MARK YOUR CALENDARS! #GivingTuesday

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:  On December 3rd World Vets will once again be participating in #GivingTuesday, a national movement to encourage spending with a purpose.

With your help, we can raise a tremendous amount of financial support to benefit our mission to help animals around the globe.

Stay tuned for our campaign plans and share how you can make a difference this #GivingTuesday!  🐾

World Vets IVM Program in a New Location!

The International Veterinary Medicine (IVM) Program  is World Vets official student program. It provides students with an opportunity to receive one on one instruction in relation to the preparation, execution and recovery of patients from spay and neuter surgery. Students stand to benefit from this multi – disciplinary training and cultural experience as it will enhance their education and give them a broader understanding of international veterinary medicine.  Read more

To date this program has been offered in Nicaragua and Ecuador. It will now be offered in Peru as a field medicine clinic starting this December! Opportunities for students still exist on our Winter IVM session scheduled to take place in Cusco, Peru from Dec 27, 2019 – Jan 3, 2020. Find out more!

Update: A NEW! Winter session has been scheduled from Dec 16 – 23, 2019! Student registration for this opportunity will be released next month!

World Vets Team Helps Wildlife in Honduras

This summer World Vets had a veterinary team in Roatan, Honduras to provide free veterinary services for wildlife and exotics.

A big issue in this particular region is the Illegal pet trade and the trafficking of wildlife. As such, the government faces a huge challenge with managing confiscated or abandoned animals. A temporary solution is finding wildlife sanctuaries that can care for these animals with the combination of sustainable tourism and education. These facilities are in turn accredited by the government and as a rule, do not buy or sell wildlife. For this project, World Vets partnered with these operations to provide needed veterinary care. The majority of our work during this campaign included exams, blood work, parasite testing and treatment and some minor surgical procedures.

We would like to thank our outstanding team of passionate professionals and students! We would also like to extend our gratitude to Maya Key, the Governor of the Bay Islands and the Director of the Wildlife Health Department for their support and collaboration.

Humpback whale successfully disentangled off the Washington coast

August 2019

A trained team freed an entangled humpback whale near Tatoosh Island at the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula Thursday night, removing ropes that had hog-tied the whale between its mouth and tail.

The entangled whale was first reported just before noon Thursday, Aug. 8, by Todd’s Extreme Fishing, who stayed with the whale to monitor its location until the Makah Tribe and U.S. Coast Guard arrived to take over the watch. The assistance was essential in keeping track of the whale’s condition and location while a response team mobilized and arrived on the scene.

“They did exactly the right thing by keeping their distance and watching the whale so the team could quickly find it,” said Kristin Wilkinson, regional coordinator of NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Northwest Large Whale Entanglement Response Network.

The team that included members from SR3: Sealife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research; Cascadia Research Collective; the Makah Tribe; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; and World Vets. Response teams must complete extensive training and work under a NOAA Fisheries permit because disentangling large whales can be difficult and dangerous.

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Untangling the whale was complicated because ropes running between its mouth and tail had left it hogtied at the surface, said Doug Sandilands of SR3, who helped lead the response. It was unclear whether the ropes had been attached to a crab trap or other fishing gear.

The team cut the lines at key points to remove almost all the line except for a small section that remained in the whale’s mouth but will likely fall out on its own.

The whale appeared to be in good condition and was swimming normally after the team removed the ropes.

NOAA Fisheries thanks the Makah Tribe, U.S. Coast Guard, SR3, Cascadia Research Collective, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations, World Vets, and Todd’s Extreme Fishing for assisting the effort, which was conducted under NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program permit 18786-03.

Anyone spotting an entangled whale should report it to NOAA Fisheries’ 24/7 hotline by calling 877-SOS-WHALE (877-767-9425) or hailing the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16. Please stay with the whale as long as it is safe to do so, but never attempt disentanglement or remove any gear without training and authorization. Please try to get video or photos showing the entangling gear but remember to stay 100 yards from the whale and watch for lines in the water.

Original Press Release from NOAA Fisheries:  click here

Marine Mammal Response

 

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Seal pup season is in full swing in Puget Sound and World Vets continues to work with network partners to provide response and veterinary support for marine mammal strandings. Earlier this week, we rescued this thin and debilitated harbor seal pup in the Gig Harbor area, working in collaboration with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.  His location required a boat response and we were able to perform an initial health assessment and administer fluid therapy aboard our vessel.  He was later taken back to our marine mammal urgent care clinic where he was treated and hospitalized overnight.  By morning, his hydration was improved and he was much more alert.  He was transferred to PAWS for rehabilitation with the goal that he will be released back into the wild when he is recovered and old enough to feed on his own.

Moms and pups can be easily disturbed so please remember to give them space and stay back 100 yards.  Keep pets away and on a leash.  If you see a dead, injured or stranded marine mammal, please call and report it to the NOAA West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 1-866-767-6114.  Thank you for observing marine mammals in a safe and responsible way.

World Vets marine mammal work is authorized under a permit with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

 

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