Few people know that Army veterinarians perform ‘sanitation audits’ of food production establishments both in the US and overseas. A sanitation audit is a very professional way of saying that you look into every nook and cranny of food production. It includes walking through the facility, observing the food-making processes, and reviewing paperwork all while taking notes and asking questions to later write a report. When assigned overseas, Army vets have the additional duty of inspecting slaughterhouses. Here in the US, the USDA inspects the slaughterhouses (thank you, USDA!). Inspecting slaughterhouses has been among the worst part of being a Vet. It’s even worse than emptying anal glands. The slaughterhouse inspections begin with the animals coming off the delivery truck and end with the packaged goods that my grandmother referred to simply as ‘dead chickens’. [I’ve mentioned earlier that my family was practical when it came to animals. They were. Right down to the honest language.] Vet school helped me prepare for slaughterhouses by providing the knowledge to identify sick animals, to recognize abnormalities in their bodies, to think critically, and to understand what is and is not humane. All of these…
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
Every time I read security questions with the option to provide the name of your first dog, my brain gets stuck in an indecisive loop. Recalling the name of your first dog should be easy especially for a dog lover. My history in establishing a first dog is much more complicated than it should be. As a child, I found pictures of myself as a toddler playing with a beagle mix puppy. Based on the photos, this puppy and I clearly shared the same home where I placed him in my stroller, carried him tucked under one of my arms, hid in an oversized coat for him to find me, and generally did all the things that a child who wants a dog and doesn’t have one longs to do with said dog. The thing is though, I don’t remember having or playing with the puppy. That puppy didn’t stay in our family long enough for him to become part of the memories that stay with you forever. Our family wasn’t and still isn’t one for delving into painful pasts and so it’s never been clear at what…
"It has been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make your mind up firmly that you will."
Vet school was full of some of my most memorable patients. Surprisingly, two of these patients were horses. During large animal medicine rotation, I’d become highly skilled at avoiding equine patients, preferring instead the cows, goats, sheep, and even a few pigs. My technique of securing my preferred patients relied on my height. At 5 feet 1.5″ I ‘d casually slip behind taller, more horse-eager students when the professors gathered us up each morning to go through the process of assigning patients. The trouble is, while my method worked for the duration of large animal medicine, when we switched to surgery it didn’t take long before one of the large animal surgeons picked up on my avoidance of horse patients. He even called me out on it and assigned me my very first horse patient named “Emma.” The surgeon described her as ‘perfect for you small animal types.’ Yes, that was indeed me–a small animal vet-to-be thrust into an overwhelming world of very valuable, easily excitable, oversized patients. Then I met Emma. There was no question about it, she was the perfect horse to…