On April 7, horse owners from across southwest Virginia came to the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine for the area’s first-ever free gelding clinic for stallions. The event was a joint effort by VMRCVM and the Unwanted Horse Council, and funded by the KT Archer Scholarship Fund.
“Operation Gelding” resulted in the castration of 17 colts and stallions, ranging from weanlings to senior citizens. The horses were referred to the clinic by local vets. Several of the referring veterinarians teamed up with more than 75 veterinary students for the clinic, which was both a service for the local horse community and an educational event for the students. They were overseen by VMRCVM’s Dr. Julie Settlage, who acted as a clinician and advisor.
“Our ultimate goal is to help reduce the numbers of unwanted horses in southwest Virginia,” said Patti Brown, a veterinary candidate in the VMRCVM class of 2014 who organized the clinic along with fellow student Kelly Miller. “Safe, free gelding hasn’t been an option for many stallion owners, so we’re very happy that we were the first to offer it in southwest Virginia.”
Brown plans to organize the clinic again for next year.
The organizers of Operation Gelding would like to thank:
Vet Clinics:
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- Bold Springs Veterinary Service – Jason Wall
- Animal Medical Services – Renee Sykes
- Equine Field Services
- Bouncing Wonders Mobile Veterinary Services – Victoria Graham
- Clover Creek Animal Health – Tanya Hatchett
- Christie Boyd
- Latitude 36 Mobile Veterinary Services – Kim Gemeinhardt
- Wray Clinic of Veterinary Medicine – Aaron Lucas
- Veterinary Services – Rob Bell
Volunteer Veterinarians:
- Rob Bell
- Tanya Hatchett
- Kim Gemeinhardt
- Christine King
Companies:
- Pfizer
- VMRCVM
- Ben’s Catering
In-House Veterinarians:
- Earl Gaughan
- Becky Funk
- Scott Wilson
- Jen Larson
- Virginia Maxwell
- Katie Wilson
- Natasha Hovanessian
- Celeste Blumerich
- Kent Scarratt
- Linda Dahlgren
- Noah Pavlisko
- Maria Killos
- David Hodgson
- Julie Settlage
Technicians:
- Katie Reuss
- Heidi Philips
- Robin Bell
MDL Staff:
- Angie Roberts
- Shelly Threlkeld
Front Desk:
- Amanda Ratcliffe
- Ashley Snider
