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Around the World in 80 Careers: Veterinary Nurse

09th June 2022

Day 10

A 2 hour and 50 minute plane ride from Barcelona to their next destination… Can you guess where? They arrived in the stunning city of Athens, Greece. Remembering the amazing, knowledgeable, and charismatic tour guide from Barcelona, they wanted to waste no time at all and started mapping the essential sites to see while in this wonderful city.

Not even worried about where they would stay for the night, our explorer caught the bus to Sparta, found a quaint looking taverna, sat down with a pen and paper and set to work on their site-seeing itinerary.

First on the list was, of course, the famous Acropolis of Athens, followed by The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Ancient Agora, The Panathenaic Stadium, and to explore Varvakios Agora and learn about the city’s culinary history. Our explorer was imagining enjoying the famous souvlaki pita with chicken or pork gyros.

Not willing to wait any longer, off our explorer went to soak in the history of the famous Acropolis. Upon arrival, the site was breath-taking – but there was something odd and unexpected and he had certainly never noticed this in the tourist pictures – many, many  stray dogs? The animals really were everywhere, scavenging for food, some attention, or some help maybe?

Being the animal lover that our explorer was, they couldn’t help but wonder what the reason was for all these stray dogs in such a monumental city. After some research they discovered that, in Greece,  it is more common to dump pets on the streets once the owners get bored of them, and neutering is often found unnatural. You also must look at the Greek relationship with animals to understand the problem. The concept of animals as pets is relatively new. Most Athenians come from rural roots and people had animals for a purpose. Our explorer found a charity called Friends of the Strays of Greece – dedicated to providing food, shelter, and veterinary care to strays and unwanted dogs and cats, and homing the lucky few. They contacted this charity, who invited them to visit their facility. Humbled by the amazing work that these volunteers do, our explorer met a lady named Anita that was a veterinary nurse by trade, who had retired but still wanted to help the wonderful animals of Greece.

Anita had been a Veterinary Student Externship and excelled throughout her studies and career. This really sparked something within him, and he asked about the salary expectation for this role. Anita said that the salary is likely to be between $70.5K – $89.3K a year. She explained that she specialises in wellness care, urgent care, surgery, high speed dentistry, digital x-ray, ultrasound, in-house laboratory, and orthopaedic surgery.

Later that evening our explorer walked around the Monastraki Flea Market contemplating what their next move may well be. Maybe it was a sign, but in the darkness our explorer saw yet another dog. They slowly approached the animal and saw that she had several puppies that she was protecting. Maybe our explorer could do the same and protect animals as a career?

Find out more info on what it takes and how to become a veterinary nurse here:

Veterinary nurse | Explore careers | National Careers Service

 

Lisa Nicolaides

Area manager National Careers Service

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