RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - The state division that licenses public and private animal shelters, boarding kennels and pet shops and oversees the state’s Spay and Neuter Fund has a new director. Dr. Patricia Norris of New Mexico has been hired as director of the Veterinary Division Animal Welfare Section.

Norris begins her job November 17. She replaces Dr. Lee Hunter, who retired from the position in June.

Dr. Norris earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Virginia Tech College of Veterinary Medicine in 1986 and has a graduate certificate in veterinary forensic science from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Norris was in private veterinary practice for 25 years in Virginia, North Carolina and New Mexico. She served as veterinarian at the Duke University Primate Center to provide care for their colony of endangered lemurs. She also served as veterinarian for the Pitt County Board of Health and on the County Animal Response Teams for Pitt and Madison counties.

Currently, she is the staff veterinarian for the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the only position of its kind in the country. She provides veterinary forensic services for their cases of animal cruelty and animal crime, and is commonly asked to assist other law enforcement agencies throughout New Mexico. She has served as veterinarian for the New Mexico Animal Sheltering Board since its inception in 2007 and was a member of the DASO Mounted Patrol Horseback Search and Rescue team.