Negev Vet clinics founder Dr. Galia Melman Shalev to receive award for Oct. 7 animal rescue efforts

Dr. Galia Melman Shalev, a veterinarian and founder of Negev Vet clinics, will receive the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's 2026 Animal Welfare Award for her efforts to rescue and treat hundreds of pets following the October 7 massacre.

The award recognizes her efforts, described as “unwavering dedication, exceptional performance under combat conditions, leadership and genuine risk to her own life.” Shalev was selected following a strong recommendation from the Israeli Companion Animal Veterinary Association.

Shalev remained in Moshav Ein HaBesor, near the Gaza border, during the turbulent days after October 7 to rescue and treat hundreds of pets left behind during evacuations.

On the morning of October 7, Shalev and her husband, Ziv, were on their way to a cycling training session near Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz when the attack began. Their two children were home alone in their community.

When the couple returned home, they encountered the chaos and destruction caused by the October 7 massacre.

Shalev extends her stay to provide treatment

The following day, after reuniting with their rescued children, the couple returned to Ein HaBesor. They loaded their vehicle with basic supplies for an extended stay in the evacuated moshav, along with animal food and medication donated by Vet Market.

There, they encountered scenes of severe distress, including animals trapped inside burned homes, pets wounded by gunfire and shrapnel, and others wandering through the area traumatized, thirsty, and starving.

As Israel's western Negev was filled with security forces, faced continued infiltration threats, and came under relentless fire, Shalev and her husband began searching evacuated communities, providing urgent treatment in the field and rescuing animals from the devastated area.

“It was different from anything I had experienced during my many years as a veterinarian,” Dr. Shalev recalls. “The rescue and treatment of the animals from the evacuated communities was simply something that had to be done.”

Lone dog rescued and returned to owner

Among the many animals she treated, one dog from Kibbutz Sufa stood out. The dog had hidden under a couch in a safe room with her owners for hours. When soldiers arrived to rescue the couple, the frightened dog ran away.

The couple was forced to evacuate without her, but some time later, she was found at the gate of a neighboring kibbutz.

Shalev and her husband arranged to collect the dog, and a volunteer from the community drove her to a hotel at the Dead Sea, where she was reunited with her owners.

“Bringing a family who had been evacuated to a hotel, who had barely taken anything with them, the dog that had been left behind at home — there is nothing more moving than that.” Dr. Shalev reflected.

She added, “Sometimes we even put ourselves at risk to bring these animals back, because we knew that an animal like that is part of the family. For some families, it was truly a lifeline after the terrible day they had endured.”

What began as a spontaneous initiative quickly became a large-scale emergency operation. When Shalev's private clinic became overcrowded, she and her husband converted a stable in the moshav into a temporary emergency shelter.

New network and emergency clinic established

A broad volunteer network was subsequently established around the shelter, including a Zoom command center set up by Shalev's daughter and her friends from Ben-Gurion University to recruit foster families. The veterinarians' organization also established a command center in Beit Shemesh.

Later, after Shalev arrived in Eilat as an evacuee, she established an improvised emergency clinic on the minus-one floor of the Royal Beach Hotel.

With equipment, medication and vaccines supplied by the organization, she spent three months in Eilat providing free treatment to hundreds of pets belonging to evacuees staying in hotels across the city. She carefully documented each case, checked microchips and updated the national database.

“These tasks in Eilat helped me maintain my sanity to some extent during that period,” she says. “I felt that I was able to fulfill my purpose and help animals and people who needed it so desperately.”

WSAVA said Shalev's work highlights the importance of professionals during emergencies as a force that can help heal and strengthen communities.

Dr. Anat Lichter-Feld, chair of ICAVA, congratulated Shalev on the award, calling her work “a reflection of the highest values of the veterinary profession: compassion, service, responsibility and courage.”

Dr. Segev Dishon, a member of the organization's executive committee, added that her response on the ground reflected her ‘practical leadership’ and ‘sense of personal responsibility’.

Reinventing herself and her clinics

Nearly three years after October 7, Shalev's clinics are operating again in a new format, after the entire team that worked with her before the massacre was reportedly replaced.

“We reinvented ourselves, as so many people have,” she concludes. “Although this award bears my name, it represents the compassion, courage and commitment of my husband, Ziv, my daughters and the many volunteers who worked to save animals. It is a powerful reminder of our responsibility as veterinarians to be there for animals and the people who love them in their most difficult moments.”