Joliet Junior College partners with local rescues to help pets get homes

Angela Borrelli, president of a Manhattan-based animal rescue, is thrilled with its partnership with Joliet Junior College.

Borrelli said Forget Me Not Animal Rescue has four of its cats in JJC’s veterinary medical technology program. The program provides medical care for the cats, along with spay or neuter and microchipping “at no cost to us,” Borrelli said.

Students in JJC’s veterinary medical technology program gain hands-on experience caring for animals from several local shelters and rescues, according to Joliet Junior College’s website. At the end of the semester, JJC helps find homes for the animals.

“It’s a great service for the community and homeless animals. Students are able to learn, which is critical right now.”

—  Anna Payton, administrator, Will County Animal Protection Services

Borrelli said every cat Forget Me Not Animal Rescue has sent to JJC has found a home.

“This partnership has been a great benefit to us,” she said.

JJC partners with Forget Me Not Animal Rescue and Joliet Township Animal Control for cats and Will County Animal Protection Services and Homes for Animal Heroes for the dogs, according to JJC.

Rescues benefit students and animals

Marissa Erickson, veterinary nursing manager for JJC’s veterinary medical technology program, said animals in the program typically receive a diagnostic workup, bloodwork, fecal testing, urinalysis and cytology.

“If they need dental, we do a dental,” she said.

Erickson said animals with certain medical issues may also be accepted into the program. “We’ve had dogs with demodex and they got to learn and see that firsthand,” Erickson said.

Demodex is mites that live in or near hair follicles of mammals.

JJC usually doesn’t accept pregnant animals, although occasionally an unknown pregnancy is discovered as it advances, Erickson said. Pregnant animals usually go to foster families. JJC also doesn’t accept heartworm-positive dogs because the environment “is stressful for them,” Erickson said.

“But if one comes in, we’ll house it for a little bit until we find them a foster home or the rescue is able to take them back,” she said.

Students may work with animals that have behavior issues and learn animals’ individual mannerisms and personality traits – if they like toys or treats, for example. This is useful knowledge when facilitating adoptions, Erickson said.

The ideal age range for animals is 6 months to a year to up to age 7, and last semester JJC accepted 12 dogs and 12 cats into its veterinary medical technology program, Erickson said. This semester, JJC has eight of each.

“We can work with any breed,” she said, adding that beagles and pit bulls are more prevalent with their partner rescues.

The space for JJC’s veterinary medical technology program will soon undergo remodeling, which will also increase the space and the number of animals they can accept per semester.

Animals not adopted by the end of the semester return to their respective rescues, which doesn’t happen too often, Erickson said. Most of this semester’s animals have been adopted, according to Nikki Wilcox, animal care supervisor of JJC’s veterinary medical technology program.

Adopting from the program

Wilcox facilitates the adoption process and monitors the animals’ health and medical records to ensure accuracy. She recommended interested adopters visit JJC Veterinary Technology Program Adoptions on Facebook. There, people will find photos and descriptions of available animals as well as an application form.

People can also contact Wilcox at 815-280-2662 or rwilcox@jjc.edu or visit jjc.edu/vet-tech-animal-adoption.

JJC will review applications and see if the potential adopter is a good fit for the animal and then the school will arrange a meeting between the applicant and the animal, she said. If the home already has children and/or other animals, a meet-and-greet will be scheduled with them, too, Wilcox said.

If everything goes well, JJC sends the information to the rescue to complete the adoption process, she said. People don’t actually adopt animals from JJC; they adopt them from the rescue, but JJC is still a huge part of the process.

“I’m really proud of getting them homes,” Wilcox said.

Anna Payton, administrator for Will County Animal Protection Services, said her organization has partnered with the JJC’s veterinary medical technology program for a year and sends four to eight dogs each semester.

So far, all dogs have found their “forever homes” through the program, she said.

“It’s a great service for the community and homeless animals,” Payton said. “Students are able to learn, which is critical right now.”

That’s because the U.S. is experiencing a national shortage of veterinary technicians.

“This is a very much needed position and very high in demand,” Payton said. “I appreciate what JJC is doing as far as providing students the opportunity to learn and be able to work in that field.”