REPTILES vet columnist Dr. Douglas Mader honored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for conservation efforts.
Click image to enlarge Dr. Douglas Mader and his wife, Dr. Gerry Diethelm, treat a Florida Keys deer. |
 Dr. Douglas Mader and associate veterinarian Dr. Jen Regis perform surgery on a wild crocodile that was hit by a car. |
REPTILES magazine “Vet Q&A” columnist Dr. Douglas Mader has been awarded the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director’s Conservation Award for 2010. Mader is one of 19 to receive the award this year, which is granted to individuals, businesses and organizations that have contributed to wildlife and habitat conservation in their region.
Mader has contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer work and thousands of dollars’ worth of veterinary care to endangered wildlife in the Florida Keys. At the National Key Deer Refuge, Mader has treated countless deer for the refuge to rehabilitate and release back into the wild. According to the USFWS, he has volunteered his time to treat more than 1,000 injured turtles over the past 15 years, and he has pioneered many turtle procedures, such as treatment for boat strikes, entanglements and debilitating tumors. He also treats animals at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm, at little cost to the sherriff’s office.
“I’ve been fortunate that I have acquired some skills over the course of my career that allow me to directly give back to the animals we share the world with. If I can help save even one endangered animal it is worth every bit of the effort,” said Mader.
Mader, who has been a veterinarian since 1986, is co-owner of the Marathon Veterinary Hospital in Marathon, Fla. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the consulting veterinarian for several Florida wildlife organizations, and he has had his work published widely in books, magazines, journals and newspapers.
