Students cut to the meat of the matter

By: Abby Ridgel, Contributing Writer

​Students in Mr. Stone’s Advanced Animal Vet Science class recently had the unique opportunity to process a lamb during class.

The Advanced Animal Vet Science class provides students the opportunity to gain college level vet science experiences. 

Lauren Lafferty provided the lamb after she was unable to continue raising it due to health issues. Lafferty thought it would be a good opportunity for her class. “The smell was the worst part. It was so gross but I liked learning exactly what comes out of a lamb that goes to the processor,” Lafferty said. 

Lafferty has already processed many animals before and said that processing a pig was her favorite. “The pig smells the least and are the easiest to skin,” Lafferty said. 
Lafferty learned a lot from this experience and thought it was interesting to see what her own animals looked like on the rack. Lafferty also thought it was really fun to see her class learn about things they would not have otherwise.


Junior, Tess Stephens, also in the Advanced Vet Science class, had the opportunity to participate as well. Stephens said, “I thought this was a cool experience. I enjoyed this activity because it was entertaining to watch some of my classmates gag.”

FFA Agriculture Advisor, Mr. Scott Stone said of the experience, “My goal for this activity was that the students would have hands-on experience processing a lamb carcass. Many of us go to the store and buy meat and do not understand where the meat comes from on the animal. I also wanted the students to be able to see first hand the digestive and reproductive tracts of the lamb. We learn about the systems in class, but being able to see, feel, touch, and smell the real thing is very impactful.” 

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