Photo By Airman 1st Class Erin Baxter | Kristina Mosher, veterinary technician at the Veterinary Treatment Facility, holds a...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii—Not everyone who works on base wears the same uniform. Some wake up each day and lace up combat boots, while others put on scrubs.
Kristina Mosher is a veterinary technician at the Veterinary Treatment Facility. She assists with everyday tasks at the clinic, such as drawing blood, administering vaccines, reading fecal matter samples, and filling prescriptions.
She’s been a veterinary technician for 12 years now, through the good and bad.
“Being a technician is rewarding in many ways,” Mosher said. “Some people think we just play with puppies and kittens all day, but I really enjoy actually helping the sick ones.”
Veronica Delacruz-Araki, another Veterinary Technician, said for her, one of the hardest aspects of the job is the animals being unable to communicate issues.
“These pet owners are distraught, and they don’t know what’s going on either, so you just have to work through all of the emotions and find some solid facts,” Delacruz-Araki said. “It’s kind of like detective-work. You really think it’s one thing, but then you have to start back at square one.”
For Mosher, it’s important to be able to keep someone’s pet in good health for the animals as well as their owner.
“Specifically for service members, I think animals are a very important part of their recovery from deployments,” Mosher said. “Here on the installation, without us they’d probably have to pay more to help their animals, or they wouldn’t be able to afford to fly them from different duty stations.”
“Some people treat animals like they’re their children,” Mosher said. “If we have really good bonds with our clients, we’re able to give them a level of comfort that you may not be able to get everywhere.”
Veterinary technicians help keep families on base happy, because for many service members, their pet is a part of their family.
The veterinary clinic on base is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. To make an appointment and visit the clinic, clients should ensure they have a complete registration packet for their pet, their pet’s medical and vaccination history, and a valid military ID. For more information, please call 808 449-6481.
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2019 16:46 |
| Story ID: | 349135 |
| Location: | JBPHH, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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