Student Experiences: Elephant Nature Park

Submitted by Meghan Togher, Royal Veterinary College

Elephant abuse is a huge problem in Thailand’s tourist trade. Elephants are used for logging, trekking, elephant back riding and circus entertainment. Behind the scenes of such activities, the elephants are stolen from their mothers at a young age, brutally beaten, tamed with sharp objects and often worked to death. 

 

I have always been passionate about putting an end to the damaging abuse of wildlife. In order to educate myself more on the plight of Asian Elephants in Thailand I travelled to Chiang Mai visit the Elephant Nature Park. The park rescues and rehabilitates elephants that have previously been used inappropriately and offers them an oasis where they can live their remaining years peacefully, naturally and unchained. I was greatly inspired by Lek, the lady who founded this incredible safe haven. Particularly, her work ethic, passion and commitment to improving the welfare of elephants that have been mistreated in Thailand. 

The project I was involved in, nicknamed ‘Journey to Freedom’, entailed observation of rescued elephants in their natural habitat, feeding them an appropriate diet and consistent monitoring of their behaviour to aid research. I found it fascinating to see such large creatures up close and personal, and to be able to interact with them was breath-taking. Each elephant’s relationship with their mahouts, one person who trails them to ensure their safety, was incredible to see and I was thoroughly impressed with how the elephants lived a far more natural life, in harmony with people who treated them with respect and love.

 

I learned a lot that trip, not only about the behaviour of elephants in the wild, but also about how humans can contribute to the destruction of these fantastic beasts. Although it was amazing to have the elephants voluntarily come up to me, I recognise they were only that friendly as a result of their previous trauma from being ‘broken’ for tourist entertainment. This reminded me of the importance of how treating wild animals as wild, particularly during exotic vetting, is essential to the animal’s wellbeing and recovery. I was able to take away key information learned at the sanctuary to spread to my peers, such as to not ride elephants, which will hopefully lead to a decrease in the use of elephants in the tourist trade. 

 

Although I still have a lot to learn in my future career as a zoo or exotics vet, I want to be mindful of my own interference with wild animals. I want to get involved only when necessary for the animal’s wellbeing and health and advise others to do the same. I want to discourage animal tourism, which hopefully will prevent future wild animal usage in the tourist trade. I realise that knowledge is power, and I hope to continue to educate myself and others on how best to be involved with wild animals.

AVMA Government Relations Externship: Bailey Goff

Navigating Challenges
Submitted by Bailey Goff, Iowa State University

I’m beginning to believe that the “rite of passage” for an American Veterinary Medical Association DC office extern is getting lost in D.C.  Maybe Marie and I just need to get better at reading a map.

Meeting with individuals in a post-(ish) COVID-19 world mostly means virtual (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams) for convenience; however, several of our meetings this week were in-person, either in the office or over lunch.  On Tuesday, we travelled over near Penn Quarter to meet with Dr. Rachel Cumberbatch at Animal Health Institute (AHI), chatting about her career working in public policy.  We only passed by the building once before quickly turning around, making our ’lost’ count = one.  On Wednesday afternoon, we joined Dr. Kathy Simmons at the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) – which is incidentally not far from AHI.  Hearing from a veterinarian who worked for 10+ years in clinical practice before making the transition to the policy realm was a great perspective.  This time, we circled the same block three times trying to find the building, making our ’lost’ count = two.  Thursday brought lunch with Kevin Cain, the Director of Governmental Affairs at the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).  He shared with us the challenges of placing new graduates in other spaces they’re needed besides clinical practice (e.g., United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service).  We got to visit the AAVMC office space, which is shared with other professional college associations such as the like the American Dental Education Association.  He took us to the penthouse for a gorgeous view of the city on one of the first warm, sunny days (see pictures below).  Luckily, we found our way without getting lost (yay!), but we found another challenge to navigate – one pair of AirPods and one computer microphone shared between two externs in a loud coffee shop.  Not our intended approach to this virtual meeting, but sometimes as veterinarians, you must navigate challenges on the spot.  Thanks to Dr. Valerie Ragan at Virginia-Maryland Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine for understanding!  While we didn’t get lost physically, we were lost technologically, so I’ll make our ’lost’ count = three.  Friday lunch with Dr. Leslie Brooks, an American Association of the Advancement of Science Fellow with the U.S. Agency for International Development, was a perfect round-out for in-person engagements for the week.  We followed up with a virtual meeting with Dr. Chase Crawford from National Institute of Health, including a great conversation about how to optimize fellowships in the future.  My AirPods wouldn’t connect for the first 10 minutes, so I’ll add another half-loss in technology, bringing the total ’lost’ count = 3.5.

Maybe next week, we’ll be better at navigating around the Washington D.C. landscape.  Until then, thankfully we can blame it on being the new “puppies,” as Dr. Kathy Simmons put it.  If I have to keep getting lost in order to hear from veterinarians with incredible career paths, passions, and advice for new graduates, well then, I’ll just continue to make the wrong turn.

Caption This Contest

Caption submitted by John Weigand, Washington State University

Photo submitted by Samantha Lund, Western University of Health Sciences

"A rootin-tootin, butt-scootin, rawhide-lootin, cowboy-suitin good boy"

AVMA Government Relations Externship: Marie Cozzarelli

Getting Lost on the Metro and in Vet Med
By Marie Cozzarelli, Mississippi State University

The second week of my externship with the American Veterinary Medical Association’s DC office was filled with meetings from veterinarians working in public policy. Throughout my time in veterinary school, the focus is preparing veterinarians that plan on going into clinical practice. Refining your ability to manage pancreatitis or efficiently spay a dog or detect a heart murmur are skills most fourth year students are trying to soak up with only two months left until graduation. Meanwhile, I am getting lost on the metro and meeting every veterinarian involved in policy I can. And I love it. In the clinical setting, I can only treat one animal at a time, but in policy I can create a lasting impact that might prevent the disease from needing to be treated in the first place. 

I did not realize how many different jobs a veterinarian could do outside the clinical setting. With the U.S. House of Representatives being out of session this week, a different genre of meetings filled my calendar. This week I met with veterinarians working with United States Agency for International Development, National Institute of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and more! Yes, it is a lot of acronyms, but luckily vet school prepared me for that (I’m looking at you PTE, HCM, and GDV). Meeting with these veterinarians made me realize all the skills I learned in veterinary school I developed unknowingly. As veterinarians we are trained to negotiate, communicate, budget, compartmentalize, and how to use our instincts when responding to emergency situations. Veterinarians working in the government or other non-traditional roles have taken these transferable skills and built upon them. Other skills needed to work in this field include strong writing skills. Science communications in the form of writing and speaking is essential to be an effective advocate of important public health, food security, and food safety issues. 

Another large portion of my week was spent following up with veterinarians across the United States to gauge their interest in advocating for veterinary issues with their state representatives. There is a strength in numbers when it comes to advocating for what our profession needs moving forward. So, while sending letters and making calls to your local representative may feel like a small drop in the pool, it is very meaningful when we all pitch in. This weekend I am going to take a trip out to explore the US National Arboretum and spend some time wandering around! 

Creative Corner

Submitted by Laurel Dhority, Louisiana State University

"Does This Artwork Make My Ears Look Big?"