In a school that specializes in cows and cattle, there’s a club devoted to the furry friends living at home.

The Companion Animal Club (CAC) is an organization on campus for those more interested in pets such as dogs and cats rather than agriculture animals. Started four years ago by Samantha Whiteside, the club began because of a tremendous interest in pets across campus, said club adviser and animal science professor John McNamara.

“We work with a number of organizations, primarily the Whitman County Humane Society,” McNamara said.

While the club doesn’t do any formal training with animals, members will volunteer at the Humane Society, doing jobs such as helping to socialize and train the animals, and prepare them for adoption.

“We teach them basic things like to sit when someone greets them, so they’re not (so) crazy,” club president Kelsey Dunmire said.

While the club itself does not own or care for animals, several members have independently trained service dogs or therapy animals and worked with other organizations such as Guide Dogs for the Blind. Members are welcome to bring their own pets to meetings.

The club participates in numerous events throughout the year, such as the biannual Pet Your Stress Away event, which takes place during finals week and is put on through the Office of the Dean of Students. CAC works with the Humane Society to help with both animal and crowd control.

“Our main goal is to keep an eye on the animals and make sure everything is calm,” said Natassia Cornelia, club secretary. “If (people) miss their animals at home, they can take time out of their day and just hang out with animals.”

McNamara described the club as a service educational group that brings in speakers, such as veterinarians, to talk about various companion animal related topics.

“(The club) focuses a lot on educating people about different aspects of companion animals and different kinds of careers working with them that are not necessarily vet or agriculture related,” Dunmire said.

One of the most rewarding aspects of Dunmire’s experiences has been adding to the club, Dunmire said. In past years, the leaders have received input from members about what they’d like to see done and whom they want to hear speak. Her favorite part is seeing the club members come out of their shell.

McNamara said he loves seeing students get involved in things. The involvement doesn’t just apply to classes, but also the time students commit to the university and the community as a whole.

“We try to make it so that we have specific events or programs going on that people can help,” he said.

So far, the difficulty has become the member attendance. Most new members are freshmen who sometimes become too busy to continue with the club by the end of the semester, Dunmire said.

Despite this, the club is still self-sustaining with a “good core of highly active members,” McNamara said.

“Our club is fairly unknown,” Cornelia said. “(We’re) always looking for new people (to) expand the name of our club.”

CAC’s first meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Clark Hall 147. This will be an informational meeting where people can sign up and talk about different events throughout the semester.