Shelter Veterinarian

Shelter Veterinarian

Practice meaningful medicine where your work directly changes lives.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is seeking a compassionate and skilled Shelter Veterinarian to join our veterinary medical team. This role is ideal for a veterinarian who wants to use their skills in a mission-driven environment where each day brings variety, collaboration, and the opportunity to improve outcomes for animals in need.

As a Shelter Veterinarian, you will provide medical and surgical care for animals throughout the ARL’s shelter programs. From routine wellness and population health to illness, injury, surgery, and complex medical cases, your work will directly support the health, comfort, recovery, and placement of animals in the ARL’s care.

You will work alongside experienced veterinary professionals, animal care teams, foster staff, behavior teams, and other shelter professionals to make thoughtful medical decisions while balancing individual patient needs with the broader needs of a dynamic shelter population.

• Schedules are typically four 10-hour days or five 8-hour days
• No production-based compensation expectations
• Schedule structure designed to support both continuity of care and work-life balance

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is Iowa’s largest nonprofit animal welfare organization, caring for thousands of animals each year while providing programs and services that support pets and the people who love them.

Our veterinary medical team plays a critical role in advancing that mission by providing preventative, diagnostic, surgical, and ongoing medical care for animals throughout the shelter system. Shelter medicine at the ARL offers the opportunity to work with a diverse patient population, collaborate across multiple animal welfare disciplines, and make medical decisions that have an immediate and visible impact on animal health and lifesaving outcomes.

• Provide high-quality medical care for animals in the custody and care of the ARL.
• Perform physical examinations, diagnose medical conditions, develop treatment plans, and prescribe medications.
• Perform spay/neuter and other surgical procedures based on experience, training, and organizational needs.
• Evaluate and treat illnesses, injuries, infectious diseases, chronic medical conditions, and other shelter-related medical concerns.
• Support preventative medicine, vaccination, parasite control, infectious disease prevention, and population health initiatives.
• Make thoughtful medical recommendations regarding treatment, quality of life, prognosis, and ongoing care.
• Provide medical guidance and education to team members involved in the daily care and monitoring of animals.
• Participate in case discussions and help develop practical solutions for complex medical and shelter population challenges.

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, DVM or equivalent, from an accredited veterinary school required.
• Active Iowa veterinary license in good standing, or ability to obtain licensure prior to employment, required.
• Strong medical judgment and commitment to compassionate, high-quality patient care.
• Ability to make timely and thoughtful medical decisions in a fast-moving shelter environment.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to work effectively with veterinarians, veterinary support staff, animal care teams, leadership, and other departments.
• Comfort working with animals of varying species, sizes, medical conditions, behaviors, and backgrounds.
• Experience with surgery, shelter medicine, high-quality high-volume spay/neuter, emergency medicine, general practice, or population health preferred.
• Interest in shelter medicine and animal welfare strongly encouraged.
• Experienced…