The one-week Costa Rica Small Animal Medicine program is based at Territorio de Zaguates (“Land of the Strays”), a famous dog sanctuary outside of San Jose that is home to over a thousand dogs. These dogs have a permanent home at the sanctuary and receive food, medical attention, vaccines, and their famous daily hike through the surrounding jungle. 

But keeping up with the health needs of almost two thousand dogs is a lot of work! And they have a lot to teach you and your fellow students about routine care, eye and ear care, skin diseases, tropical diseases, obstetrics, nutrition, physical therapy, and more.

This program will be hard work. You will be at the dog shelter approximately 8 hours a day Monday to Friday, working and learning with your vets. 

You will also have the chance to explore some of Costa Rica, including:

• Volcano trip 
• Jungle ziplining adventure
• Wildlife sanctuary tour

Who It’s For

This program is designed for university-aged students who are interested in becoming veterinarians or working professionally with animals. Participants must be at least 18 years old. Most are 18 to 25, but we also accept full-time undergraduates over 25.


There are no pre-requisites for this program. You do not need to be in school currently to apply. Individuals of any nationality may apply.

Each group of up to 12 students will have its own teaching veterinarian and the groups will share site staff. There may be multiple Loop Abroad groups on-site at the same time. All programming is in English – no Spanish skills are required (but if you have them, you’ll definitely use them!)

Highlights

• Get to know the dogs at the Territorio de Zaguates, “Land of the Strays”, as featured in the Netflix show “Dogs”
• Help over 1,500 rescued dogs get the medical care they need and continue to live their best lives
• Learn about shelter medicine in a hands-on setting from experienced vets
• Practice the skills to diagnose and treat common ailments of dogs in the tropics, including eye, ear, and skin diseases
• Join the dogs on their famous daily jungle hike
• Enjoy Costa Rican culture, from local food to learning some introductory Spanish
• Explore a Costa Rican volcano
• Visit a wildlife sanctuary
• Zipline through the rainforest

Dates open for applications
May 28- June 3, 2023

These program sessions are covered by Loop Abroad’s COVID-19 100% Tuition Refund Policy. If a program is canceled by Loop Abroad due to COVID-19, we will refund 100% of any program tuition you have paid (including the deposit).

You should expect that the program may run even if Costa Rica has COVID testing requirements to enter or is at a level 4 rating by the CDC or the Department of State.