MENDOCINO CO., 1/21/25 — On her rare day off, I spoke with Sarah O’Rourke, a registered veterinary technician who hits the Mendocino road with the renewed “Care-a-Van” spay and neuter program, about her life’s work caring for animals.
O’Rourke’s path in animal medicine began as a family affair when she was still a child.
“My mom is also a registered vet tech, and worked for different vet hospitals, as well as Sonoma County Animal Care Services while I was growing up.” explained O’Rourke. “So we always had foster animals, we always had our own pets; I grew up riding horses, so we always had a couple of horses in the backyard, goats and chickens.”
At age 14, she began her first paying job working in a horse training stable, which progressed to a high school internship at Sonoma County Animal Care Services.