Where to start animal experience?

[2short4life]

I am currently in my first year of college and I was wondering about how to get animal experience. I was thinking of volunteering at an animal shelter during break, but I doubt they would give me a job working with animals since I don't have any animal experience other than pet ownership. Most likely, I would be cleaning stalls...is this worth doing or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks for your time.

P.S. Where did you guys start out?

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[pupsforseeing]

I am currently in my first year of college and I was wondering about how to get animal experience. I was thinking of volunteering at an animal shelter during break, but I doubt they would give me a job working with animals since I don't have any animal experience other than pet ownership. Most likely, I would be cleaning stalls...is this worth doing or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks for your time.

P.S. Where did you guys start out?

Everyone's got to start somewhere! My first vet experience I was hired as a kennel worker at a GP. About two weeks in I was promoted to receptionist (which was nice because it meant a raise/more responsibility, but it meant less hands-on animal stuff). I kept that job for a couple months just to be able to put it on my resume and then from there was able to get a job as a tech at another small animal general practice. I stayed there for about 3 years (a year between high school and college and then breaks for my first 2 years of college) before getting a job as a tech at a large specialty practice (I worked there this last summer and this Christmas break and will go back this summer before starting vet school in the fall).

I would definitely get whatever experience you can--even if it just cleaning. You have to get your foot in the door somehow and often that is the best way. Plus, you can learn a whole lot just from watching other people, which will make your transition to more involved positions easier. Additionally, anyone who has spent much time in the veterinary profession can attest that no matter what position you have, there will be *lots* of cleaning involved (it just goes with the territory), so you'll have to get used to it at some point

 

[david594]

You can always send your resume around to clinics in the area with a cover letter to see if anyone might have any opportunities for you to shadow or volunteer.

I went door too door(with resumes in hand) and talked to nearly a dozen clinics, asking if they would take volunteers. One did so I ended up volunteering 15 hours a week there helping out the techs, going in on appointments, seeing surgeries, etc. After a few months an opening arrived and then I was getting paid to do it all a few more hours a week. Worked out amazingly well and before hand I had essentially zero animal experience(never own a cat or dog).

 

[Pandacinny]

You might be surprised with the animal shelter. I got most of my vet experience at a local shelter. The Humane Society where I work has a full time veterinarian on staff. She's wonderful and really experienced - she's even one of the founding members of the association of shelter veterinarians! I started out cleaning kennels in the spay/neuter clinic and have progressed from there. I'm now a licensed tech and I help provide medical care for all of the shelter animals plus I assist with surgeries. That experience has let me get experience at a horse rescue and an emergency clinic.

Basically, what I'm saying is that you need to start somewhere. The shelter could be a great match for you. If it isn't, I'd send resumes out like a previous poster suggested. If neither of those options look good, try a few other things. Contact other local rescues and see if you could work with them. Contact some farms in your area and start getting large animal experience - ask if you can observe things around the farm or help out somewhere. Try speaking to your professors about research opportunities, too - research seems to be something admissions committees really love.

 

[Habibti]

Depending on what school you go to, research animal experience is always an option as well. This is where I started out... Research doesn't always mean rats and mice either. I've got a lot of dog experience from my research position (and monkeys are fun too!)

 

[UVA Wahoo]

start volunteering at a shelter clinic! :0) I can't say enough good things about my SPCA clinic experience. Depending on where you live, your local shelter may have many more animals than hands to care for them, and the clinic vet will probably love that you want to volunteer your time.
In my experience, the shelter I worked at let me do more advanced things much more quickly than when I began working in SA private practice. I learned how to recover animals after surgery after volunteering just a few months, and at my private practice they still only let certified techs do that! They might even let you practice collecting samples (like blood, urine, etc) which in my opinion you can't get enough practice at! :0) Another good thing about it is you get to experience restraining/ working with many different animals of different temperaments over a short period of time. You might get to look at 20 or 30 different cases in one afternoon!
In case you can't tell, lol I fell in love with shelter medicine and even based my personal statement around my desire to become a shelter vet some day. Good luck with getting experience!
PS - If you just so happen to live by a zoo, i would try there too... You might not get any direct clinical experience but how many people can say they helped take care of kangaroos and otters, etc lol...

 

[Heavenly4505]

To the OP, don't underestimate shelter experience! It's where I got my foot in the door, definitely. Almost all shelters are looking for people to help, and a lot of them will let you be hands-on with the animals if that's what you WANT to do. I currently volunteer at a no-kill shelter, and I get to walk dogs, bathe dogs, feed the animals, plus other things like clean cages and wash bedding. So much volunteering has allowed me to get a position with a local SA clinic, which is just shadowing right now. However, it will progress into more hands-on things as the vet and I get more comfortable with each other. So, my advice is to volunteer at the shelter as much as you can. Create a resume and cover letter, making sure to put your volunteer experience on there, and start sending it around to vets. Call them to follow-up on it and let them know how interested you are in the profession.

Also, somebody mentioned the zoo. I will be doing a 10-week, unpaid internship at the zoo this summer. I get to assist the veterinarians in the onsite animal hospital. I found out about this opportunity by checking out the website for my local zoo. Most zoos have these, so that's another option for you to consider. If you already have some volunteering experience, it would be awesome on your internship application.

Good luck!

 

[Truth74]

I can't agree more about volunteering with your local shelter.
You should also think about learning about trips that the HSUS and ASPCA sponsors for vet students. (yes, pre-vets can go, too.) It's usually spay and neuter type stuff, but you learn a lot in a short amount of time with the large volume of animals.