Giving Tuesday is an international day of giving- Support World Vets and Join the Movement Helping Animals, People and the Places They Call Home Going Strong for 20+ Years in Over 50 Countries
World Vets is a 501c3 nonprofit- Tax ID # 20-4637447
or mail checks to:
World Vets
9711 18th Ave NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98332
From 2020 through 2022 World Vets delivered care to pets across the globe during the global pandemic. Thousands of pets benefited from much needed medical and surgical care that would not have otherwise been possible. From fixing broken legs, to treating cancer to skin and ear and infections to providing life-saving treatment for poisonings, our veterinarians and local partners brought care to those who needed it most. Our last big campaign of the pandemic aid program is coming up next week in Cambodia where a World Vets team will be setting up mobile clinics at several Pagodas in and around Siem Reap Cambodia where we have worked for several years with local animal welfare groups.
(Above) Pet owners lined up to receive free veterinary care from World Vets in Peru during the pandemic (2022). Just a few of the many pets that received free veterinary care (above and below)
World Vets operates a full service veterinary clinic for dogs and cats on the Galapagos Islands, offering a full range of medical, surgical, diagnostic and preventive health care services for island pets as well as large scale sterilization campaigns. We are grateful to the many volunteers, staff, sponsors and supporters who have contributed to the ongoing success of the clinic that provides services free of charge to island pets. Over 1700 patients have been served at the clinic in the last year including over 1300 sterilization surgeries. These efforts are not only helping pets but also play an important role in protecting the local wildlife population. The clinic, which opened in November 2021, was made possible by the financial support of Lakefield Veterinary Group, the founding sponsor of the clinic. We appreciate the cooperation and collaboration with with several agencies including Galapagos Conservancy, ABG, Animal Balance, and the Municipality of San Cristobal. The clinic is staffed year round and we also have volunteer veterinary teams throughout the year. Are you interested in volunteering with World Vets in the Galapagos Islands? Join World Vets as Member and get updates when the next volunteer opportunities open up.
In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, World Vets provides rescue and response for stranded, injured and sick marine mammals. Working under an official federal permit, World Vets provides emergency veterinary response, beach response and rescue, disease investigations, triage and short-term in clinic care for stranded marine mammals throughout Washington. World Vets Marine Mammal Urgent Care Center in Gig Harbor provides triage, urgent care, diagnostics, stabilization and short term hospitalization for marine mammals in need of care, especially harbor seal pups. And thanks to our partnership with Puget Sound Veterinary Specialists / Lakefield Veterinary Group our patients also have access to state of the art CT Scans with advanced diagnostic imaging services to evaluate injuries and give us a more complete picture of their health.
Dr Cathy King positions a harbor seal pup for a CT Scan to evaluate injuries sustained when this newborn pup was attacked by a dog on the beach.
Official announcement ceremony of World Vets Galapagos, Conservation Medicine Program, held at World Vets new facility on San Cristobal Island. November 6, 2021
World Vets, along with our founding sponsor Lakefield Veterinary Group, is excited to announce the official launch of World Vets Galapagos, Conservation Medicine Program on the Galápagos Islands. Several years in the making, this ambitious program will work collaboratively to help protect the vast biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands especially as it relates to the unique challenges brought about by the interface of wildlife populations, domestic animals and humans. World Vets will be working together with multiple agencies including the Galápagos National Park (Parque Nacional Galápagos, PNG), the Galápagos Conservancy, Agencia de Regulación y Control de la Bioseguridad para Galápagos (ABG), the Municipality of San Cristobal and Animal Balance. World Vets CEO Dr Cathy King signed an official agreement with Galápagos Conservancy with support from Mr. Danny Rueda, Director of the Galápagos National Park and Dr Marilyn Cruz, director of ABG. The official announcement ceremony, along with the signing of an additional cooperative agreement between World Vets and Mayor Henry Cobos for the municipality of San Cristobal Galápagos, was attended by officials of the various agencies at an event held at our new veterinary facility on San Cristobal Island on November 6, 2021. The ceremony, attended by many dignitaries, included speeches from Dr Marilyn Cruz (ABG), Wacho Tapia (Galapagos Conservancy), Emma Clifford (Animal Balance), Mayor Henry Cobos (Municipality of San Cristobal) and Cathy King (World Vets).
World Vets Conservation Medicine Program will include efforts in a variety of areas including work on marine animals and other native and endangered wildlife species as well domestic animals.
A Galapagos sea lion naps on a bench on San Cristobal Island. Photo:Cathy King
San Cristobal, Galapagos Mayor Henry Cobos and World Vets CEO Cathy King signing a collaborative agreement.
Programs will include:
-Providing veterinary support and staffing to respond to sick, injured and entangled marine animals, as well as other native and endangered wildlife in the field and at the new Galápagos National Park (PNG) wildlife facility on San Cristobal Island (primarily as it relates to causes related to human interaction).
-Working to build capacity and resources of the PNG Rapid Response Network, especially related to the large population of Galápagos sea lions on San Cristobal.
-Working to build additional capacity for stranding response and veterinary support for marine animals throughout the Galápagos Archipelago, working together with PNG and PNG veterinarian Dr Andrea Loyola (based on Santa Cruz Island)
-Research related to understanding and protecting marine species as well as other endangered and native wildlife, including health and disease monitoring.
-Working together with ABG to monitor invasive species in the Galapagos Islands
-Education and training programs
-Working together with ABG, Animal Balance and the Municipality to keep local dog and cat populations healthy and manageable though sterilization programs and year round availability of veterinary services provided free of charge to the local community. For many years Animal balance, led by Emma Clifford, has worked together with ABG to provide successful and ongoing community-based sterilization campaigns throughout Islands. In recent years, the need for year round access to veterinary care has become an urgent priority. Our work will build upon their foundation and ongoing work as World Vets opens our new veterinary facility that will provide access to year round veterinary medical and surgical services and spay/neuter programs with a primary focus on San Cristobal Island.
Over the coming weeks and months we will continue to share the details of the various programs. We look forward to working together as part of this multi-agency effort to protect the Galápagos Islands.
We are grateful to Lakefield Veterinary Group for their support of this program and to all of the various agencies that have made this program possible.
World Vets is excited to announce that we have been awarded a $100,000 grant from MSD Animal Health to help animals across the globe that are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Working with partners across 12 countries, spanning 5 continents, World Vets will provide urgent and critical care to pet owners who cannot afford services because of financial or other pandemic-related hardship. Thanks to this grant, we will be able to provide widespread veterinary relief in Ecuador, Brazil, Australia, Nepal, Italy, Spain, Peru, United Kingdom, Moldova, Tanzania, Guatemala and Dominican Republic. We are very grateful for the generous support from MSD Animal Health as we work to bring much needed care to animals in need. The project is recently underway and is already bringing life-saving veterinary care to those that need it most. Below are just a few of the animals that have already been helped. We look forward to sharing these stories of hope from around the world as we embark on this important mission.
About MSD Animal Health
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of MSD. Through its commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an extensive suite of digitally connected identification, traceability and monitoring products. MSD Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals and the people who care for them. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. MSD Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.msd-animal-health.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
World Vets disaster response team has been working hard providing veterinary relief for animals impacted by the Cold Springs and Pearl Hill fires in the Omak, Washington area. We currently have veterinarians providing mobile response to address the needs of primarily horses and cattle that have been impacted by the fires. There are numerous animals with varying degrees of burns, many of which are severe. Other animals have wounds (wire cuts etc) resulting from fleeing the fire. There have been limited small animals cases presented so far. We have set up a dedicated veterinary response hotline (509-842-3440) that is available to the local community to call in requests for assistance. The additional current scope of our work includes :Special thanks to the Okanogan County Fairgrounds for providing facilities for our team.
Click here to donate to our disaster relief drive
We are grateful for the support of the many individual donors and supporters who help make this work possible. We also greatly appreciate supporting contributions from a variety of companies and organizations including Lakefield Veterinary Group, Uptown Animal Hospital, AmerisourceBergen, Patterson Veterinary Supply, Zoetis and People for Animal Care and Kindness.
World Vet is responding to animals impacted by the wildfires in Okanogan County and surrounding areas in Washington that have been ravaged by wildfires. This area is home to thousands of cattle and horses, many of which are now displaced and facing serious threats of feed shortages and starvation, especially as the winter months arrive. World Vets, working in cooperation with the Snohomish County Cattlemen’s Association, has created this fund specifically to provide hay and feed to animals impacted by the fires.
Thank you to all who have donated through World Vets specifically for hay and feed. The hay fundraiser through World Vets has now ended and we are working on coordinating deliveries.
The Snohomish County Cattlemen’s Association has set up a GoFundMe for ongoing donations directly through their organization.
The global pandemic has brought new challenges and obstacles to the animals and communities we help and also to the way we run our programs. Fortunately, we are very adaptable to change and our work has continue full force in new ways. Our volunteer veterinary teams traveling from North America are currently on hold until its safe to travel again and we are working closely with our in-country partners to carry out our programs and deliver aid that helping animals that need it most. Social distancing, mask wearing and extra safety precautions are the new standard of care on these programs, making it possible to get help where it is needed. Economic hardships brought upon by the pandemic make it even more important to continue our work, especially in developing regions. These are just a few of the many animals that tare receiving care through community outreach clinics, surgery clinics and mobile field clinics that we are supporting.
The story started back on Memorial Day weekend when the pup was being harassed by beachgoers on the Washington Coast. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife made the initial response and had volunteers monitor the pup on the beach for over 48 hours to give her space and keep people away in hopes that the mom would return. Unfortunately the pup was too young to survive on her own and the mom did not return. The dehydrated pup was picked up by WDFW and referred to World Vets Marine Mammal Urgent Care Center in Gig Harbor, Washington where she was provided emergency care and stabilization by our veterinary staff.
Once she was stable, World Vets transported here to our network partners at Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where she received excellent care and rehabilitation until she was old enough to survive on her own. After a total of 82 days of care, World Vets transported her back to her home waters where she was released near Damon Point in Ocean Shores, Washington. This was one of two pups we released this week. Stayed tuned for the success story on the other pup!
This story has a happy ending but comes with a reminder to please remember to stay back 100 yards from marine mammals. It’s normal for pups to rest on the beach but when there is human interaction the moms often won’t come back and these nursing pups can’t survive on their own. If you see an injured, sick or stranded marine mammal, please do not approach it. Report strandings to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 1-866-767-6114. World Vets is an authorized partner of the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network and regularly provides beach responses, boat responses, urgent care, hospitalization, technical response and veterinary support for marine mammals cases throughout the state.
