Critter care: Welcome to vet tech Christine Archer’s animal house

Posted on Friday, June 15th, 2018

It’s a tired cliché: a little girl grows up dreaming of a career in animal care because, well, dogs are loveable and cats cuddly. That stereotype needs to meet Christine Archer.

“I am an unabashed reptile nerd and fish nerd. I love non-mammals in general and will talk about them at length,” says Archer, who graduated from Algonquin’s Veterinary Technician Program in 2009.

It’s not that Archer doesn’t love cute, furry mammals — she counts three rescue cat among her beloved “critters” — but her respect for animals is so much broader. It is founded as much on a keen interest in science as on natural empathy.

Leaving high school, Archer says she knew two things: she was fascinated by science in general, and she wanted to work with animals. A biology degree from the University of Ottawa seemed like a good choice. Especially as it incorporated a minor in geomatics – the place where geography, cartography, computer science, mathematics and statistics meet for coffee. Archer, you see, is a serious science junkie.

The degree, however, didn’t get her much closer to a job working with animals.

“It was great to get that science foundation at university. It was very useful in my program going forward, but I just really wanted to work with animals. I wanted to do hands-on work and change the lives of animals that I worked with.”

It wasn’t until she took a sick cat into a veterinary clinic that she learned about registered veterinary technicians. A vet technician is a specialized kind of veterinary professional integral to teams that deliver animal care. Inspired, Archer found the two-year-diploma course at Algonquin.

Nine years after graduation, Archer is the lead registered veterinary technician for the aquatics research facility at the University of Ottawa. Working for the University’s animal care and veterinary service, she cares for fish and other aquatic animals used in teaching and research.

“My day-to-day basically involves checking all the animals, making sure they have their health and welfare needs (met), and that all the researchers and the scientists here have all the support they need to do their research,” Archer says.

The job suits her. At Algonquin, Archer was happiest when working the animal husbandry shift, providing day-to-day care for the animals on campus used for teaching purposes.

“We learned how to do the veterinary care for these animals hands on,” she says. Husbandry duty combined “long hours, a lot of work, and a great team environment.”

At Algonquin’s on-site animal health care clinic, veterinary students “see lots of rescue dogs and cats that come in. We make sure that they’re healthy; we do all the work up with them. We also work with rats and mice, occasionally rabbits … (but) generally the most common pet animals.”

The veterinary technician program also includes a course on the care of exotic pets — reptiles, amphibians, ferrets and hedgehogs, among others. It was one of Archer’s favourite courses when she was a student here. Now as a part-time instructor, she teaches it. “With a little fish bias,” she admits.

“It’s great to see the students … realize that these animals, even though they may not be mammals like your traditional dog or cat pet, … they get a lot of the very same care. Anesthetizing them and doing procedures on them is very similar.”

Archer says the hardest part of working with animals is knowing when to call it a day. “Working with animals is a way of life, it’s not necessarily just a job. These animals … don’t get to clock out. They’re here and they need us all the time.”


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