fondation brigitte bardot

World Vets is in Paraguay this Week!

p2With support from Fondation Brigitte Bardot, a World Vets team has been busy providing a large scale spay/neuter and animal health clinic in poor areas of Asuncion.Our free services are being provided in collaboration with local animal welfare organization “Adoptame” as well as members from national veterinary associations such as AMVEPA and UNASUR.

Before veterinary services began, World Vets field service veterinarian, Dr. Shelley Harper, gave a talk about efficient spay/neuter techniques in relation to providing large scale spay/neuter campaigns. This event was well received and saw 80 Paraguayan vets and veterinary students in attendance!

Read more about our visit here

Welcome Back Team Peru!

WV_Cusco_280813_(09)At the end of August a World Vets team provided a large scale spay/neuter clinic in the city of Cusco, Peru. Services were carried out in collaboration with local partners Pataz Pro Animalista Cusco, Clinica Veterinaria Lazzy Vet and a handful of local veterinarians and volunteers representing these entities. We thank everyone for the great effort that went into providing the three day campaign despite the cold weather! We also thank Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their continual support of our spay/neuter program in Cusco. See pictures here

World Vets Team Ecuador Sets New Record

1078552_10201394581173898_666054015_oOn our recent visit to Otavalo, Ecuador, a World Vets team provided a large scale spay/neuter campaign with local partners, PAE – Ibarra. We were also joined by a few veterinarians from PAE -Quito who aided our team during the three day campaign. Together our efforts resulted in a record breaking number of surgeries being performed: 268 spay/neuter surgeries.

We thank Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their ongoing support of our work in Ecuador. We also extend our many thanks to those who volunteered their time and energy on this campaign.  See pictures

A Successful Pilot Project in Suriname, South America

LS1A7328World Vets recently operated a pilot project* in Paramaribo, Suriname. We sent a volunteer veterinary team that provided a very successful large scale sterilization campaign which resulted in 250 surgeries being performed. Our team worked with Henk Abrahams Foundation, a local animal welfare organization. We thank Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their support of this visit as well as all the volunteers for their efforts. See pictures of our Suriname campaign here

 *A pilot project is a new project location where a World Vets team has not previously worked

1 Vet Spot Left for Otavalo, Ecuador Project! July 2013

otavaloThere is just 1 VETERINARIAN spot left open for our July 2013 Otavalo, Ecuador Project. Join us on a trip to the Ecuadorian Andes July 17 – 24, 2013 and provide a three day large scale sterilization campaign in the town of Otavalo!

World Vets has been providing regular high volume spay/neuter services in EcuN59 editEcuador since 2009. We have also secured an agreement with the municipality of Otavalo stipulating that they will not carry out poisoning campaigns in exchange for our free spay/neuter services for community animals.

Aside from veterinary work, volunteers will have free time to explore the area, visit Otavalo’s famous markets and much more! What are you waiting for? Check out this volunteer opportunity here

See pictures of  World Vets in Ecuador here

This project is supported by Fondation Brigitte Bardot of Paris, France

 

Love at First Sight: The Story of Puma

JoePumabefore

Dr. Joe Zulty in recovery with Puma after his leg amputation. World Vets Cusco, Peru project 2012.

It begins in the stone streets of Cusco, an ancient city of 600 thousand people, constructed by the Incas in the magnificent Andes mountains at 3,400 meters above sea level.  There are many dogs in the streets, in doorways, everywhere.  Unlike those of the U.S., these dogs are very talented.  They know how to negotiate the streets, to stop at corners, and incredible how to avoid traffic.

Well, maybe not all of them.

On day two of World Vets spay/neuter clinic, three members of the Peruvian National Police, dressed in green uniforms, appearing strict and emotionless, delivered two dogs that had been running the streets.   Both were discovered with 2 other dogs, all four belonging to a woman who loved them but unfortunately was not capable of providing for them.  The older of the

Dr. Joe Zulty with Puma following World Vets project in Maryland, USA.

Dr. Joe Zulty with Puma following World Vets project in Maryland, USA.

two was scruffy but OK, the younger one however needed our help.  He had a paw that was completely paralyzed and severely swollen. Its appearance was that of the paw of the Puma in the ancient wall of the Saqsayhuaman ruins.  And there was something else worth mentioning.  Perhaps another sign from the Incas, I am not sure.  It is that moment in time that captures your heart and gives a true relevance to why we do what we do.

One of the police officers, a woman who was especially very quiet and very reserved, spoke not with words but with the hardly noticeable tears in her eyes.  Those wet eyes touched me, made their way to my heart, and reinforced what the Incas were trying to tell me.

So the next day, on the last day of clinic, with the help of local Peruvian veterinarian, Dr. Carmen Caceres, the paw that touched but did not feel the surface of the street, was removed.  Incredibly this dog, just 2 hours after surgery, was awake, standing, and wagging his tail!   That was when one of World Vets volunteers stated, “It is not too difficult to take a dog back to the U.S.  We brought a dog back from Ecuador on a past World Vets project.”

With the  assistance of Monica  Chacon of Pataz Pro Animalista Cusco, officer Glenda Anchea Garavito, Dr. Edgar Ochoa and his colleagues at Lazzie Vet Clinic, and the spiritual support of the Incas, the process  of transporting a dog from one hemisphere to another became a reality.   The forces were too strong.  It was meant to be I suppose.  In the airport in Cusco, my son Zack and I , with our new pet Puma, said goodbye to our friends from Cusco and of course the conversation was full of tears.  But special moments like this do not come often.  I was proud to be a veterinarian.  I was proud of having worked with people who make a difference in the life of an animal.  And I am pretty sure the ancient Incas were smiling from above.

**This article was written by Dr. Joe Zulty, a World Vets field service veterinarian. This article reflects his participation on World Vets Cusco, Peru project in 2012 when Puma was assisted and then adopted. Dr. Zulty is leading a World Vets small animal project to Sosua, Dominican Republic in November 2013. Read more about this volunteer opportunity here.

 World Vets has an upcoming volunteer opportunity to Cusco, Peru operating September 28 – October 5, 2013. Volunteer positions remain open for the tech/student category. This position can be filled by licensed vet techs, non-licensed vet techs, vet students, pre-vet students and vet tech students. Read more about this volunteer opportunity here

World Vets Equine Welfare Clinic in Nicaragua

601726_603464746330298_1442177817_nWorld Vets recently deployed a volunteer veterinary team to Granada, Nicaragua as part of our equine welfare project in the area. Our team, along with Nicaraguan veterinarians and students, held a free equine welfare clinic in and around the city which benefited 300 horses.

This clinic targeted carriage and cart horses whose owners can`t afford veterinary services for their working equines. Services included parasite control, hoof and dental work, vaccinations, castrations, pregnancy checks, wound treatments, mass 401841_648067338552532_1668835080_nremovals and more!

This project is generously supported by Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

See pictures

 

Making the Impossible, Possible

Peca & OwnerPecas 1Pecas 2“Pecas”, a 13 year old female dog, arrived at our most recent spay/neuter and animal outreach clinic held last month in San Andres Island. Overall she was in good shape and generally well looked after. However, over her lifetime she had had countless litters and was still cycling in her old age. For fear that she would accidentally become pregnant again, her owner wanted to have “Pecas” spayed. While this was not an uncommon scenario, what made this case especially unique was that “Pecas” had recently been diagnosed heartworm positive by a local veterinarian. She was also discovered to have a fast heart rate and murmur. It was claimed that because of this condition she would not likely survive the surgery.

Our team spoke at length to the owner and advised on the ideal way to get “Pecas” spayed – with gas anesthesia and more monitoring equipment – luxuries that were not present at our field condition clinic. Unfortunately this was not a viable option either as such equipment did not exist on the island for animals and the owner could not afford to fly “Pecas” to the Colombian mainland for the procedure.

After much consideration and being made aware of the risks involved, “Pecas” owner elected to have the surgery done as he believed it was in her best interest. Even though we did not have a fancy surgical suite, we did have on hand an AliveCor heart monitor to run an EKG as well as monitor “Pecas” heart rate. World Vets veteran Dr. Michelle Ward monitored “Pecas” with the AliveCor while Dr. Barry Nichols performed the surgery. Upon her return to the United States, Dr. Ward had the EKG analyzed, which confirmed that there were no EKG abnormalities. We would like to thank Antech for donating their services in the EKG analysis.

We are happy to report that “Pecas” recovered very smoothly from the anesthesia and had been doing great following her discharge from the clinic. In the end, the owner was very happy that he had decided to do the surgery and that World Vets had come to the island making her surgery impossible to possible.

Pecas 3 Pecas discharge 1

“Semana Santa” Spay/Neuter Clinic in San Andres Island

Team SAIDuring Semana Santa (Holy Week), World Vets had a veterinary team on the Caribbean Island of San Andres Island. We provided a large scale spay/neuter clinic and also attended health consultations. All services were provided free of charge. The island currently lacks regular veterinary services for small animals and our clinic, in collaboration with the island’s department of health, saw up to 300 animals and performed 198 surgeries in just a couple of days.

We’d like to thank the San Andres Island department of health for all their efforts that went into coordinating this event as well as World Vets volunteers and Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their support of this project.

An Outstanding Effort in Ecuador

Ecu17During the month of March World Vets sent a veterinary team to the Otavalo region of Ecuador in support of our small animal project. We have been working in this region for the past four years with local animal welfare group PAE Ibarra to control the street as well as owned small animal population. We thank Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their continual support of this project as well as our volunteers that put forth an outstanding effort which resulted in 229 free spay/neuter surgeries being performed.

Join us on our next campaign (July 17 -24, 2013)! Read more

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