Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA) student Emily Weber interned at Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital Resort and Spa in Laurel, MD, during the summer of 2014 and she continues to work there now around her class schedule. Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital Resort and Spa hired Weber as a shift supervisor to care for dogs and cats. As an Agricultural Business Management major with a strong interest in animals, Weber accepted the position because she saw the job as a natural fit given the years of experience caring for her own pets. She also felt prepared for this position since she had previously been employed by Dr. Sallie Morris, one of the Rocky Gorge' s partners.
Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital Resort and Spa is a multi-floor facility with the hospital on the upper level and a complete grooming and boarding facility on the lower level, both which Weber says “required a lot of cleaning and maintaining.” Weber says she was put in charge of organizing senior walks for elderly dogs that “needed to get out and move around every day in order to maintain their health.”
This summer, Weber, who is interested in animal health, had a chance to work with an outbreak of kennel cough. Although all of the dogs boarding at the facility are required to have Bordetella, the vaccine for kennel cough, Weber explained that there was an outbreak across the Maryland-Virginia region. She was responsible for tracking each infected animal and determining the origin of the virus and how the animal got it. She enjoyed the scientific aspect of her job and believes further studies are being done because some signs indicate the disease is becoming resistance to the vaccine.
After completing her studies at the IAA, Weber plans acquire a long-term position working with animals. She says, “The IAA is a great Institution here on the campus of University of Maryland. It can help fulfill dreams to anyone in the applied agriculture career field, like it has for me, and all of my other fellow classmates.”
