Work experience in abbatoir

with my offer, Edinburgh sent me a threatening letter telling me that if I was sissy to bugger off and leave them alone, as they didn't want any bleeding hearts or animal liberationists on their course, and if I couldn't cope with slaughterhouses I should stay at home a write poetry. Or something along those lines...

You can get your student loan paid off in like..one summer apparently.

It's worth just [apparently] nipping up to scotland [I don't know why - this guy just told me scotland] getting licenced, then spending your summer doing it - earning a crapload of cash for student loan payoff, then high-tailing it back to practice

Lol mine was dutch...anyone else seeing pattern here?!

The reason that there are so many foreign vets in the meat industry is that they have too many vet schools producing too many vets and that means the salary, benefits etc that a vet recieve (in Spain etc) are lower than here in the UK. The UK has just the right number of vets at the moment, and thats why I'm very unhappy about Nottingham opening a New Vet school! Soon some of us will be forced to work in slaughterhouses in god knows where.

Are you a current vet student or a 2005 entrant?
Which vet school are you in or going to?

Im a first year at Glasgow, but I'd feel the same if i was applying this year, even if it meant reduced chances of a place on a vet med course

Ohh a Glasgow first year, you could probably answer a few questions for me.
I am almost set on putting Glasgow as first choice, however I heard rumours that Glasgow is very much large animal orientated, have you found this to be true? At the minute I am tending towards the small animal side, and I know every Vet School has to teach the same basics but I was slightly worried by the comments.
Any advice is appreciated.

first of all ive gotta say i cant really compare as obviously ive only been at Glasgow. We've not really done any practical work with small animals (unless you count cutting them up lol) there is compulsary "kennel duty" where u need to walk the small animal hospital greyhounds and feed/clean them out kind of thing.
however i think that in most of the schools you wont get to work with SAs much untill your clinical years. and like you say the school has to train you to be competant in both large and small work.
don't worry about having a preference, it'll probably disapear when you get here - i used to want to do small animal but now i want to do mixed or maybe only large.
'Mon the sheep

I'm an Edinburgh first year and I haven't done anything with small animals yet either (yeah apart from cutting them up XD)... We've had one practical with rodents so far (and apparently the only practical ever with those small furry things!), and we are doing cats and dogs next year... Really don't know anything about the other places...

Just to give an idea of the animal contact at Bristol, we have animal handling sessions every Thursday afternoon in first year. We've done cows, sheep, horses, cats, dogs, numerous small furries, lamb castration and tailing, calves, pigs and goats. We also have one week compulsory handling training, where you have to work in the animal barn in Bristol (ie not at Langford) and handle the horse, cow, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, rats, gerbils, budgies, pigeons, chickens, ferrets, chinchillas, dog, cat and snakes. We have quite a few animals hidden away in the centre of Bristol! Then you have an assessment to make sure you can handle and sex small furries.

I guess you guys who haven't done much handling don't have animal based vivas in your end of year exams?