Dr. Julie Levy

Dr. Julie Levy is a professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida. She obtained her DVM for the University of California at Davis and her PhD at North Carolina State University. She completed a clinical internship at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, followed by a residency in small animal internal medicine at North Carolina State University, which culminated in board certification in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She served on the organizing committee for the new American Board of Veterinary Practitioners specialty in shelter medicine and became boarded in 2017.

Dr. Levy’s research and clinical interests center on the health and welfare of animals in shelters, feline infectious diseases, and humane alternatives for cat population control. She is the founder of Operation Catnip, a nonprofit university-based community cat trap-neuter-return program that has spayed, neutered, and vaccinated more than 55,000 cats in Gainesville, Florida since 1998. In 2008, Dr. Levy joined Dr. Cynda Crawford to found Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine, an educational and discovery initiative with a global impact on the care of homeless animals. In 2014, she joined Dr. Kate Hurley to launch the Million Cat Challenge, a shelter-based campaign to save a million cats in shelters across North America. For the past two years, Dr. Levy has worked with animal shelters to better understand diagnosis, management, and outcomes in FeLV+ shelter cats. In 2018, Dr. Levy was proud be appointed as the lead researcher for Spayathon for Puerto Rico, an unprecedented campaign to spay and neuter 30,000 cats and dogs on the island.

Dr. Levy has published more than 100 journal articles and textbook chapters, many focusing on community cat issues. She is the recipient of the Carl J. Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award, Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year, the European Society of Feline Medicine Award, NCSU Distinguished Alumni Award, Association of Shelter Veterinarians Meritorious Service Award, Association of Shelter Veterinarians Meritorious Service Award, and the Avanzino Leadership Award.