Bob and Jane DeMeulmester of Vass live in the heart of horse country in the North Carolina sandhills. In addition to owning competitive horses – Jane participates in equestrian jumping events – they are the producers of Banixx Horse and Pet Care products.
In both their competitive and professional capacities, they have taken advantage of the advanced expertise of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine and Hospital. Those experiences have been so positive that the couple felt led to establish the Banixx Horse & Pet Care Graduate Award with an initial pledge of $20,000.
“We appreciate having such a wonderful vet school only an hour away from where we live,” says Jane DeMeulmester, explaining that several of their horses have been treated for conditions such as colic and uveitis at NC State with excellent results.
The formal agreement establishing the fund says distributions “will be used to provide merit- and need-based scholarships for students pursuing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Preference will be given to third- and fourth-year students with a demonstrated interest in large animal medicine.” The hope is to attract more top-notch students to equine and large animal medicine.
CVM Dean Kate Meurs thanked the couple for their generosity.
“We are so grateful to Bob and Jane DeMeulmester for recognizing the importance of supporting students who aspire to become large animal veterinarians.”
“We are so grateful to Bob and Jane DeMeulmester for recognizing the importance of supporting students who aspire to become large animal veterinarians,” she says. “This is often an underserved area in veterinary medicine, and we are so thankful for this support for students who wish to pursue it.”
In a statement accompanying the formal agreement, the DeMeulmesters describe a life-long love of animals, especially those abandoned and neglected.
“Bob grew up as a farm boy in a small town in Michigan where they always had a plethora of critters,” they write. “Jane grew up in the English countryside, and similarly, her family always had a collection of dogs, cats, guinea pigs and rabbits, then, in her teen years, a Welsh pony! Their love of animals inspired them to create the antimicrobial product, Banixx Horse & Pet Care.”
Banixx Horse & Pet Care Products feature anti-fungal and anti-bacterial applications for horses and small animals that don’t irritate skin and sensitive areas such as the eyes.
Their success has enabled the DeMeulmesters to make two of what they hope will be a continuing series of contributions to the fund to make it an annual award.
Explaining their commitment to the CVM, the couple says, “The N.C. State Veterinary School’s own Dr. Brian Gilger, ‘the eye guru’ (as Jane likes to call him), oversaw the testing of Banixx Horse & Pet Care Products as a non-ocular irritant. That, along with several successful equine-related visits to the N.C. State Veterinary School, prompted them to think about how they can ‘give back’ to N.C. State.”
Bob DeMeulmester adds: “Knowing that recently there has been a decline in the graduation numbers of large animal veterinarian students was the driving force for this decision. This is just one way that we hope to help.”
Plans call for awarding four scholarships annually to deserving students.
To donate to the Banixx Horse & Pet Care Graduate Award go here.
