Spring Break
Veterinary care for Nicaraguan pets
Vets provide free veterinary care to pets for ten days annually
Gail Cole
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: News
Bell said the facility used last year in Merida, Nicaragua was like an open barn.
"It was a very large storage area with two sides and a tin roof," he said. "We didn't have water, but we were lucky because we did have electricity."
While these conditions may seem horrendous and primitive to many in the United States, many locals were extremely grateful for their animals to receive help.
"At times last year, it became actually quite chaotic based on the amount of people who showed up," Bell said. "They just stood there with their animals and waited for us."
Language is a barrier for the group since the locals of Nicaragua speak Spanish. Though several students are able to speak conversational Spanish, they will rely on their local organizer and translators to communicate with the community. (For example, there will be a translator in the recovery area to instruct owners on how to care for pets after surgery.)
"We rely as much on the local community as much as they rely on us," Bell said.
Though students get immeasurable cultural experience while abroad, they also encounter illnesses that are often not found in American animals. Examples of these are blood-born parasites and bacterial parasites, as well as transmissible venereal cell tumors (a disease that acts as a sexually transmitted disease in dogs).
"Your average vet can go their entire career and not see [this disease] in the U.S.," Bell said.
Beyond the Nicaragua trip, the group helps students think internationally by bringing in guest speakers who have done veterinary work in other countries. They also to help fund individual veterinary trips abroad.
"We try to encourage people to take trips on their own," Lais said. "We try to save up money in our club to disperse in small scholarships to people who are self-motivated to do trips on their own."
Lais sees the IVSA and the experience it provides as a way to let veterinary students see the opportunities available to them.
"I think it's a motivator and eye-opener to let people realize that there is a whole world out there other than just your town," she said.
Bell agrees with Lais, and hopes to see the international experience gained with IVSA expand to an international program that is a part of the veterinary medicine college.
"You have a really narrow vision sometimes in vet school," he said. "[International work] really gives the student an enormous amount of perspective."
To send donations of supplies or money to the trip, contact the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Gail Cole, senior reporter
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
"It was a very large storage area with two sides and a tin roof," he said. "We didn't have water, but we were lucky because we did have electricity."
While these conditions may seem horrendous and primitive to many in the United States, many locals were extremely grateful for their animals to receive help.
"At times last year, it became actually quite chaotic based on the amount of people who showed up," Bell said. "They just stood there with their animals and waited for us."
Language is a barrier for the group since the locals of Nicaragua speak Spanish. Though several students are able to speak conversational Spanish, they will rely on their local organizer and translators to communicate with the community. (For example, there will be a translator in the recovery area to instruct owners on how to care for pets after surgery.)
"We rely as much on the local community as much as they rely on us," Bell said.
Though students get immeasurable cultural experience while abroad, they also encounter illnesses that are often not found in American animals. Examples of these are blood-born parasites and bacterial parasites, as well as transmissible venereal cell tumors (a disease that acts as a sexually transmitted disease in dogs).
"Your average vet can go their entire career and not see [this disease] in the U.S.," Bell said.
Beyond the Nicaragua trip, the group helps students think internationally by bringing in guest speakers who have done veterinary work in other countries. They also to help fund individual veterinary trips abroad.
"We try to encourage people to take trips on their own," Lais said. "We try to save up money in our club to disperse in small scholarships to people who are self-motivated to do trips on their own."
Lais sees the IVSA and the experience it provides as a way to let veterinary students see the opportunities available to them.
"I think it's a motivator and eye-opener to let people realize that there is a whole world out there other than just your town," she said.
Bell agrees with Lais, and hopes to see the international experience gained with IVSA expand to an international program that is a part of the veterinary medicine college.
"You have a really narrow vision sometimes in vet school," he said. "[International work] really gives the student an enormous amount of perspective."
To send donations of supplies or money to the trip, contact the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Gail Cole, senior reporter
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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