AMES, Iowa – In the real world, win-win scenarios are rare and often too good to be true. But the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine has pulled off an even more elusive win-win-win by providing health care to thousands of shelter animals on their way to being adopted. ISU veterinary students win by getting experience treating live animals, and animal shelters win by saving money through the free program. The biggest winners in the equation, however, are the shelter animals, who receive a clean bill of health and usually end up being adopted into loving homes. The ISU College of Veterinary Medicine offers a surgery, anesthesia and community outreach course as a semester-long program for third-year veterinary students, with an option for extending the course for an additional semester. Students in the course gain hands-on experience admitting patients, screening them for a wide range of health problems and performing common procedures on the animals, such as spays and neuters. “We’re helping the shelters move animals through their program so their length of stay is decreased,” said Dr. Joyce Carnevale, a clinical assistant professor of veterinary clinical sciences who coordinates the community outreach portion of the program. “A dog or cat that receives care in our program can get adopted more readily.” More than 300 animals, mostly cats and dogs, receive care over the course of a semester. Since the program began in 2016, more than 2,000 animals from more than 20 shelters, welfare organizations and animal rescues have gone through the program. The animals come not only from Iowa but Texas, Illinois, Missouri and beyond. And nearly all of the animals that receive care through the program wind up getting adopted, said Dr. Tamara Swor, a clinical assistant professor of veterinary clinical sciences who leads the surgery and anesthesia portions of the program.
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Photographs by Christopher Gannon, Iowa State University
Text by Fred Love, Iowa State University News Service