Gracias! Merci! Grazie!

After three weeks in three different countries, our time in Europe is complete. We wanted to thank all of those involved to make this trip possible!

To our wonderful hosts in Spain:

• Xavier Manteca and his welfare team at The Autonomous University of Barcelona and Vet School
• IRTA (research and technology, food and agriculture)
• CAAD Marisme Animal Shelter
• The Barcelona Zoo

Our wonderful hosts in France and Italy:

• IRSEA in France
• IZSAM in Italy
• The University of Teramo Veterinary Medical School in Italy

Of course we can not forget to thank Penn Vet and our trip advisor Dr. Carlo Siracusa, who have trusted us with their professional network, which without this trip would not be possible.

We have all learned so much in a short period of time. This trip provides a platform for Penn Vet students to travel abroad not only to experience different cultures but to learn from the experts in Animal Welfare in order to integrate these practices into our future careers. The international networking and potential for future collaborations in our careers is priceless. Animal Welfare is a baseline practice that every Veterinarian should have knowledge on. Its a true honor to be able to learn from those on the forefront of developing and expanding this knowledge through various forms of research.

We also would like to thank all of you for following along and reading our blog throughout the trip!

This program started out of a student inspiration award grant allotment planned for three years. As this is the third year of the program we will be in search of how to financially continue this program into the future. We are always in search of partnerships and sponsors to keep such a unique learning experience alive for future students at Penn Vet.

We are always open to suggestions about animal welfare/behavior/policy learning opportunities to continue the growth of this program, so please be in touch with any you might have. Pending funding to continue, we have ideas to expand the trip to another European country (possibly Netherlands, Germany, Romania or the UK).

Thank you again for traveling along with us, we hope you enjoyed!

Adios, Au revoir, Ciao!

-Christina, Carleigh, Emily, Hayden, Rebecca, Stephanie