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Marley’s Miracle: World Vets gives an old boy a new lease on life

By: Jane Ebbitt, CARE Nevis Animal Society

For the second year in a row a World Vets team arrived on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis to assist the local rescue group CARE Nevis Animal Society with pet wellness and a mass free spay-neuter clinic. For four days the team led by World Vets field service veterinarian,  Dr. Winnie Neunzig, worked alongside the CARE volunteers from early morning till well after dusk, their immense efforts yielding amazing results of 283 spay-neuters, 92 vet consults, 400 vaccinations and 4 elective surgeries for other serious health problems.

For one dog in particular, the World Vets visit became a life-saving mission. That dog is ‘MARLEY’.

The old and the young, Marley puppy sits Sweetie

The old and the young, Marley comforts a puppy

Marley is very dear to our heart, he is the ‘Grandpa Patriarch’ of the CARE Rescue Shelter, our first rescue found on a local beach in November 2009. The victim of a dog fighting ring, he had been abandoned and was starving, near death, when we picked him up. The indomitable spirit of this dog, who was given 6 months to live back in January 2010, has been our motivation that every stray animal deserves a second chance at life and love. Marley is so gentle his self-imposed mission in life is to welcome every puppy to the CARE Rescue Shelter. He nuzzles, protects and tells them all that their days of running scared are over.

Marley's tumors

Marley’s tumors

Last year Marley developed a testicular tumor and other large tumors on his underside. We watched in dismay as the tumors doubled in size within a year. Due to his age of approximately 11 years, and risk factors, no vets would tackle surgery to remove them. We asked World Vets field service veterinarian,  Dr Winnie, and World Vets volunteer, Dr Mike Henes, if they believed he would survive surgery to remove the massive tumors, which were weighing Marley down. They gave Marley 75-25 odds of making it,and, although it was a difficult decision to make, there really was no other choice.

From left to right, Jane Ebbitt, Dr. Winnie Neunzig, Dr. Mike Henes and LVT Corinne Anders

From left to right, Jane Ebbitt, Dr. Winnie Neunzig, Dr. Mike Henes and LVT Corinne Anders

And so, Winnie and Mike assisted by senior Vet Tech, Corinne Anders, got to work and operated on Marley. For 30 minutes scalpels flashed, clamps were placed and needles stitched up the wounds at lightning speed. With no complications at all during the procedure, Marley’s 3lbs of tumors were removed and a now ‘streamlined’ Marley emerged from the operating table to recover.

Within 24 hours our Patriarch of the CARE Shelter was rejuvenated, recovered and back amongst all the puppies that he loves so much. He now walks with a spring in his step, greeting the puppies with his usual snuffles and big licks.

We can’t thank the World Vets team enough for giving our Miracle Marley’ yet another lease on the life he loves living. We are so, so… grateful.

 

The Little Team that Could! Ecuador

During the month of April World Vets had a team in Ecuador. We anticipated this to be a challenging project as this is a very high volume clinic and our team was just half the normal size.

However, despite our limited volunteer force, our team well exceeded expectations in relation to the number of animal patients that could receive services. Working in two municipalities in Northern Ecuador, our little team was able to perform hundreds of free sterilization surgeries in just a short period of time. Needless to say we are thrilled at the outcome of this project!

We’d like to thank our tireless volunteers and leaders, PAE-Ibarra, the municipalities of Atuntaqui and Otavalo, as well as Fondation Brigitte Bardot for making this great effort possible!

 

Caribbean Sterilization Campaigns Completed

Animal recipients in Roatan, Honduras and Nevis (located in the West Indies) are benefiting from World Vets free veterinary services this month. World Vets has two veterinary teams deployed in these Caribbean locations where they are operating free sterilization and animal health campaigns.

We’d like to thank our volunteers, local partners, and their supporters, for the great turn out and the success of these campaigns! We’re also grateful for the support of Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their continual support of our animal welfare efforts.

 

 

Volunteer Registration to Close for April Opportunities!

Volunteer positions are still open on our upcoming opportunities in April 2015! If you have been considering joining a team, volunteer registration will close in the next few weeks! Join us on an `island hopping` spay/neuter campaign in the Caribbean or in the Andes mountains of Ecuador!

Veterinary field service projects have volunteer opportunities for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, students and those who do not have any veterinary or animal related experience (assistants). You can read more about what you would be doing on a small animal field service project here

April volunteer opportunities:

A standard veterinary field project is scheduled for 8 days/7 nights, with 3 veterinary service days. However, both April opportunities are for a 9-10 day duration and consist of five days dedicated to providing veterinary care and services for animals in need.

April 2015 Volunteer Opportunities Released!

World Vets has just released long awaited veterinary field service opportunities scheduled for the month of April 2015. Join us on an `island hopping` spay/neuter campaign in the Caribbean or in the Andes mountains of Ecuador!

Veterinary field service projects have volunteer opportunities for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, students and those who do not have any veterinary or animal related experience (assistants). You can read more about what you would be doing on a small animal field service project here

April volunteer opportunities:

A standard veterinary field project is scheduled for 8 days/7 nights, with 3 veterinary service days. However, both April opportunities are for a 9-10 day duration and consist of five days dedicated to providing veterinary care and services for animals in need.

Volunteer Registration to Close for March Opportunities!

Select volunteer positions are still open on some of our upcoming opportunities in March. If you have been considering joining a team, volunteer registration will close next month!

For students looking to get surgical or clinical experience over their spring break, our International Veterinary Medicine (IVM) Program is the perfect fit. Spring session dates with availability are:  March 21 – 28, 2015.

We also have opportunities for students, as well as vets and techs on veterinary field projects to Roatan, Honduras and Charlestown, Nevis. Both are small animal, spay/neuter, projects.

Recruiting Vets & Techs for Opportunity in Nicaragua

World Vets is looking to recruit licensed veterinarians for a unique opportunity in Nicaragua this summer. We seek veterinarians who are available for a one -two week volunteer placement at our Latin American Veterinary Training Center located in Granada, Nicaragua.

This volunteer opportunity will have veterinarians work with English speaking veterinary students where they will provide guidance as well as instruction in performing spay and neuter surgery. Veterinarians will also take part in community outreach activities where health consultations and preventative health treatments are provided to rural animals living in outlying communities.There are typically 3 surgery days and 1 community outreach day scheduled per session. Veterinarians can expect to have 1.5 days for leisure and evenings free.

Positions are available for just 1 week or for as long as 4-6 consecutive weeks (during summer program). Veterinarians are responsible for their own international airfare, travel and/or health insurance, dinner and snacks, in addition to any optional excursions that they may wish to take part in. Lodging, most meals (i.e. breakfast/lunch on work days) and in country transportation as it relates to the program are provided. Read more about the volunteer experience here

Current DVM Vacancies (Summer Program):

DVM Vacancies (Winter Program):

*If you’re a veterinary technician see here

“Team Roatan” Successfully Delivered despite Adverse Weather Conditions

This past week World Vets had a team on the island of Roatan, Honduras to provide free veterinary services for companion animals. With the “wet season” apparently not quite over, they experienced a couple of downpours during clinic days. Nevertheless, many animals were still in attendance and our team was able to successfully deliver services despite adverse weather conditions. Sterilization surgeries as well as health consultations to diagnose and treat a variety of ailments were provided.

We`d like to thank World Vets volunteers and local partners for an outstanding effort, in addition to Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their continual support of these much needed campaigns. World Vets has been committed to improving the overall health and well being of animals on the island of Roatan since 2008.

 

Training Local Veterinarians & Providing Veterinary Services in Paraguay

World Vets recently had a veterinary team in the landlocked South American country of Paraguay. One of the objectives of their visit was to provide free instruction for local veterinarians in performing spay/neuter surgeries. Another aim was to provide a high volume sterilization and animal health clinic for the poor barrios of Asuncion. During their visit, our team encountered very many sick animals requiring a variety of treatments and procedures. Nevertheless, they successfully executed both objectives, which benefited both local professionals in addition to the small animal population.

We would like to thank our team of dedicated volunteers, Fondation Brigitte Bardot as well as local partners Adoptame for their support and efforts that made this campaign possible.

 

Week Long Equine Welfare Clinics Finish up in Nicaragua

World Vets had a veterinary team in Nicaragua this past week. Together with local veterinarians and volunteers, they provided a week long equine welfare clinic. Working in a variety of locations, they reached both rural and urban horse populations, providing much needed veterinary services and care.

World Vets has been operating an equine welfare project, which provides free veterinary services to horses, in the Granada area for many years. We are thankful for the continual support of Fondation Brigitte Bardot of this ongoing endeavor.

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