LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- Friends of Campbell County Animals (FCCA) is set to receive a Petco Love RVT Scholarship at Penn Foster. Petco Love, a national nonprofit organization, is taking a proactive approach to tackle the Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) shortage by launching the Petco Love Registered Veterinary Technician Scholarship Fund with Penn Foster, an innovative online learning provider.

This scholarship fund aims to address the growing concerns surrounding lack of access to care by increasing the number of registered veterinary technicians serving the most vulnerable pets, those at animal shelters, and those whose pet parents struggle financially. The Petco Love RVT Scholarship Fund at Penn Foster bridges the gap in the nonprofit veterinary workforce shortage by enabling training for approximately 100 candidates currently working at animal welfare organizations who aspire to become credentialed veterinary technicians.

“We will use this Vet Tech Scholarship from Petco Love to enhance the capabilities of a shelter staff member by enabling them to earn their Veterinary Technician Associate Degree from Penn Foster. This will allow us to expand our clinic program and provide additional care to our shelter pets, community pets, and reduce our costs,” said Patricia Siwinski, Shelter Director of FCCA. “This investment will help FCCA grow its programs to increase our low-cost spay/neuter and low-cost vaccination programs for the residents of Campbell County, Tennessee,” added Siwinski.

“We are regularly facing overcapacity issues at the Campbell County shelter that we operate for our community and expanding our spay/neuter program will help address a key underlying problem of animal overpopulation. This scholarship will also help our low-cost vaccination program and enhance the overall health of the pets in Campbell County. We are very grateful that Petco Love continues to support FCCA’s initiatives to greatly impact the health and lifesaving efforts for our pets.”

FCCA is a nonprofit organization that manages and oversees the daily operations of the Campbell County Animal Shelter for Campbell County. Their purpose is to preserve animal life through humane sheltering and finding homes for the thousands of pets who enter the shelter every year. Since 2015, they have cared for over 24,000 pets, spay/neutered over 3,300 pets, and provided low-cost vaccines to over 4,000 pets in Campbell County. These accomplishments were achieved through the extensive new programs launched by FCCA and through the partnership with Petco Love. They are pleased that these efforts have resulted in increasing the live-release rate for the pets of Campbell County to 87% over the last three years.

A national nonprofit, Petco Love is leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested nearly $400 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations — across North America, with 6.8 million pets adopted and counting.

For more information about Friends of Campbell County, TN Animals, visit their website.

Learn more about Petco Love and about this scholarship online. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/24/2024-6AM)

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