Joe Wilensky/Cornell Chronicle

Wednesday and Parker Mitchell, ages 8 and 4, of Ithaca, perform mock surgery on a teddy bear at the teddy bear E.R. at the Vet College open house.

Joe Wilensky/Cornell Chronicle

Missy Turner, veterinary medicine '10, introduces Addy, a Haflinger research pony, to visitors at the open house in the large animal breezeway.

Thousands of visitors streamed through Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine April 14 to two floors and several arenas featuring animals large and small, demonstrations, exhibits and clinics.

The occasion was the 41st annual Cornell Vet College open house, which was held throughout the Veterinary Medical Center.

Holly Kohler, veterinary medicine '09, was one of five second-year students who organized the open house, which is run by volunteers from the first- and second-year classes.

Organizers estimated that nearly 10,000 people attended the open house, an increase from last year's 8,000.

Face painting returned to the open house this year at a well-staffed table in the large-animal breezeway, and an expanded aquatic animal display was offered. The equine treadmill remained one of the open house's most popular demonstrations, Kohler said. Other mainstays, such as virtual hospital tours, ultrasound demonstrations and numerous lectures, were held throughout the day.

"People were saying, 'I remember this from when I came 15 years ago,'" Kohler said. "And now, they were bringing their kids."

The entire event "ran remarkably smoothly," Kohler said. "There were no injuries, and everybody who lost something found it again. It was well worth it to see the public loving it so much."