CSU and PetSmart Team Up To Provide Vet Care For Spanish Speakers

PetSmart Charities is working with Colorado State University on a new, important study: ensuring that the Spanish-speaking community across the Front Range has proper access to pet care, despite any linguistic barriers that may be in place.

According to a press release from CSU, the College of Liberal Arts has been awarded a grant for $354,450 from PetSmart Charities to study what the biggest needs are in Spanish-speaking communities when it comes to accessing veterinary care.

Spanish instructor and curriculum developer in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures Shannon Zeller is in charge of the study, and she'll be working with Dr. Danielle Frey of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and five additional CSU students.

The team will look at local veterinary clinics to see where these language barriers arise: is it over the phone, when scheduling appointments? Is it between veterinarians and their technicians? Is it in-office, before important procedures? These observations will help the team study the exact linguistics: the phrases and words that are most hindering communication.

When it comes to taking care of your pet, he or she is a member of your family, and you don't want anything to get in the way of a potentially life saving appointment with the vet. This is why CSU and PetSmart are working to ensure that those barriers become easier to break through.

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