Occupation program through the school district that offers a hands-on veterinary course attracts a slew of interested students.

A group of high school students cringed as veterinary technician Janette Dease shaved the fine hair off a tan and white pit bull terrier’s severed tail Tuesday night.

They leaned in, some petting the dog on her head as she lay on the examination table. A bit of the end of her tail had snapped off, leaving exposed, pink cartilage to infection.

“It’s very common in dogs with those long tails,” Dease said. “We call them tail beaters.”

Students who watched were getting their first hands-on experience in the Burbank Unified School District’s newest Regional Occupation Program class: animal care.

The animal care course is Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Burbank Animal Shelter and is designed to impart basic knowledge to high school students about how to take care of domestic animals.

“It’s just like a stepping stone,” said Brenda Castaneda, senior animal control officer at the shelter. “They could basically work any entry-level animal caretaker position [after finishing the class].”

The three-hour course is filled to the brim, Castaneda said, with 27 students. Tuesday night was the third class and the first time students got to interact with animals at the shelter.

Throughout the semester, students will be schooled and tested on safety, animal behaviors, handling, identification, feeding and nursing.

They will also be introduced to jobs within the animal care industry, she said.

On Tuesday night, they were just getting around to hygiene and population control.

“He’s a neutered male,” Castaneda said as she hooked a collar onto a large German shepherd in one of the kennels at the shelter. “We’re going to look at what a neutered male looks like.”

After his bath, she showed the class his underside and then showed them a dog that was not neutered.

Alexis Renella, a 17-year-old John Burroughs High School student, said she joined the class so she could better understand animals.

“I thought it would be interesting and a cool experience because I love animals,” Alexis said. “We’ve learned body parts, the interactions between animals, like dogs.”

Many of the students have pets of their own and are interested in entering a career with animals. Kim Lugo, a 16-year-old Burbank High School student, has three dogs and a hamster and said she wanted to be a veterinary technician.

Castaneda said the district may introduce another section of the class to accommodate more students. A veterinary technician Regional Occupation Program may start next fall, she said.