Established 2011
Serving Ulster County, NY
Mission Statement:
Ethical Veterinary was formed with a specific objective to prevent illness and protect animals’ innate interests. It prioritizes the health of each patient above conflicting industry interests, cultural trends, conveniences, or convention. Ethical Veterinary’s recommendations derive exclusively from accumulated scientific research and clinical findings.
Consequently, Dr. Jefferson does not engage in the following: declawing, cosmetic ear cropping/tail docking, convenience euthanasia, overvaccination, anti-vaccination, reliance on homeopathy/non-evidence-based remedies, or overuse of prescription pharmaceuticals. Ethical Veterinary does not operate inside the increasingly prevalent fallacies that infection (“positive test”) equals disease, that correlations constitute evidence, or that medicine can be accomplished in the absence of physical exams.
Cats and dogs in Ethical Veterinary’s care are approached with utmost sensitivity and emotional awareness; Dr. Jefferson does not employ dominating styles of restraint, as they are neither beneficial to animal patients nor conducive to human safety.
Preventive medicine, client education, thorough physical exams, and gentle handling are the cornerstones of the practice.
About Eileen Jefferson, DVM
Dr. Jefferson earned her degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in 2003 and graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008.
After veterinary school, she practiced in multiple settings (ranging from the San Francisco SPCA Hospital to a small rural clinic), where she immersed herself in general medicine, shelter medicine, surgery, and emergency care.
In 2011, she left hospital settings to devote herself fully to Ethical Veterinary. For the last decade, she has been bringing her mobile vet services to many hundreds of patients across Ulster County, NY.
Simultaneously, Dr. Jefferson serves as a strategist and consultant for animal protection efforts at the local, state and national level. She has been the New York State Representative for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) since 2015. In this capacity, she has authored numerous articles, legislative fact sheets and opinion-editorials to further animal advocacy. Her op-eds or interview quotes on animal advocacy have been shared in The New York Times, The Daily News, Business Insider, and the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, among others.
In addition to veterinary medicine and writing, she is dedicated to poetry, photography, and visual art/illustration.