Creating A Brighter Future For Pets: Texas A&M Stevenson Center Supports Canine Longevity Research, Veterinary Education

Story by Megan Bennett, VMBS Marketing & Communications

July 3, 2025

The Texas A&M Stevenson Companion Animal Life-Care Center’s primary mission is to provide a life-long home for pets whose owners have become unable to care for them, but it also does much more to support the future of veterinary medicine and pet care.

As part of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS), the Stevenson Center has a longstanding tradition of providing hands-on learning opportunities to the VMBS’ Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students, four of whom live and work at the center each year. 

Now, the center will also support efforts to increase canine lifespan and healthspan — the period of life spent free from disease — through a collaborative relationship with the Dog Aging Project (DAP).

The DAP is a community scientist-driven, data-gathering research project that launched in 2019 as a joint effort between the University of Washington School of Medicine and Texas A&M, along with other collaborating institutions. 

It enrolls companion dogs from all backgrounds to study the effects of aging and gain a better understanding of what contributes to a long and healthy canine life.

“The Stevenson Companion Animal Life-Care Center and the Dog Aging Project are both trying to provide pets with the best quality of life for as long as we possibly can,” said Dr. Sam Miller, director of the Stevenson Center. 

“As the Dog Aging Project learns more about the aging process, we’ll be able to incorporate some of that knowledge into extending our resident pets’ lives and ensuring they have the best quality of life for as long as possible,” he said. “That’s what we’re focused on — giving pets a great life here.”

A Pawsitive Partnership

Supporting a healthy aging process in pets is especially important for the Stevenson Center because more than half of its resident pets are in their senior years when they arrive.

“As the donors who sign up with our program age, their pets age with them, so it’s just natural that we’re going to see older pets coming in,” Miller said.

Through a financial gift to the DAP, the Stevenson Center is helping ensure that researchers can continue to study canine aging and find new ways to help pets live long, healthy lives.

“When the Stevenson Center was approved by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents in 1988, one of the caveats was that it was to be self-funding,” Miller said. “Now, with the large number of pets that have lived out their lives at center, our endowments have grown to the point that we can not only be self-funding, but we can also support other areas within the VMBS.”

When a pet is enrolled in the Stevenson Center, its owner endows funds to support that pet’s care for the rest of its life. The owner can also choose to direct the endowment once the pet passes — whether the endowment remans with the center, supports a specific area within the VMBS, or is reallocated based on the needs of the college.  

“In those situations, we work with the dean, other college leadership, and our advisory board to determine what areas of the college we’d like to support,” Miller said. “The Dog Aging Project was a great fit because it aligns very closely with our mission. We’re hoping that the research that comes from the Dog Aging Project can help us honor our commitment to donors to provide the best long-term quality of life that we can for their pets.”

As another part of the collaboration with the DAP, the Stevenson Center will enroll one dog to join the more than 50,000 dogs enrolled in the program. This process — which is limited to one dog per household — involves providing information about the dog’s health and lifestyle through questionnaires and the sharing of veterinary medical records. 

This information has supported research into how breed influences health, how owners choose their dog’s diet, how owners choose when to say goodbye, and more.

“The Dog Aging Project team at Texas A&M is deeply grateful for the Stevenson Center’s support for our work,” said Dr. Kate Creevy, DAP chief veterinary officer and a professor in the VMBS’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. “The Stevenson Center’s mission to provide long-term care for companion animals whose owners can no longer provide care for them reflects the tremendous devotion that owners feel for their pets. At the DAP, we aim to discover biological and lifestyle factors that can promote healthy aging and keep our cherished dogs living well into advanced age. Discovery of strategies to ensure longer, healthier lives for dogs will give owners more time to enjoy that special bond.”

Supporting The Next Generation Of Veterinarians

The Stevenson Center also supports the future of veterinary medicine by providing a diverse caseload for fourth-year DVM students training at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

“Our 43 resident pets provide a wide array of opportunities for the veterinary students to help care for different breeds, ages, and medical conditions,” Miller said. “Just like on the human side, the vast majority of medical ailments come in a pet’s senior years. We have a fair number of geriatric pets here that allow students to learn more about geriatric animal care — something they will be doing a lot of in general practice.”

The four veterinary students who live at the Stevenson Center receive additional hands-on learning by helping ensure that the center’s pets receive the same care and attention that their original family provided. In return, the students live within walking distance of their classes in a rent-free apartment and are paid for their work.

“As a former practitioner, I think the experience makes them better veterinarians because they can see things not only from the doctor’s point of view but also from the owner’s,” Miller said. “They’re going to be better able to stand across the table from a pet owner and discuss how to effectively administer treatment options in a way that the owner can follow through on when they get home.”

A Symbiotic Relationship

The relationship between the Stevenson Center and the VMBS is not only mutually beneficial but is also unique.

“The Stevenson Center is a one-of-a-kind program,” Miller said. “Our donors know that we are associated with one of the best veterinary colleges in the country, so their pets are going to be provided excellent care. We’re going to do whatever needs to be done to continue to provide the highest standard of care.”

Supporting the Stevenson Center

The success of the Stevenson Center is the result of the generosity, confidence, and passion donors have for the program, as well as the excellent medical care provided by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. To explore opportunities to support the mission of the Stevenson Center, visit https://vetmed.tamu.edu/stevenson-center/support/. 

To learn more about the Stevenson Companion Animal Life-Care Center, please visit https://vetmed.tamu.edu/stevenson-center/.

Learn More About The Dog Aging Project

The DAP continues to accept dogs of all breeds into the project. To date, more than 50,000 dogs have been enrolled.Many of their research projects have led to translational studies that inform not only dog health, but also human health. To enroll your dog, or learn more, visit dogagingproject.org.

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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216

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