LSU veterinary students learning at local shelters

Baton Rouge, La. - 3/21/08 - The Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), with the help of a Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) grant, has launched a community-based companion-animal health program that will use local shelters to help train students.

Since July 2007, the program has offered students an opportunity to gain medical and surgical experience while assisting animals in underserved communities in southern Louisiana. With the help of an $800,000 HSUS grant, LSU SVM has been working with the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Orleans Parish, the Jefferson Animal Shelter and ARNO, both in Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter and PAWS in Plaquemines Parish, Denham Springs Animal Shelter in Livingston Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control.

Student groups work in two-week rotations, changing shelters each day from Monday through Thursday, and students assist with spays, castrations, wellness exams and medical care.

"This program and the few others like it in other veterinary schools are bringing awareness to the specialty of shelter medicine in the veterinary curriculum. Shelter medicine throughout the country is now being recognized with the respect it deserves," says Susan Eddlestone, SVM assistant professor. "Shelter medicine is a challenging career that deals with many diverse issues that directly impact communities and the care that they provide to their homeless animals."