Even though attendees were discouraged from bringing their own pets, there was no shortage of puppies, kittens and fish at the College of Veterinary Medicine Open House on Sunday. The event drew in a large crowd from the Champaign-Urbana area and prospective veterinary medicine students.
The Open House served to educate the community about the University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, which is the only one in Illinois, and to show the public that, according to Lerin Rives, a third year veterinary student, there is more to veterinary medicine than taking your dogs and cats in for shots.
“They [the college] just open every door to the public, and everyone is so eager to talk about why they came to vet school and why they like it so much,” said Barbara Batke, a third year veterinary student.
The event consisted of about 40 exhibits and demonstrations, which were run by the veterinary students. These exhibits introduced the public to different aspects of veterinary medicine. There was a variety of activities, such as a booth for cow milking, an underwater treadmill for dogs and a horse-shoeing demonstration. New to the event this year was a scavenger hunt that allowed children to pretend to be veterinarians by solving medical cases. There was also a service dog training demonstration given by the Illini Service Dog Training Program, who talked about teaching dogs how to take commands from people with disabilities.
Most of the activities were geared towards children, teaching them how to diagnose and treat illnesses and to take care of their own pets.
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“It lets them do what we do but in a kid-friendly way,” said Theresa Grandys, a third year veterinary student.
The open house hosted several local organizations, such as Society for Hooved Animals’ Rescue and Emergency and the Champaign Area Trap Spay/Neuter and Adoption Program. Also in attendance were pet adoption programs like the Champaign County Humane Society and Retired Greyhounds as Pets. An admissions talk was also given to prospective veterinary medicine students about requirements to be admitted to the college.
Students from all years of the veterinary medicine program had a part in organizing the event to show what they are learning in different areas such as cardiology, dentistry and cancer care. The planning began three to four months ago and took a lot of effort to put on a successful open house, said Christine Beuoy, director of communications for the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Our students volunteer their time to show their passion for veterinary medicine to the public,” Beuoy said.
According to event coordinators, reaching out to the public was one of the main goals of the event.
“The open house is our way to introduce people to aspects of veterinary medicine that they may not have not known about before and it’s a great way for the students to act as teachers,” Rives said.
