Sea You at Fetch Long Beach
News|Articles|October 1, 2008

Keep the bugs out-and have fun doing it

Use this fun game to reduce the amount of flies in your facility.

Warm weather in Michigan brings flies—even to a relatively spotless clinic like ours. So I've started a contest to help the whole team have fun keeping bugs out.

I hung a large board on the wall with team members' names on it, and gave them each a glue stick. When they kill a fly, they glue it to the board. (And, yes, they wash their hands after every kill!) The winner at the end of the contest gets $1 per fly.

I know it sounds gross, but flies were a real problem. This goofy contest had my staff laughing and watching for flies all day every day.

—Donna Bauman, CVPM, practice manager, Ottawa Animal Hospital, Holland, Mich.


Related to this article

Q&A: Caregiver burden can begin early in pet illness. Are veterinary teams equipped to support clients, and how can veterinary social workers help both parties?
Caroline Cox, LSW, MSW, and Erika Krick, VMD, DACVIM (Oncology), discuss the role of veterinary social workers in supporting clients, communicating with veterinary teams, and helping practices address the human side of veterinary care in this Q&A from an interview at the 2026 Fetch National Harbor Veterinary Conference.
Inside veterinary social work
In a slideshow drawn from an on-site dvm360 interview at the 2026 Fetch National Harbor Veterinary Conference, a veterinary oncologist and a veterinary social worker walk through how the role supports owners and staff across a pet's cancer diagnosis, treatment, and end-of-life care.