We Celebrate Life.

“It’s nice to get experience here,” said Valente.

While in Canada, Cooper and Valente were able to tour in the Toronto area and also travelled to Southampton, with Valente remarking it was “a bit of a triangle.”

The three students also did extramural studies together before, including working with sheep in Northern Ireland.

John Casey, volunteer co-ordinator with WETRA, said they serve close to 200 individuals each week with equine assisted services.

Casey said they were happy to host the three University of Edinburgh students to help in their veterinary studies.

“Gavin was my contact,” said Casey. “He reached out to me in January. I spoke directly with him and we thought it would be a great opportunity.”

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It was the second time in Canada for Cooper, but first time in this area, as his previous visit was in British Columbia and Alberta.

It was the first time in Canada, but possibly not the last for Valente, as she noted she would like to be a veterinarian in Canada.

Cooper said he will likely pursue his career in the United Kingdom while Shamandy envisions working with his father, who is also a veterinarian.

“It’s nice,” Cooper said of Canada. “We expected it to be warm but it’s pretty toasty.”

Casey stated WETRA hopes to build more partnerships with other colleges and universities to create a positive learning environment for students in veterinary programs, but other fields of study as well.

“They could have gone anywhere and we are honoured they chose WETRA,” said Casey. “We are happy they partnered with WETRA. We try to educate as much as we can.”

WETRA is located at 3323 North Malden Road.

For more information on their programming, call 519-726-7682 or visit www.wetra.ca.