HSVMA-Sponsored Spay Day Event Provides Valuable Training for Oregon Veterinary Students

February 21, 2011

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) sponsored a Spay Day 2011 event in Corvallis, Ore. that provided spay/neuter services for approximately 100 free-roaming cats from the community. The event also provided valuable training opportunities for veterinary students from Oregon State University.

Student monitors cat (credit: Katie Campbell)
Kiersten Forsyth, a student volunteer at the event, monitors a cat that is waking up after surgery.
Katie Campbell

The event was hosted on Sunday, Feb. 20, by the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon (FCCO), a local nonprofit that focuses on helping free-roaming cats, and has helped alter more than 46,000 cats since they formed in 1995. The HSVMA-sponsored event is one of four Spay Day events that FCCO is holding this month. The Oregon State University Chapter of the HSVMA, which helped organize the event, recently hosted an HSVMA lunch presentation on the topic of the veterinary professional’s role in curbing free roaming cat populations through the Trap-Neuter-Return technique. The Spay Day event gave the students a chance to see first-hand the practical applications of the only scientifically-proven way to reduce feral and free-roaming cat populations. Watch a video from the event»

“What makes these HSVMA events so special is that they are supporting the education of veterinary and veterinary technician students in a way that benefits both the animals and the community,” said Dr. Susan Krebsbach, an HSVMA veterinary consultant who helps coordinate these events.

HSVMA sponsored a similar event on Feb. 12 in Madison, Wis., where veterinary students from the University of Wisconsin and veterinary technician students from the Madison Area Technical College helped perform spay and neuter surgeries on more than 80 free-roaming cats from that community.

HSVMA works to improve veterinary students’ access to beneficial surgical training opportunities through direct care opportunities, educational workshops and advocacy initiatives. Last year, HSVMA Field Services clinics helped train more than 200 veterinary students while providing no-cost care to more than 8,300 animals in remote areas across the U.S. and abroad.

Spay Day is an annual campaign by The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International which is designed to highlight the importance of saving animal lives by spaying or neutering.

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