Community Veterinary Services
Pet Awareness with Students (PAWS)
Mississippi State University is laying an educational foundation for future pet owners. Pet Awareness With Students, or PAWS, is a pilot project initiated by two third-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, students Shannon Vawter of Horn Lake, Katie Ebers of Jackson, and MSU-CVM clinician Dr. Jody Ray. The two students are both also are pursuing a Master’s in Veterinary Science with an emphasis in public Health in MSU’s dual-degree DVM/MVSc program. Dr. Jody Ray has played an instrumental role in the PAWS program, providing the guidance, leadership, and involvement necessary for PAWS to succeed.
The goal of this program is to educate children and expose them to veterinary medicine. The program currently provides age-appropriate lesson for children from kindergarten through sixth grade. Children are exposed to such areas to the basics in veterinary care, animal behavior, and proper pet handling. Of particular importance is educating children about zoonotic diseases (those diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans). The scope of this program is being expanded for the future inclusion of additional schools and ages groups. Short assignments are given to the individual classes to reinforce the important concepts from each lesson. Providing one class weekly, the PAWS program has been well received by the area schools. In fact, PAWS is currently is already fully scheduled for the next few months.
240 Wise Center Drive
PO Box 6100
Mississippi State , MS 39762
(662) 325-3432