AVC’s 27th annual Open House a big success!

The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI opened its doors to the public on Saturday, September 26, welcoming up to 2,800 people to its 27th annual Open House.During his first Open House as dean of AVC, Dr. Greg Keefe greeted visitors—from infants to grandparents—at the main doors of the College.

“Open House was a wonderful success,” says Dr. Keefe. “The smiles on the faces of the children were contagious as they showed off their bandaged teddy bears. But it was not just the kids who enjoyed Open House; I overheard parents commenting about how interesting AVC is and how they wanted to come back to see it again. Open House is a great way to say thank you to the community that supports the College and our students so well throughout the year. Congratulations to Amy Bullerwell, student coordinator of Open House, and her army of student volunteers.”

This year’s event featured the always-popular children’s activity centre with a teddy bear clinic, gowning and gloving like a surgeon, face painting and animal balloons; nail-clipping and clicker-training demonstrations; the parade of dog breeds, a wide variety of animals from poultry and pigs to hamsters and hedgehogs; and exhibits by community partners such as the PEI Humane Society, 4-H, the Cat Action Team, and Maritime Greyhound Dog Rescue. New this year were short seminars about first aid for pets and protecting pets from poisons. Let’s Talk Science and the UPEI Department of Physics also mounted interactive demonstrations and displays.

AVC’s Open House is one of the largest, most successful open houses in Atlantic Canada.