Over 12,000 pet owners, animal enthusiasts and aspiring veterinarians spent part of their Saturday afternoon wandering through the annual College of Veterinary Medicine Open House.
“The goal is to let people know what veterinarian medicine is all about,” Dan Tucker, director of biomedical communications at the school, said. “The CVM is a public institution and we want to let tax payers know where their money is going, and how the work we do here benefits them.”
This year’s Open House featured 21 tour stops where visitors could talk with faculty, staff and students, check out live-animal displays, learn about proper pet care and even watch live surgical demonstrations.
For prospective students, admissions officers were available to provide information about the college and CVM graduate students were also on hand to discuss how the research done at the school is applied clinically to improve the health of animals and humans.
Visitors also had the chance to get up close and personal with a variety of animals including cats, dogs, birds, bugs, turtles, snakes, horses, rabbits, cows and goats, some of which were available for adoption through local animal rescue shelters.
For those interested in watching, three shelter dogs were spayed in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital throughout the day and live footage was broadcast in the school’s theaters for remote viewing. Doctors walked viewers through the process step by step, and explained the techniques used in the surgery.
According to Tucker, who has been involved with the CVM Open House for over 20 years, the event is student driven and highlights some areas of study each year.
The first-year students learned about anatomy, so they gave tours of the anatomy laboratory and discussed the structural differences between animals. Second-year students focused on learning to give physical exams and developing their suturing skills, which they demonstrated by diagnosing and treating stuffed animals at the teddy bear suture clinic. The third-and-fourth-year students used their knowledge of toxicology to share information about poisonous plants and products that pose potential health risks for pets.
“We are having a great time,” Jenn Depo said as she waited in line at the teddy bear suture clinic with her 5-year-old daughter Allie.
Depo said she heard about the Open House through her husband Carl Depo, a junior in history, and was glad she decided to come.
While Allie waited patiently for her stuffed puppy, Cassie, to be seen by the doctors, she decided that she was most excited to see the cows and baby chicks.
“[Cassie’s] OK,” Allie said. “She just needs a checkup.”
Some student organizations used the Open House as an opportunity to raise money by selling refreshments, T-shirts and other memorabilia, while others like the Equine and Bovine clubs got the animals involved, offering chances to be photographed sitting on a pony or milking a cow.
Allie Price and Bethany Honeyager, both second-year vet students and members of the Bovine Club, agreed that the cow-milking booth was a big hit with the children.
“The kids love it,” Price said. “It is one of my favorite days of the year. It provides exposure for the CVM and gives us the chance to let kids experience things they wouldn’t normally have access to, like milking a cow.”
Another popular stop on the tour for both children and adults was the fistulated steer — a research cow with a permanent hole cut in its side leading directly to its first stomach compartment, the rumen. These cows are used to help researchers understand the bovine digestive system.
Attractions included: dog obedience demonstrations, flyball competitions (fast-paced dog relay races), canine search and rescue demonstrations, the Raleigh Police Department K-9 Unit, milking demonstrations and pet adoption tents.
