Student creates “aWEARness” for pet overpopulation problem

Got style? University of Florida veterinary senior Allison Montague, also known as "Top Dog" of aWEARness Clothing, not only has it, she can also tell you where to get it and help animals at the same time.

Montague, a former advertising account executive, started the business two years ago. Through her Web site, www.aWEARness-clothing.com, she sells T-shirts and other clothing to promote the responsible spaying and neutering of pets. Montague recently decided to donate all profits from her clothing sales to the UF College of Veterinary Medicine's shelter program. The program, through which veterinary students gain surgical experience by spaying and neutering animals from the Alachua County animal shelter, has been threatened by recent county budget cuts.

"After getting into veterinary school, I learned that a small percentage of pet owners actually spay and neuter their pets," Montague said. "In school, we learn the benefits of these types of programs."

Three million to 4 million dogs and cats enter animal shelters each year in the United States, and roughly half of those animals are euthanized, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

As school unfolded, Montague discovered the shelter medicine program didn't just help animals - it also enabled her to hone surgical skills and better prepare for private practice.

"I've done a few externships, where the doctors were impressed with the surgical skills I know I would not have had were it not for the shelter program," Montague said. "My first day in the shelter medicine rotation, it took me an hour and a half to do a spay, but on my last it took me 20 minutes. Everything improved tremendously, and my confidence did, too. Everyone's nervous the first time they perform surgery."

Montague developed her Web site, aWEARness-clothing.com, with help from her brother, Matt Montague, and classmate Crystal Hmielewski.

"Crystal and I did our senior projects together, and in our free time, we sketched ideas about what we wanted the Web site to look like and who we wanted to reach," Montague said, adding that she wanted to create a "look" for her clothing that was stylish, contemporary and "wasn't cheesy."

So she came up with catchy slogans such as "Neutering makes dogs less nuts" and "Cats can't add, but they're great at multiplying" to include on her shirts. Meanwhile, Hmielewski established the Web site, capturing visuals that include photos of some of Montague's classmates modeling various items. Then she went to Premier Productions in Gainesville, a custom design and printing company.

"We worked together on some of my ideas and came up with some layouts," Montague said. "We ended up with between 600 and 700 items in multiple designs, sizes and colors."

Shirts start at $15 a piece, and are available on her Web site, www.awearness-clothing.com.

Just a week after Montague sent a collegewide e-mail about her plan to donate proceeds from sales to the shelter program, she already had raised $100.

"What Allison did by donating all the profits from the sale of her spay/neuter aWEARness T-shirts is phenomenal," said Dr. Natalie Isaza, the shelter program coordinator. "The program received so much support from our students, both current and former, when they learned the program might lose funding, and Allison's generosity illustrates how much the students appreciate this clinical elective."

Staff members in the Office for Students and Instruction were impressed enough with Montague's efforts that each of its members wore an aWEARness T-shirt recently.

"When we received Allison's e-mail about her company donating proceeds from the T-shirt sales to the shelter medicine program, we thought, 'what better way to support our students?'" said Erin Sanetz, program assistant. "The phrases on these T-shirts are very amusing, and certainly grab peoples' attention. We were so impressed with Allison's initiative and generosity that we decided that, as an office, we would show our support for her product, for shelter medicine and for our students."