Dr. Armaiti May, DVM

Armaiti May, DVM is a dog and cat veterinarian currently practicing in the West Los Angeles area. The youngest of a class of 122 students, Dr. May obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in June 2005. She graduated with high honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in Bioresource Sciences in May 2001. While an undergraduate student at U.C. Berkeley, she became a vegan and animal activist. An active officer in Cal Vegetarians, a student vegetarian advocacy group, Dr. May helped campaign for improved vegan options in the dorm cafeterias and produced several vegan food giveaways. She also served as president of both the U.C. Berkeley chapter of Golden Key International Honor Society and the Cal Pre-Veterinary Society.

As a student at U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. May was an active volunteer with Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless, a student-run vet clinic that provides free veterinary care to pets of homeless people in Sacramento, Calif. Dr. May also served as president of the Student Animal Welfare Committee and helped coordinate a surgery “wet lab” training experience for fellow vet students, utilizing ethically sourced cadavers from a willed-body donation program as a humane alternative to the school’s terminal surgeries. The school’s live terminal surgeries in the small animal surgery curriculum were subsequently replaced with rotation during senior year in which students perform needed surgeries on animals under close faculty supervision. During vet school, Dr. May volunteered with Rural Area Veterinary Services to provide free care and sterilization surgeries to dogs, cats, and horses in economically disadvantaged communities.

After graduating from veterinary school, Dr. May spent twenty months working at a 24-hour emergency dog and cat hospital in the San Fernando Valley. She has completed a veterinary acupuncture course offered by the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine. One of her professional goals is to have her own vegan integrative veterinary practice that incorporates animal advocacy. Dr. May is an avid supporter of educational vegan outreach and humane education programs and is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association as well as the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association. She is also the Founder and President of the Veterinary Association for the Protection of Animals (VAPA), an animal rights organization which raises awareness about the benefits of veganism and encourages veterinary schools to adopt humane surgical teaching methods.