91制片厂

Jackie Buckley was an inner-city kid. When she was growing up, there was maybe one tree on her whole block. As a young child, her family lived in apartments; pets weren鈥檛 allowed. Later, they moved into a house and she finally got to have a dog, and she was so excited, she says it was like when other kids wish for a pony and get it.

It鈥檚 no wonder then that her family still doesn鈥檛 know what to make of her decision to come to 91制片厂 where she is majoring in medical veterinary science.

As a member of the CREAM program that manages 91制片厂鈥檚 dairy herd, Buckley has learned how to feed and milk cows, and how to muck and re-bed their stalls. Oh, and she鈥檚 also certified in artificial insemination. And, a member of the Dairy Club.

鈥淚 was 18 years old before I even saw my first cow,鈥� Buckley says. 鈥淢y family keeps saying, 鈥榃ho are you?鈥欌��

Who she is is an articulate, laser-focused young woman who doesn鈥檛 remember a time when she didn鈥檛 want to be a veterinarian. The steps she has taken while at 91制片厂 have helped her define her goal of specializing on small animal care.

During the summer of 2012, Buckley spent a month in South Africa, starting in Johannesburg and traveling to Pretoria and Kruger National Park in Skukuza. In Soweto, she helped give distemper vaccines and de-worming pills to the vast dog population. At a lion park, Buckley learned how to judge an animal鈥檚 condition by the tracks it left behind.

鈥淵ou can tell the gender of an animal by its paw prints. And you can tell how they feel by how they walk; if they鈥檙e running with their claws out, you know they鈥檙e stressed,鈥� she says.

The group she was with volunteered to perform a necropsy on a large boa at a reptile sanctuary, where they learned about the reptile and other cold-blooded animals that call South Africa home. They did several game drives, and spent most of their time in Kruger Park doing game watches.

鈥淲e learned a lot about conservation,鈥� she says.

And about poaching. And that rhino horns go for about $60,000 a kilo, leading to the slaughter of hundreds of rhinoceroses every year. And, even though it鈥檚 illegal to sell ivory, poachers still kill thousands of elephants a year, Buckley says.

鈥淓lephants are incredible animals. To stand next to one is so leveling鈥攂eing so close to something so big and just feel so small,鈥� she says.

The last three days in South Africa, Buckley worked with a wildlife veterinarian, rising at 4 a.m., witnessing the correct way鈥攖he safe way-- to approach an animal, and how to treat one who is injured. She also was beside the veterinarian in a helicopter during darting practice, a method used to tranquilize an animal.

鈥淵ou have about the amount of time it takes to get on the ground and run to the animal to decide what to do,鈥� Buckley says. 鈥淚t takes a lot of people to treat a wild animal. You can鈥檛 weigh them so you have to guess so you don鈥檛 give them too much or too little medication.鈥�

The South African trip solidified what she had been beginning to suspect from her studies here in New Hampshire: that she wants to work with small animals not big ones. She credits 91制片厂 for providing her the hands-on opportunities that convinced her.

鈥淚鈥檓 from New York. I could have gone to Cornell but I wouldn鈥檛 have gotten the experience I wanted. The dairy barn, the horse barn, the (New Hampshire Veterinary) diagnostic lab that I鈥檝e had access to here have all taught me things you can鈥檛 learn in a classroom,鈥� Buckley says.

鈥淵ou can read that when a cow has ketosis, it has sweet smelling breath but you can鈥檛 smell it in a textbook. You have to open up an animal to know, 鈥楥an I do this?鈥欌�� she says.

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