An inside look at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School’s new animal companion building.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
NORTHAMPTON — A new animal companion building is officially open at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High school.
The building, which was unveiled in early October, will accommodate the school’s animal science students by teaching them how to best kennel, interact with, bathe and groom dogs and cats, according to Smith Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker.
“Companion Animals are a thriving sector of the Animal Science program,” Linkenhoker said, regarding why the school decided to build this. “Many adults have pets at home and it’s imperative that animal care businesses within the region have access to future employees who have the knowledge and skills needed to care for these animals.”
According to Linkenhoker, once the “Companion Animals” concentration of Animal Science is officially unveiled, students in the Animal Science program will be exposed to these animals early on in their education, and then will have the ability to choose the concentration during their junior and senior years.
“Our agricultural programs are our flagship programs here at SVAHS,” Linkenhoker said. “Our school was founded with the mission to educate students about agriculture. By expanding our concentrations and programing within our Animal Science Programs we are truly capturing and living the spirit of why we are here as a school.”
Linkenhoker added that it took just under two years to build the companion building after the school officially demolished the former barn that used to be there. The new building is about 2,900 square feet and cost about $800,000 to construct.
“This includes a multifunctional classroom/intake space, a kenneling room and a combined space for bathing and grooming of the animals,” Linkenhoker said, when describing the space. “In addition to these learning areas, there are restrooms and washing area … [and] we also have a fenced outdoor area for the dogs to use the bathroom and release some energy.”
Linkenhoker noted how the outdoor run is “furnished with a pet-safe artificial turf.”
To celebrate the opening of the new building, the school conducted a ribbon cutting on Oct. 8.
