over 1.5 million chickens, thousands of pigs, and cows were killed across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

In the aftermath, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) coordinated the state’s emergency response. However, the damage was unprecedented, and the available resources could not meet the demands.

As Dr. Anna Allen, eastern region emergency programs veterinarian for the NCDA&CS, tells it: “I could not manage all of the coordination for companion animals and the veterinary response by myself. I organized a meeting to request additional veterinary response support from partners.

“During that call, I was overwhelmed by the support offered by Dr. Shannon Bass. When I asked for help, she answered, ‘I can do that.’ There was no hesitation in her voice, she was prepared and committed to do what was needed to respond to the needs of animals and the veterinary community. Yes, she had the support of the (North Carolina VMA) behind her, but she still, as an individual, stepped up in an unprecedented way to assist in a massive incident.”

For her efforts, Dr. Bass (Texas A&M ’98) accepted the 2025 AVMA Meritorious Service Award on July 19 during the keynote for AVMA Convention 2025 and the 40th World Veterinary Congress in Washington, D.C. She is president of the NCVMA and has been a member of the North Carolina Veterinary Response Corps since October 2018.

In the aftermath

Dr. Bass, in conjunction with the NCVMA, assisted NCDA&CS with its veterinary needs and has continued to do so for months after the disaster.

Among the many accomplishments Dr. Bass achieved post-Helene were the following:

• Created a volunteer sign-up list and matched veterinary needs in human emergency shelters with available veterinarians. She also matched individual animal needs in remote or cutoff areas with available veterinarians.
• Coordinated delivery of feed to herds cut off from truck deliveries via Chinook helicopter.
• Oversaw over 30 volunteers who assessed the needs of 284 veterinary clinics, 14 shelters, and their veterinarians and staff members.
• Coordinated the establishment of a free mobile pop-up veterinary clinic to serve the people and animals of western North Carolina that also distributed supplies from vendors and clinics.
• Created grants with associated requirements for rapid distribution to veterinarians, practice owners, and veterinary staff members in need in western North Carolina.

Dr. Michael P. Martin, the North Carolina state veterinarian, wrote in his nomination letter: “There are very few people like Dr. Bass that I have met in my role as NC State Veterinarian that I respect to my core, give me such hope in our veterinary community, and make me feel truly honored to have worked with them. Our response to the animals and communities in need would not have been met to the level we were able to accomplish without the professional, empathetic, and pragmatic leadership provided by Dr. Bass. Based on her actions and dedication, Dr. Bass to me will always be the pinnacle of what veterinarians can accomplish in the most difficult of times and a role model for our profession.”

Career and accomplishments

Dr. Bass has practiced small animal emergency medicine in North Carolina for many years, attaining medical director status of Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Huntersville before shifting gears to recruiting and hospital management for VCA Animal Hospitals. She is currently vice president of medical leadership for Vets Pets.

Dr. Bass is also co-chair of a Veterinary Emergency and Clinical Care Society committee working on an emergency medicine certificate for veterinary students. Outside of work, she is an endurance athlete and yoga instructor.

Dr. Karyn Smith, president-elect of the NCVMA, wrote in her nomination letter, “It is the exceptional service that Dr. Bass demonstrated in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene that has led me to nominate her for this award.

“All of these accomplishments are meritorious, and they cumulatively speak volumes about the honor and distinction with which Dr. Shannon Bass has served North Carolina.”

Dr. Shannon Bass accepts the AVMA Meritorious Service Award in a prerecorded video that played before the AVMA Keynote on July 19 at AVMA Convention 2025 and the 40th World Veterinary Association Congress in Washington, D.C. She recounts how she and the North Carolina VMA came to lead the veterinary response efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. (Video by Matt Zingale)