TEMPLE, Texas – They’re trimming nails, giving baths and cleaning ears.

Temple High School students are taking advantage of what they’ve learned in their Veterinary Science classes and are using it to raise money for future field trips and competitions.

Temple High Senior, Bianca Garcia, who is in the Vet Science Program as a Certified Veterinary Assistant (CVA) Trainee said she is glad its influencing what she may end up pursuing as a career.

“This class definitely has given me a little taste of what my future could be like, so I think that has helped me a lot in deciding what I want to do,” Garcia said.

For many of these students at Temple High School, working towards a future in animal medicine is what drives them to fundraise.

“To me that means that when I’m going to college and if I’m working on either becoming a veterinary technician or maybe my pre-vet degree, I can work in the clinic as well and start my hours,” CVA Trainee, Abby Denman said.

Agriculture Sciences Teacher, Jaycee Thompson, who is also a vet technician, said the program is popular to all students, but provides real life experience to those that want to make it a career.

“Getting to handle all these different animals that are just like people, they all have different personalities. This class is beneficial to all students,” Thompson said.

In order to raise money for scrubs, competitions and a field trip to Texas A&M’s School of Veterinary Medicine, they welcomed pets to their own grooming service — Wildcat Pet Spa.

“It’s very stressful, but we got everything done and the animals are still safe and we’re safe, so I think it went pretty well,” Garcia said.

They are accepting donations and will continue the Wildcat Pet Spa every Friday between school hours to help reach their fundraising goals. For now, it is just open to Temple ISD pets, but depending upon their schedules they may open it up to the community.

These students are passionate about pets and said it’s their teacher who influences them.

“That makes me feel really good. That’s what I am here for. I want to give them an experience that they can’t get anywhere else,” Thompson said.

The program for students starts their freshman year and once the student finishes their vet hours and clinical rotations in addition to passing the exam, they can graduate high school as a Certified Veterinary Assistant.