New Greyhound Facility for Animal Nursing Program
August 12, 2019 - 01:38 PM
T
he next group of retired greyhound racing dogs to be cared for by the Mt. SAC Animal
Nursing students will be larger and much more comfortable, thanks to the brand new
rescue facility just constructed.
The new facility, located near the school’s sheep pasture, can house more than twice the number of dogs as the previous facility (25, up from 12). It features overhead heating and a cooling system for the dogs through the use of misters. The old facility mainly cooled through the use of fans and was not nearly as efficient. The new facility also contains a bathing station and medical facility to care for the dogs and treat any injuries.
“It’s much better (than the old facility) because the dogs have more space and we
can have more students here doing hands-on work with them,” said Darlene Vale, Lab
Tech-Registered Vet Tech in the Natural Sciences Division, who runs the facility.
The rescue is a partnership with FastFriends Greyhound Adoption, out of La Habra Heights, CA. The dogs are transported from Caliente, Mexico after their careers as race dogs are over. Some are older and others have injuries that ended their career. The goal is to get these dogs healthy and whole and ready to be adopted into ‘forever homes’ through FastFriends (www.fastfriends.org).
The Mt. SAC Animal Nursing program has 851 students learning the many
procedures and treatments to become a licensed animal nurse. This includes injury
treatments, performing tests, vaccinations, assisting with surgeries, and various
diagnostic machine use. While the rescue is the main facility where students learn
to treat dogs, students also learn about treating a wide assortment of animals including
reptiles and farm animals.
