World Vets

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The World Vets clinic continues today in San Juan Der Sur, Nicaragua with the team working out of a local church for this clinic.  Our clinics move around the city on different weeks so that the free veterinary services are available to as many people and pets as possible.  This project is part of a large scale sterilzation campaign which is graciously supported by the Fondation Brigitte Bardot.  We are very thankful for their support which has made this work possible.   Here are more pictures from the Nicaragua clinic in action.

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Ten World Vets volunteers were recently selected to take part in what will likely be an experience they will never forget.  Next month, the USNS Mercy hospital ship will leave San Diego enroute to Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific for Pacific Partnership 2010.  The ship will be home to the World Vets team of veterinarians, technicians and students while they provide veterinary aid to Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Timor Leste working under a team of US military command.   Pacific Partnership is an annual, 4-month long,  humanitarian aid mission carried out by the US military in collaboration with partner nations and NGOs to provide medical, dental, veterinary and engineering aid to different areas of the world.  Last years mission was the first for World Vets and included visits to Samoa, Tonga, Kirabati, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands.  One of the main goals of Pacific Partnership is to establish multi-national relationships between military and civilian organizations during a time of calm so that they are better able to respond during disasters such as pandeminc disease outbreaks, typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis.  World Vets is proud to be a part of this mission and is looking forward to contributing to the 2010 mission.

>World Vets sends a team to Granada Nicaragua a few times every year to provide spay/neuter teams to work at Casa Lupita.  Surgeries and medical consultations are provided free of charge to the community.  In a place where the majority of the population earns less than $2/day, it’s financially out of reach to pay for such services for animals.  Nonetheless, its obvious that the people of Nicaragua love their pets very much and do what they can to take good care of them.   The huge turn-out at the clinic is evidence of that.   Our latest team led by Dr Jerry Brown of Yelm, Washington and Dr Tom Parker of Santa Fe, New Mexico brought together volunteers from all over the country (aging in range from 19-70+) for the common goal of helping animals in need.   Half of the team was veteran World Vets volunteers who met on  a previous trip to Honduras and signed up to do it all over again.  The rest of the team was hopefully on the first of many future trips to come.  Without our fantastic volunteers, these projects would not be possible.  Each person brings unique skills and experience that collectively form a well-oiled surgical team.   In addition to the regular small animal work, part of the team also did some horse work.   For more information, visit our website at https://worldvets.org/

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World Vets volunteers, working with the Dominican group SODAPRECA, have been in Haiti helping animals displaced and injured by the recent earthquake.  Despite all of the devastation and loss the Haitians have sufferred, it is very evident that they still care deeply about their animals.  The team treated dogs, cats, donkeys, goats, sheep and even chickens.  Thank you to our volunteers who donated their time and resources to help the animals of Haiti. 

>A World Vets team has just wrapped up yet another successful project sterilizing dogs in Loreto, Mexico.  Several times a year we send teams to this fishing village on the Sea of Cortez to work with Animalandia, a local animal welfare group under the leadership of Lucy Gonzales.  Our friends at Animalandia are always so good to us and share some great hospitality ever time we come.  We are happy to provide ongoing support to this very worthy group. 

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World Vets trip leader Dr Shelley Harper, led a team to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua in Nov 2009 to provide ongoing veterinary support for this beachside community.  World Vets sends teams 4-6 times per year to San Juan Del Sur in addition to providing monthly veterinary volunteers to our Nicaraguan partner clinic, Stones and Waves Veterinary Clinic.   In addition to providing free veterinary service, our teams also provide training to local veterinarians, technicians and students.   

>World Vets sent its first team to Romania in October, 2009.  Fourteen volunteers coordinated a large scale sterilization campaign at a local shelter, providing treatment to working horses and training to local veterinarians.  In addition, the team spent a day working on a Romanian Army base providing sterilization surgeries to every animal on the compound.  A major milestone of this project was the signing of a formal treaty between the city of Buzau Romania, World Vets and local animal welfare groups.  Dr Cathy King and the Mayor of Buzau, Romania signed the treaty on a nationally televised news conference.

>Dr. Danielle Jordan and Natalie Miller, volunteers from World Vets, have just returned from quite an adventure as they worked with the native Embera tribe in Panama.  This remote tribe resides in the jungles of Panama accessible only by boat.  The World Vets volunteers and the SpayPanama team (our partner organization) went to three comuunities on the banks of San Juan de Pequeni River in Peru to provide veterinary care for the animals of the native tribes. SpayPanama has sterilized tens of thousands of animals in the past few years. On this trip, many dogs and cats were vaccinated and sterilized as well as a few horses that were castrated and vaccinated as well.  I am sure it was an experience they will not soon forget.  If you are interested in international volunteer opportunities like this, please visit our website at https://worldvets.org/.