Teaching animal handling to veterinary students at Massey University, New Zealand

The veterinary program at the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand, is 4.5 years long. Animal handling and restraint are taught to first-year veterinary students via lectures and practical sessions. Students are taught to catch, restrain, and hold the five important domesticated species (horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, and cats) in a series of five practical sessions, each lasting about three hours. Safety is emphasized. Students are taught in groups of 10-12, and generally the tutors demonstrate the various techniques of restraint and then supervise students as they carry them out. Each student's ability to handle and restrain each species is evaluated. Students must be considered proficient with each species before being allowed to handle animals in clinics. Students are taught how to catch and restrain birds, laboratory animals, farm deer, and pigs later in the program.