P.E.I. vet student helping animals have happier, healthier lives
CBC
Nima Morady cares deeply about the welfare of animals.
The fourth year Atlantic Veterinary College student was recently recognized with a Compassionate Care Scholarship of $3,000.
The awards from the Humane Society Veterinary Association go to students who show dedication and commitment to animal welfare, rights or protection issues.
"How people treat their animals is kind of a reflection of who they are," Morady said.
"So some of the things that animals are going through is because of us, if not most of it. It can be through someone destroying their habitats or someone not necessarily knowing how to take care of the hamster they just brought home ... I think it's important for us to know more about it because the more we know, the more we can do."
One of Morady's passions has been improving the lives of the teaching beagles at the college.
Morady said students use the beagles for things such as physical exams. And AVC is reducing the number of beagles living at the school, which Morady supports.
"I would just rather see our school not have to have these animals," he said.
"But I will say that the school and the students do a great job at making sure these animals have a great experience while they're here … and hopefully long-term we don't have beagles anymore."
Morady adopted one of the beagles himself, whose name is Herschel. He says students who are part of the animal enrichment club — of which he was president — spend as much time as they can with the dogs.
"They just love being cuddled and stuff like that … A lot of students spend a lot of their free time working with the beagles."
Morady is from Montreal and even before he started studying at AVC, he was thinking about helping improve animals' lives.
He spent time in Ghana with Veterinarians Without Borders, working on small scale farms with animals such as goats, dogs and fowl.
Morady competed in the American Veterinary Medical Association's animal welfare contest twice as part of the college's Animal Welfare Club.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.