Society & Culture

College of Veterinary Medicine students to host microchip clinic to benefit Haitian relief effort

College of Veterinary Medicine students to host microchip clinic to benefit Haitian relief effort

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association is hosting a Microchip Clinic to raise money for Haiti’s earthquake victims.

The clinic will be held at the college on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.Microchips will be offered at the discounted rate of $25, and all proceeds will be donated to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation for the Haitian relief effort. The clinic will be held outside, rain or shine. Microchips are limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The clinic is sponsored by SCAVMA and American Veterinary Identification Devices.

Coinciding with the microchip clinic, SCAVMA will also host an Obesity Awareness Clinic from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The obesity clinic will be held indoors in the college’s student lobby. (Please note that pets are not allowed inside our academic buildings.) Information will be available on animal and human nutrition, animal and human obesity and different places and ways to exercise. The goal is to raise awareness on issues pertaining to obesity in both humans and their pets.

Signs will be posted to direct visitors to parking areas for both events. For more information about either event, contact scavma@uga.edu.

The UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1946, is dedicated to training future veterinarians, to conducting research related to animal diseases, and to providing veterinary services for animals and their owners. Research efforts are aimed at enhancing the quality of life for animals and people, improving the productivity of poultry and livestock, and preserving a healthy interface between wildlife and people in the environment they share. The college enrolls 102 students each fall out of more than 550 who apply. For more information, see www.vet.uga.edu.

The current UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, built in 1979, serves more than 18,000 patients per year in one of the smallest teaching hospitals in the United States. The college is currently working to raise $15 million toward building a new Veterinary Medical Learning Center, which will include a new teaching hospital as well as classrooms and laboratories that will allow for the education of more veterinarians. The goal is to increase enrollment to 150 when the Veterinary Medical Learning Center is built. For more information, see http://www.vet.uga.edu/giving/campaign.php.