Veterinary students will gain practical experience in caring for sheep and cattle onboard livestock vessels when they take part in the livestock export industry’s stockmen training course in Fremantle this week.
Six students from Murdoch, Queensland and Charles Sturt universities will undertake the 3 1/2 day course under a new scholarship program run by MLA and LiveCorp’s Livestock Export Program with the support of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) and the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC).
AVA President Barry Smyth said the program will allow students to gain practical experience in animal handling and husbandry, as well as giving them the opportunity to interact with experienced live export veterinarians and stockmen.
“It’s vital that veterinarians are involved with the livestock export industry, and this program will expose students to important future career possibilities in the rural sector,” said Dr Smyth.
ALEC CEO Lach MacKinnon said animal welfare is critical to the livestock export industry, with veterinarians playing an integral role in maintaining the health and welfare of livestock throughout the export process.
“We have identified the need to educate and expose veterinary students to the industry to ensure we have a pool of skilled veterinarians to work in the trade well into the future, and this program will go a long way to achieving this aim,” said Mr MacKinnon.
The scholarship program will see two students from each of the seven veterinary schools across Australia participating in the stockman training course each year, as well as competing for a $10,000 grant to research an area of interest within the livestock export industry.
The course covers both sheep and cattle and includes lectures, workshops, and practical animal handling sessions. Successful completion of the course achieves provisional on board stockperson accreditation
After the course, each student will write a report about their learning experience, and propose a topic for a small research or operational project. The student with the best written report each year will be awarded the $10,000 grant to undertake their research project.
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For further information contact:
Anna Inglis, Livestock Export Program Communications Manager: 02 9463 9189 or 0416 189 775
Photos available on request.