Dr. James Michael Shorter, is the co-owner of Kalvig and Shorter Veterinary Associates in Murray Hill Manhattan, 9/11 Lead Veterinarian and Lead Designer of Tails of Hope Foundation’s K9☤ER Emergency Response Mobile Veterinary Surgical Hospital.  Dr. Shorter serves as the K9☤ER’s Project Advisor and Liaison for Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Shorter is a native of Washington D.C., and a proud graduate of Tuskegee University and Tuskegee College of Veterinary Medicine (1978). After graduation he moved to New Jersey and was Owner/ Director of Bergen Animal Hospital (AAHA) in Teaneck, NJ: 1982-2000.

Dr. Shorter served as President of the Northern New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association and was named Veterinarian of the Year 1982-1983.

After 23 years of practice in New Jersey, Dr. Shorter sold his practice to become Chief Surgeon and Associate Veterinarian of New York Veterinary Hospital, 150 East 74th St, Manhattan from 2000 to 2007.

Dr. Shorter is a Co-Founder of New York City Veterinary Response Team (NYC VERT). NYCVERT was formed in the aftermath of September 11th terrorist attack, as an organizational continuum of the successful private volunteer veterinary response, initiated by Dr. Shorter and fellow colleagues at Ground Zero.  In 2002, NYC VERT was invited by the NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to become an integral part of disaster planning for NYC’s animal populations as a member of a newly formed Animal Planning Task Force. (APTF).

In 2012 and 2013, Dr. Shorter played a key veterinary role in citywide NYC VERT activations during both Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. In March 2010, Dr. Shorter organized and travelled on a humanitarian mission to Haiti, as a representative of NYC VERT after the devastating earthquake. Dr. Shorter and his team delivered food, medication, hospital items, clothing, toys, art and educational materials to hospital clinics and orphanages still remaining in desperate need over the countryside and in Port-au-Prince.

Since 2007, Dr. Shorter is the co-owner of Kalvig & Shorter Veterinary Associates, 133 East 39th Street, Murray Hill Manhattan, acting as chief surgeon. Dr. Shorter’s career spans over four decades of dedicated and exceptional service to the veterinary community.Dr. Shorter is proud to be the lead designer of Tails of Hope Foundation’s K9☤ER Project’s Emergency Response Mobile Surgical Veterinary Hospital, a National Advisory Board member and speaker with Advanced Interoperability K9 Training Program.