Melissa Thompson
Melissa Thompson was a Doug Ducey appointee from 2021. She replaced Christina Bertch-Mumaw, a veterinarian who once claimed in a local news article that acupuncture could make dogs walk again. Thompson has a veterinary degree from the Western University of Health Sciences and also holds a graduate degree in shelter medicine from the University of Florida. She worked as an adjunct professor at Western the year after she graduated from the same, then worked her way up at Banfield until she became Chief of Staff at Banfield Scottsdale. She also has memberships in the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and the Association of Animal Welfare Advancement. She's certified in canine rehabilitation and animal chiropractic care.
Thompson's March 2022 meeting with the Senate committee handling her nomination was uneventful. She describes her experience in both private practice and shelter medicine, enumerating the "many hats" she wears as the Vice President of Medical Operations at the Arizona Humane Society. She relates that she has a passion for the quality of medicine to patients and "good communication and compassion" is essential; she believes the Board provides that balance to make sure the consumer has a voice. She actually states that she has been sitting on the Board already and audited cases for four months, finding herself "intrigued by the whole process" and "learned a lot." The Senate committee chair gave a brief monologue about how important communication is, then opened it up to questions from the Committee; there were none and the vote went ahead. Thompson went along to the full Senate in slightly over four minutes.
Thompson has a particular predilection for shelter medicine. In addition to holding a graduate degree in shelter medicine, she also worked as lead veterinarian at Second Chance Animal Hospital before becoming the Vice President of Medical Operations at the Arizona Humane Society. Her tenure there overlapped with Vice President of Medical Services and fellow Board member Robyn Jaynes until the latter left for other ventures. Thompson subsequently scored a Ducey nomination and followed her former colleague Jaynes all the way to the top. As of 2023 Thompson was giving LinkedIn shoutouts to the good deeds of PetSmart Charities, where Jaynes now works as Director of Veterinary Affairs.
While at the Arizone Humane Society, Thompson coauthored a 2020 paper with fellow board member Robyn Jaynes based on work done at the Arizona Humane Society. The JAVMA paper, Effect of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation of the air on the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections in kittens in a nursery, reports on a retrospective study regarding the use of airborne ultraviolet irradiation systems to control respiratory infections in a kitten nursery. The company that made the equipment, PetAirapy LLC (now Aerapy), uses the study as a major part of its marketing materials (link).
According to the Arizona Humane Society's IRS Form 990 filing, Thompson pulled down $172,795 for the 2021 tax year. That sounds like a lot until you realize the boss of the Arizona Humane Society, veterinarian Stephen Hansen, brought in $378,139 for helping all those little critters.
Missing from her official Senate bio but present in Arizona Corporation Commission records is a stint as vice-president of Four Peaks Animal Rescue. She wrote an update about it in the December 2013 Rio Verde Round Up despite the Arizona Corporation Commission's automatic 2012 dissolution resulting from a failure to file an annual report with the state.
Voting Summary
Melissa Thompson voted to dismiss about 75.7% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.
We've tallied up Melissa Thompson's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, Melissa Thompson voted in 144 cases. Of those, Melissa Thompson voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 109 of them.
Below we've included Melissa Thompson's vote breakdowns for up to ten of the most common motions. We also have a detailed list of votes and their associated complaints available in the Voting History.
| Motion | Aye | Nay | Recused | Absent | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dismiss with no violation | 87 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 94 |
| Schedule informal interview | 28 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| Dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 23 |
| Find violation | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| Offer consent agreement | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Issue board order | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Find violation and offer consent agreement | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Combine cases and open new investigation | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Archival Content
Additional archival content for Melissa Thompson is posted below and hosted at the Internet Archive.
| Corporate Record | Arizona Humane Society IRS Form 990 (Internal Revenue Service) (2017) |
| Corporate Record | Arizona Humane Society IRS Form 990 (Internal Revenue Service) (2018) |
| Corporate Record | Arizona Humane Society IRS Form 990 (Internal Revenue Service) (2019) |
| Corporate Record | Arizona Humane Society IRS Form 990 (Internal Revenue Service) (2020) |
| Corporate Record | Four Peaks Animal Rescue Annual Report (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2010) |
| Corporate Record | Four Peaks Animal Rescue Annual Report (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2011) |
| Executive Summary | Melissa Thompson Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 552R) |
| Senate Nomination Hearing | Melissa Thompson Senate Nomination Hearing (Legislative Session 552R) |