Twelth Annual Animal Medical Center Living Legends

Welcome to the Animal Medical Center Twelfth Annual Living Legends Celebration

Please click the video to celebrate our Living Legends honorees.


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Event Co-Chairs

Donna Acquavella, Tina Santi Flaherty, Michael Heaner, Emilia Saint-Amand Krimendahl, Elaine Langone, Robert Liberman, Marianne Mebane, Elizabeth Moore, Katharine Rayner, Lisa Schiff, Ann Tisch, and Janet York

Welcome Remarks

Kathryn Coyne, President and Chief Executive Officer

Living Legends Award Presentation

Lola | Katie Kennedy, DVM, MS, DACVS-SA

Lola sitting on a couch in a sweater

Lola is an 11-year-old long-haired Chihuahua who was examined by doctors in AMC’s Cancer Institute and diagnosed with a bone tumor on her skull. To remove it, AMC’s Surgical Oncologist (one of the few veterinary surgical oncologists practicing today, and the only trained veterinary surgical oncologist practicing in the five boroughs of New York) and her team removed the top half of Lola’s calvarium and used a titanium mesh to recreate the skull and protect the brain. This is an incredibly rare surgery, which very few veterinary institutions have the ability to perform. Lola is cancer free 10 months later. Meet Dr. Katie Kennedy.

Olive | Catherine Crecraft, DVM

Olive in a garden

Olive is a 9-year-old cat who came to AMC’s Emilia Saint-Amand Krimendahl Institute for Trauma Care with a fever, rapid heartbeat and in shock. Diagnostic tests revealed she had a bacterial infection within her heart sac (septic pericarditis), which upon further examination was thought to be caused by a foreign body—a condition never previously reported in cats. The foreign body (a piece of grass) and most of the heart sac were removed through minimally invasive surgery in the Katharine and William Rayner Interventional Radiology and Endoscopy Suite.  Treated collaboratively by AMC’s Trauma Center, Cardiology, and Interventional Radiology and Endoscopy services, Olive spent a week in the hospital and upon final recheck was found to be completely back to normal. Meet Dr. Catherine Crecraft.  

Jackie Santi Flaherty Award for Courage

Dudley | Kathryn Coyne, President and Chief Executive Officer | Tina Santi Flaherty, AMC Trustee | Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR

The Jackie Santi Flaherty Award for Courage, established by AMC Trustee Tina Santi Flaherty in memory of her beloved dog Jackie, is given annually to a pet who has shown remarkable courage throughout treatment at AMC.

Dudley sits on the sidewalk

Dudley is an 8-year-old male Miniature Toy Poodle who was hit by a truck in Central Park, rendering him completely paralyzed in his back legs and unlikely to ever walk again. Initially hospitalized elsewhere, Dudley immediately required blood and plasma transfusions and two surgeries to help save his life.  While Dudley was hospitalized, he received daily intensive physical therapy at the Tina Santi Flaherty Rehabilitation and Fitness Center. AMC’s Surgery, Interventional Radiology and Neurology services also cared for him during his stay. Discharged after four weeks with a supportive cart (wheelchair) and starting to show some return of function in his hindlimbs, Dudley continued to come for regular rehab and acupuncture sessions. He has since recovered full function of his right hindlimb (he no longer requires a cart to walk) and has recently been able to use the left hind leg to support weight and take occasional steps. Walking again on his own after such traumatic injuries and so much hard work, Dudley is truly deserving of the Jackie Santi Flaherty Award for Courage. Meet Dr. Leilani Alvarez.

Closing remarks

Kathryn Coyne, President and Chief Executive Officer

A Special Thanks to our Living Legends Benefit Committee

Bunty Armstrong, Joseph and Christine Augustine, Brook and Roger Berlind, Jill Blanchard, Polly Bruckmann, Cauldwell Wingate Company, LLC, Mrs. Kendall G. Chen, Elizabeth and Michael Chu, Christopher S. Cooper, Patricia Johnson Crawford, Marcella and Richard Dresdale, The Peggy and Millard Drexler Family Foundation, Mr. Frederick Eberstadt, Mrs. J. Pepe Fanjul, Pamela and David B. Ford, Mr. and Mrs. John French III, Brooke Garden, Mr. David Gerstenhaber, Mrs. Robert G. Goelet, Nancy M. Kissinger, Sharon Amsterdam Koplin, The Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder Foundation, Melinda L. Lloyd, Dennis Mangone, Joanne Masyr, Elizabeth Monaco and Neil M. McCarthy, Maureen McQuaid, Linda and Russell Munson, Kane Nussbaum, June Ozmon, David P. Pearson, Jeanne and Herbert Siegel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Sue Ann Weinberg

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