(IN): Project vet-train to improve welfare of animals

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Project vet-train to improve welfare of animals

By: Maneka Gandhi

 

Article published on 6/23/2009 12:05:59 AM IST

 

I have just finished reading dozens of issues of the Sikkim Express, a

paper I write for. What I am extremely impressed about is the space

and the detailed attention they give to environmental and conservation

issues. On one side of the front page the headline says , “Chief

Minister meets Sonia Gandhi” and a parallel and bolder headline says

“Rock Python Saved !” Every day there is a lot of space given to

issues of water , land and animals – real issues of importance ,

rather than which socialite was caught with jewellery and what she did

in jail for one night.

Many years ago , when I was Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board and

Minister , I had sanctioned some money to make an animal welfare

hospital in Sikkim to a group of vets. I had sanctioned many hospitals

in Manipur etc but the failure rate in the Northeast was so high and

the money /ambulances disappeared so frequently that I did not even

bother to follow this one up.

But this hospital got made by Thinlay Bhutia who gradually got the

cooperation of the State Government.

Some years later an Australian group of vets called Vets Beyond

Borders led by a vet called Dr Catherine Schuetze whose commitment is

to Improving animal welfare and public health in developing

communities came to India. VBB works with local governments and

organizations to establish effective veterinary based programmes .

They undertake the clinical training of local veterinary personnel to

build their skills. They supply much needed medications and surgical

equipment and facilitate the funding of buildings and important

infrastructure such as kennels to hospitalize treated animals.

Catherine is a Buddhist and her interest in Buddhism led her to Sikkim

, Ladakh and Dharmshala. Her group, VBB started two programmes in

India : The Sikkim Anti-Rabies and Animal Health (SARAH) Program in

partnership with the Government of Sikkim and the Ladakh street dog

project in partnership with the Ladakh Animal Care Society. Now they

have started work in Karnataka as well.

In the last three years , with the cooperation of the enlightened

Sikkim state government , the training of local vets and paravets and

the project of sterilizing and vaccinating dogs was so successful that

the government has decided to make it a permanent part of government

work.

On 25th April the State Government made a separate division called

SARAH for implementation of a state wide programme for animal welfare

, rabies control and dog population control under the Veterinary

Department. The Sikkim Government Gazette No 133 has published it and

it has been included in the official state budget. This is the first

Indian state government to do so ( even though the Goa Government has

been extremely professional as well. But that is not so much the

intention of the Government as much as the determination of all the

Goan Municipalities and Dr Norma Alvares , the only Padma Shree in

India for Animal Welfare.). This means that the programme which

delivers sterilization, public education campaigns and animal health

clinics will continue permanently.

Not only that : the Animal Husbandry Division has also allowed the

SARAH program staff to travel to other states and countries to assist

in training staff from other programs. I am told they are very skilled

and dedicated staff and are good teachers.

As a result of the success of the SARAH Programme in Sikkim, Vets

Beyond Borders was invited by the Royal Government of Bhutan to assist

in drafting a National Rabies Control and Dog Population Management

Plan and to provide surgical training to Bhutanese vets and nurses.

This year, in February 2009, VBB started a new project called Project

Vet-Train to improve the welfare of animals in India by refining the

skills of all Indian veterinarians and paraveterinarians. In

collaboration with the Government of India and the Animal Welfare

Board of India, VBB has established a surgical training programme for

Indian vets and nurses, to enhance and standardise the quality of

veterinary services provided to animal welfare groups in India. Dr Ian

Douglas and his team started training vets at the Central Government

National Institute of Animal Welfare in Faridabad and has trained

hundreds who we hope will now pass on their skills to other vets.

I came across a group of from Hyderabad which had been trained by VBB

.. They have been employed by the Bareilly Municipality to do their

sterilization programme for dogs. The IVRI ( Indian Veterinary

Research Institute) located in Bareilly doctors were so impressed with

their surgery skills that they have offered to host the programme for

Vets Beyond Borders so that they can train the vets of Uttar Pradesh.

The next phase of training will commence in October 2009 – so if you

want to apply as a vet , paravet or NGO that is involved in animal

welfare you can write to catherine ,

www.vetsbeyondborders.org

 

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