Title leaves a lot to be desired, but the idea is good...
“She’s definitely not just a dog, she’s family to me.”
Her eyes well up with tears as Kristie Korczyk, animal and nutritional sciences major at West Virginia University, reflects on her relationship with Abbey, the service dog she has been fostering for nearly two years.
“I’m definitely proud of Abbey,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard giving her up.”
But giving her up is precisely the goal, and is just one reason the service dog training program in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design is so significant. The program, established nearly 10 years ago in collaboration with Hearts of Gold – a local program that raises, trains and places service dogs – fulfills several objectives.
“I saw the need for pre-veterinary students to have a hands-on canine course,” said Jean Meade, adjunct professor of animal and nutritional sciences in the WVU Davis College and co-founder of the Human-Animal Bond, the non-profit organization that facilitates the Hearts of Gold program. “Additionally, I wanted to address an area that is a deficit in veterinary training – animal behavior.”
Additionally, Meade said she also saw this as a perfect opportunity for civic engagement for our students as they gain disability awareness and interact with the public during their animal behavior training, while gaining hands-on, canine experience for their veterinary applications.