Georgia Magazine - January 2023 - 17

Left: When her English cream retriever, Camp, needed an advanced
diagnosis and care, Dedra Casey took him to the clinic at the UGA
Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Athens. Below left: From left,
students Jake Bowman, Zachary Collette and Melodie Broom take
X-rays of a horse's feet at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine's
equine teaching and research farm in Watkinsville.
Cases like Camp's are not unusual for the staff at the teaching
hospital. Other pet owners and animal advocacy groups also
know the value of the resources at the veterinary college.
" We may be asked to take in a retriever that's been abused,
Training for future
veterinarians at the
UGA College of Veterinary
Medicine is immersive
and hands-on. The
teaching hospital and
the emergency clinic
provide opportunities for
students to work directly
with animal patients.
is very ill or has been given up because its owner cannot care for
[it] anymore, " says Elizabeth Laney, medical director for Adopt a
Golden Atlanta, a canine rescue organization.
The nonprofit organization
finds new homes for
nearly 225 retrievers annually.
It also shares resources for
adopters, including information
about the veterinary care
available at the University of
Georgia, where pets can be
treated for advanced ophthalmic
issues, heart conditions,
musculoskeletal problems
and internal diseases.
" The resources at the
teaching hospital and their
emergency clinic have helped
us save many dogs, whether
they have a complex medical issue or need a specialized diagnosis
not available to the veterinarians we work with across the
state, " Laney says.
It's not just about pets
The college instructs students in providing health care for
large animals as well as pets and frequently treats horses, cows,
goats and other livestock.
" The large-animal hospital treats all manner of animals,
treatment, then brought him back to their rented house to take
care of him. At the end of the month, he was released.
" Armed with prescription medications, we were able to
take him home, " she says. " I take him for checkups to adjust
his medicines when needed, and I'm happy to say that now
he's [back to his old self] again. At his most recent visit in early
November, I was told he was neurologically normal-words I
never thought I would hear. He gets around a little slower than
he used to, but his personality is back. I can't thank everyone
enough-from the doctors to the vet techs and students-for all
they did. "
from horses and cattle to small ruminants, such as sheep, goats
and llamas, and the occasional exotic animal at area zoos and
preserves, " says Dr. Ben Brainard, director of clinical research
at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. " Specialties include
large animal surgery, emergency/critical care, internal
medicine and dentistry as well as a field service practice for
visits to local farms for routine animal care, preventive health
and herd management. "
Horses account for the bulk of the teaching hospital's largeanimal
practice-approximately 75 percent of the 3,500 annual
animal visits to the hospital-but the staff also treats smaller
companion animals such as birds, ferrets and guinea pigs.
" The exotics service primarily works with nontraditional
companion pets, birds, reptiles, small mammals such as rabbits,
plus amphibians and even the occasional fish, " he says. " For
these specialists the majority of their caseload are pets, although
they will occasionally treat injured wildlife.
www.georgiamagazine.org 17
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Georgia Magazine - January 2023

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