Yes, the Army also has a veterinary clinic. One of them it’s in Fort Carson and it just held its third annual Teddy Bear Clinic. And it helped lots of kids.
Soldiers from the Fort Carson Veterinary Clinic held the event from May 22 through June 5, the US Army official site reported. The participants helped military children by fixing their damaged stuffed animals.
The Soldiers fixed about 50 stuffed animals and made them look like new. “The event provides veterinary Soldiers cross-training skills by practicing various stitch patterns that prepare them to operate in a deployed environment”, the official statement says.
“The training specifically gives the veterinary food inspector and the animal care specialist Soldiers the skills to assist the technicians during emergency trauma scenarios in their daily work and while deployed. “Chester,” a black and white cat; “Snowy,” a snow leopard; and “Jojo,” a gray teddy bear, were just a few of the stuffed animals that needed repairs. Each toy was tagged with the animal’s name, child’s name and contact information to ensure its proper return”, the Army says.
“I like doing these ones,” said Spc. Holly Jeansonne, animal care specialist, Fort Carson Veterinary Clinic, referring to an extremely torn up pink elephant. “About three years ago, I fixed a teddy bear whose face was ripped off. I’m going to add some stuffing and sutures. It won’t be too bad.”
Maria Cooper, a family member, came in with her daughter to pick up their pink teddy bear “Princess” and her son’s stuffed animals, a frog and a pig.
“My daughter liked the idea of bringing them to an animal hospital,” said Cooper. “She watches a lot of ‘Doc McStuffins.'”
“It is a good way for us to get involved with our community and show them what the vet clinic does,” said Capt. Isabelle Gerbatsch, veterinarian and intern. “Right now, there are a lot of Soldiers deploying from Fort Carson, and if we can bring a smile to any child’s face when they receive their teddy bear back in one piece that makes this whole clinic worth it”, she added.
