Dog Fostering (13 months): - In 2020/2021, I was a dog foster volunteer for a local animal foster/rescue organization. During this time, I fostered and provided care for 6 dogs rescued from hoarding/abandonment situations. - By providing a healthy home environment and routinely allocating time to work on behavioral issues through consistent training exercises (leash walking, crate training, potty training, obedience commands, etc), I was able to reduce/eliminate problematic behaviors and encourage normalization/socialization, which contributed to their successful adoptions. - Of the dogs I fostered, two were senior dogs with impaired mobility due to paralysis, and two were hoarding situation dogs with extreme behavior problems. Extensive clinical/volunteer experience as a pre-vet student (~3 years): - I accrued 300+ volunteer hours working with dogs/cats in various vet clinics/hospitals, ASPCA, and animal rescue organizations. - I acquired 2 semesters of mentored clinical experience, receiving formal training from a licensed veterinarian, for academic credit (i.e., in a strictly graded/performance-evaluated environment). I was trained to perform tasks similar in complexity to vet technicians’ responsibilities (e.g. physical examinations, administering oral/injected medications, parasitic diagnostic lab testing, assisting with neuter/spay surgeries and dental cleaning, surgical procedure anesthesia monitoring, assisted xray diagnostic imaging, owner-requested euthanasia). Miscellaneous animal care professional experience (~2 years): - Job responsibilities while employed as a research associate at an academic research lab at the U included routine management of the team’s mouse colony population.