The unit comes in response to the current veterinary shortage. “This shortage makes it harder for animal welfare organizations to move animals through their facilities,” Dr. Kelly Meyer the director of the Veterinary Medical Center at MSU CVM said, “shelters have to spay and neuter all of their animals before adoption.”
State Veterinarian Nora Wineland definec the shortage as veterinarians “overburdened by high volumes of patients” and difficulty maintaining “adequate staffing to meet the animal healthcare needs in their communities.”
The new mobile unit will travel to animal welfare organizations and shelters around Michigan and help with procedures like spaying and neutering.
Doctorate veterinary medicine students in their first year of clinical rotations staff the unit, along with licensed veterinarians. “Our students [will] gain valuable practical experience with the skills that they’re going to use after graduation,” Dr. Doug Freeman, interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said.
The unit is still developing, and is expected to go out on the road next year.