Staff

Administrative Assistant at the Center for Shelter Dogs

Jadi assists the CSD team with their day-to-day needs, including coordinating the Dog Training Programs, scheduling appointments and responding to public inquiries. Jadi holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island, as part of the Providence Campus’ first freshmen class.

Behavior Counselor 

Donna Iovanni is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. She attended the Veterinary Assistant program at Becker Junior College She has been certified with the Animal Control Officer Association of Massachusetts. Donna received her Professional Dog Trainer Certification through the Animal Behavior College with honors status. She has also studied the work of Patricia McConnell, Karen Pryor and Emma Parsons.

Donna uses reward-based methods to shape and positively reinforce desired behavior, and to resolve problem behaviors. She is dedicated to educating and nurturing the owner/dog team to a successful and rewarding lifetime relationship

VMD, PhD

Dr. Gary Patronek is a Fellow of the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.   He was previously the Vice President of Animal Welfare and Protection and New Program Development at the Animal Rescue League of Boston where he oversaw the Center for Shelter Dogs and the Department of Animal Welfare and Protection (shelters, technical rescue and law enforcement).  Prior to his time at the ARL, Dr. Patronek was the Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University for seven years, where he supervised the graduate program in Public Policy.  While at Tufts, he founded the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC) to study the problem of animal hoarding.  He has worked with Tufts to help develop a program in Shelter Medicine and he continues to hold an adjunct appointment at the University.  Dr. Patronek is also the principal consultant for the Animal Planet show Confessions: Animal Hoarding, and is a leader in examining animal hoarding case studies.

Dr. Patronek graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was one of the first veterinarians to hold an executive position at an animal shelter in the US.  He also obtained a PhD in Epidemiology at the Center for Human-Animal Bond at Purdue Veterinary School, where he conducted some of the first epidemiologic research on shelter population issues and risk factors for pet relinquishment.