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The University Chaplaincy offers several resources at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts’ campus in Grafton, Massachusetts. As a liaison for our department, the Humanist Chaplain holds regular office hours on the Grafton campus and is present to assist at Pet Loss Hotline debriefings. They and Tufts’ other chaplains are available to support student spiritual and ethical communities and activities on campus, and to advise students, faculty, and staff about religious and philosophical life issues and animal care.

Spiritual Life At and Around Cummings

The Tufts Christian Veterinary Fellowship (CVF) is a SAVMA-affiliated chapter of the national CVF organization which offers prayer meetings, organizes travel to conferences, hosts social programs, and coordinates the prayer and reflection boxes around campus. There is no membership fee and they welcome any and all new members, no matter your religious background.

To learn more or join the e-list, please contact Molly Lawry, V18 at molly.lawry@tufts.edu.

Outside Tufts, there are many of houses of worship, religious organizations, and moral communities across Grafton, Shrewsbury, Millbury, Westborough, and Worcester. For a referral to one of these communities, please contact Humanist Chaplain Walker Bristol at walker.bristol@tufts.edu.

Chaplain Office Hours

Office hours with the Humanist Chaplain are by appointment, and on the second Tuesday of each month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Cummings Support Center. To make an appointment with the Humanist Chaplain, please e-mail walker.bristol@tufts.edu.

Pet Loss Hot Line

If you have experienced the death of a pet and would like a caring listening presence, you are welcome to call the Pet Loss Hotline on weekdays between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. or to leave a message 24 hours a day. The number is 508-839-7966. For more information, please visit the Pet Loss Hotline website.

Educational Resources

Report-education-Religion-and-the-Care-Treatment-and-Rights-of-Animals-page-001-232x300To promote literacy about perspectives on animal care in different religious and philosophical traditions, the Humanist Chaplain has developed and updates a resource entitled Religion and the Care, Treatment, and Rights of Animals. This resource is designed to support veterinary students’ continuing education on diversity and their roles as practitioners, but we also hope it can provide insights for anyone living in America’s increasingly diverse religious landscape and interested in better understanding their neighbors’ perspectives related to human-animal interaction. You can find the most recent version of the resource hosted on the Tufts Humanist Chaplaincy website by clicking here or the image on the right.