MCCCD Program Description

Animal Care Skills I Laboratory

Course: VET101LL

First Term: 2025 Fall

Laboratory 2.0 Credit(s) 2.0 Period(s) 2.0 Load
Subject Type: Occupational
Load Formula: T - Lab Load

Description: Principles of daily animal husbandry, socialization, enrichment, and clinical care of animals housed in campus facilities. Introductory veterinary technology students work on building teamwork, communication and veterinary technical skills encountered in the daily operations of a multi-species veterinary facility.

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Perform novice-level standard operating procedures for animal care. (I, III) 2. Perform novice-level standard operating procedures for veterinary facilities care. (II, III) 3. Describe basic principles for animal behavior for dogs, cats, rodents, rabbits, and ruminants species. (IV) 4. Demonstrate low stress handling techniques for dogs, cats, rodents, and rabbits. (IV)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Animal care standard operating procedures A. Orientation to lab, animal care facilities B. Routine animal care and husbandry requirements 1. Dogs 2. Cats 3. Rabbits 4. Rats II. Facility maintenance A. Principles of disinfection B. Inventory management C. Record keeping D. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations E. Care and safe use of cleaning equipment III. Daily veterinary care of the teaching animal colony A. Performance of animal care according to standard practices B. Medical communication with peers and supervisors C. Working as a team to complete task IV. Applying basic principles of animal behavior A. Basic principles of animal behavior B. Low stress handling techniques for dogs and cats C. Low stress handling of rodents and rabbits

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: February 25, 2025

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.