The Pre-Veterinary Club, more easily called the “Vet Club,” recently attended a Christian Veterinary Missions conference at Western University in Pomona, where they gained insight into combining veterinary medicine and Christianity.
Serving God and his creation is an important aspect of the club for Hannah MacDonald, who desires to do missions work in the future.
“We met many veterinarians and vet missionaries and heard about their experiences serving God in their practices and overseas. It was so encouraging to hear how veterinarians are in dire need overseas to vaccinate and care for the livestock of villages,” MacDonald said. “The livestock are the “piggy banks” of the families in underdeveloped communities and if their animals die, the families starve.
Macdonald said, veterinarians overseas commonly hold free spay and neuter clinics for village livestock in order to control animal populations and prevent animal starvations.
The California Veterinary Medical Association, the largest veterinary medical association in the state, provides veterinarians and vaccines to local churches that help support the pastors and bring people into their churches, according to Macdonald.
“They will also partner with human medical and dental groups to meet the overall needs of communities,” she said.
Besides attending the conference, this new campus club is a channel through which students can get advice on becoming a veterinarian.
Only into their second semester as an official club, since starting in Fall 2011, the club has seven students that are consistent and active in the club. Goals of the club include learning more about veterinary medicine, animal health and disease control. Members hope to gain insight in the field of veterinary medicine through volunteer work, field trips and internships opportunities.
They have plenty of funding for their activities.
“I’m sure there will be a few things here and there that may be on us, but each thing we have been able to do has been rewarding in some way. In the end, a small cost may be worth an incredible experience,” Carly Thomas, president, said.
Vet Club members attend monthly Orange Belt Veterinary Club Meetings, where local veterinarians of the Riverside and Orange counties meet to fellowship with one another and listen to presentations that cover specific issue in veterinary medicine.
“We just had a meeting where a representative from Hills Pet Food came to talk about animal nutrition and interesting facts about different pet foods,” Hannah MacDonald, vice president, said.
Thomas said, “When we created this club last semester, we were faced with the question of what we wanted to do with it – what was going to be our purpose? As animal lovers ourselves, who are striving to become veterinarians, our main intention for the club is to introduce students
