st.eustatius

2013 Project Spotlight: St. Eustatius

Statia46editThis year World Vets is continuing its assistance to the Department of Agriculture in St. Eustatius; a small island located in the Netherland Antilles in the Caribbean. In 2012 World Vets sent a preliminary team to the island where they conducted a pilot project. The objective of their visit was to help the island contain its ever growing animal population. Our team provided castrations to both donkeys and small animals. They also visited the island`s livestock facilities to assess overall health and identify any prevalent ailments.

Statia13In 2013 World Vets will send two follow up teams. These teams will further contribute to the goal of having an animal population that is sustainable for the island. One team will address small animal health and population and another to address livestock and the roaming donkey population. Both projects have volunteer opportunities available:

Read more about Small Animal Project

Read more about Livestock & Donkey Project

World Vets Team Saves Donkeys on Island of St Eustatius



Located in the Netherland Antilles, St.Eustatius is a small Caribbean island roughly two miles wide and about seven miles long. Over the years, the islands inhabitants have allowed their animals to roam freely. This in turn has also allowed them to reproduce unabated. Such a scenario has come to characterize the “donkey problem” that the island now faces – what to do about the roaming donkey population that has accumulated, especially in a location where the carrying capacity is very limited. With failed attempts to ship them elsewhere and with inhabitants against euthanasia, the ministry of agriculture reached out to World Vets for assistance.

We have answered their call. This month World Vets has a team in St. Eustatius (also referred to as Statia) where they are providing a humane solution for the roaming donkey population. Our team is operating a catch, castrate and release program for the island’s donkeys. Additionally, each donkey caught will receive a complete health exam as well as any treatments needed. While on the island, our team has also reached out to the cat and dog population and performed one hundred sterilization surgeries and health consultations.

Our team, in collaboration with the the ministry of agriculture, is making veterinary aid possible for the animals of St. Eustatius. More importantly, we are facilitating a much greater objective, that of helping restore the ecological balance and overall health for all the inhabitants of the island. All World Vets veterinary services are provided at no cost.

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