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Students brought their families and friends to the annual Adoption Day Sunday, which featured dogs, cats, and rabbits up for adoption who had been spayed and neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and given obedience training.
Vet Tech students who hosted the event, introduced families to the animals and drew names to see who would get to adopt their chosen animal. Winners were asked to pay up front and wait two weeks before the animals went home. However, no cats or rabbits were taken home and are still available for adoption.
Petey, a small red-haired dog, will be going home to red-haired eleven-year-old Erin, who lost her dog last Christmas.
"I said in the car, 'we need to make a connection', and Petey just laid down and waited for her," said her mother, Monica Dyer-Wheeler. "Erin loved our old dog."
Many vet students cheered when they found out Erin would be taking Petey home. "They were a perfect pair," said Christen Leister, 23.
While Erin's sister was a CRC student, others like Bernadette Hodges and her children were not involved in the school but dropped by after seeing the signs and balloons while driving past the school.
Hodges' children screamed and ran to hug Hazel, a large black dog, when their mother's name was announced.
"She's a neat dog, she's really good with the kids," said Hodges.
Like Hodges, Tamiah Torrence, a 21-year-old medical student, brought her son to the fair.
"It was his first time interacting with a dog," said Torrence, who was missing when names were called and was not able to adopt.
Others attended because of interest in the program.
"I love animals, I like to visit them and let them know they're loved," said Amanda McDaniel, 21, who plans to major in veterinary technology.
Veterinary technicians are "basically nurses for pets," said Courtney Sabler, 23, a first-year student in the program.
Stehpanie Mountain, a second-year student, said each vet tech student is assigned an animal to take care of and play with. While they try to socialize them out in the school, she said there are not enough students on staff.
"We try to get them to play with other animals so they get socialized," she said.
Several of the dogs played together, licked each other and sat together peacefully.
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