Vet Tech student Ashley Hermanson, holds an infinite amount of passion for animals, as she previously housed 17 cats at one time, while she worked as a foster parent.

Some would stay for only a month, while others would stay for eight or nine. The hardest part was “feeding them all separately and giving them back since you get so attached to them,” explained Hermanson.

Before Madison College, Hermanson worked at a local animal shelter and grew an interest in the vet tech position. She enrolled in Madison College’s Vet Tech program, and will graduate in May of 2018.

“From day one, we are working with the animals. It’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come in the past three semesters,” said Hermanson.

Her preferred class is surgical nursing, as it is a very hands-on course and you are participating in surgery from 7:30 a.m. until surgery is done.

The student techs participate in catheterizing, spaying, neuters, dentals, assisting with surgery, and handing off instruments during surgery.

The techs do procedures that need to be done before the animals go into shelters. Doing it at Madison College means that it is free of charge, the students gain an abundant amount of experience, and the animals are well taken care of.

Animals in the program come from all over Wisconsin. Some even came from Texas when the recent hurricanes hit. “Where ever there are dogs and cats available, we ask for animals,” said Hermanson.

When the animals leave the college, they go to shelters to get adopted. Dogs get adopted fairly well, while cats, on the other hand, are harder to find homes for. Hermanson and her vet tech team highly recommend spaying and neutering animals so that more animals are not born without homes.