Tracy McDaniel, a photographer based in Opelika, wasn’t sure why her gallery of photos of veterinary students at Tuskegee University went viral on social media last week. She had posted some of her favorites – the ones she thought would be “eye-catching” – and by the following morning, they’d been shared 200 times. Within days, the gallery had been shared upwards of 21,000 times.

But then the comments brought to her attention the fact that seeing Black veterinary students is somewhat unusual, and definitely inspiring.

McDaniel’s photographs depict students enrolled in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee – the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) in the country with a veterinary medical professional program. More than 70 percent of all Black veterinarians are educated there.

“My 12yo wants to be a vet and this representation is unmatched!” one mother wrote in the comments.

“I want to say how amazing it is to see so many POC following in the vet field. It is something so desperately needed and it makes my heart smile to see so many in these photos!” enthused someone else.

A fundraising project for Tuskegee’s Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA), the photos show 50-plus veterinary students, some in white coats and all with stethoscopes around their necks, posing with their own pets. Each picture is filled with personality, and the thousands of comments they inspired – unlike so many on social media – are overwhelmingly positive. Comments praise the students (their smiles, their hair), the pets (their smiles, their coats) and the quality of the photos themselves.

“10/10 would trust this vet,” wrote one.

“He’s gonna be the top of his class,” another wrote of a male student photographed with his dog. “He’s got it! Best wishes.”

The students hold snakes, iguanas and ferrets, as well as cats and dogs – including one wearing a strand of pearls to match her owner.

McDaniel, who specializes in child and pet photography, spent only about five minutes with each subject over the course of the four-and-a-half-hour photo shoot. “I’ve got it down,” she says of shooting people with their pets, adding that she has “tricks that work,” like saying a pet’s favorite word or grabbing their attention with a squeaky toy.

The snakes didn’t bother her at all. “I love them,” she says. “I had a pet snake growing up. We’re pet people.”

Of all the pets, though, her favorite was a schnauzer named Lola, who had an angry expression in her portrait. “She was so sweet,” she says. “It was just her haircut, I guess.”

For several years, McDaniel has done the same thing each semester for the VBMA at Auburn University’s vet school, which led to the gig at Tuskegee. She photographed a different group of Tuskegee students earlier this year. “I posted them in the spring,” she says, “and they got a lot of love, but not like this.”

Some of the students have messaged her to say they’ve read the comments, which are “so uplifting,” she says. “They’re showing children that yes, you can be a vet.”

Originally from Homewood, McDaniel lives in Opelika with her husband, Frank, and their four home-schooled children. Three of their children play soccer, and McDaniel teaches Spanish to a small group of children once a week. A professional photographer for 12 years, she met her engineer husband when they were both photographing the same train.

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