Welcome to my very first blog post! After returning from several veterinary related travels over the past two years, I have felt the need to blog weighing heavy on my heart. Each time I came home from my trips, I have felt inspired and driven to change how animals are treated around the world, and have wanted to share that passion with others. It is my hope that through my experiences, others will feel the same drive that I do to pursue bettering animals in our country and others - as well as learning about veterinary needs and practices in other countries.
Veterinary Mission Trips:
I have had the absolute privilege of attending an undergraduate veterinary mission trip course through C.E.L.A Belize as a pre-veterinary student in 2015, returning to teach as a student leader in 2016 twice, and be a part of a similar program as a veterinary student leader through the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy in Costa Rica. All of these programs served the purpose of providing veterinary experience to undergraduates, typically to assist in getting into veterinary school.
At the end of both of these separate program courses, each two weeks in length, a spay and neuter small animal wellness community clinic is held for an area in need to bring their animals for free castration, as well as basic animal care. From my very first community clinic - I knew this practice was going to change the world for the better. Through my experiences, I have learned a few things:
1. Veterinary and animal care are drastically different in other countries.
Duh. Of course this is absolutely true, and a no-brainier. But it is important to consider! While the United States has a list of things we can do to improve the way we care for animals, Costa Rica and other Third World Countries have a separate and different list of improvements of their own. For instance, while the USA may have shelters and pounds filled to the brim with animals that are in need of a home - the rural (and not-so-rural) parts of Costa Rica and Belize have stray populations that wander the street and beg at homes and farms. The warm, rain forest weather and lack of a freeze to knock out parasites keeps parasitic burden an immensely prevalent problem for these animals more so than you may see in the states, and the heat can be incredibly taxing on them.
Animal care is also viewed differently in the eyes of the Costa Rican, and Belizean people in some of these areas. For instance, spaying and neutering is not as common -and therefore contributes to the large stray population. Dogs are considered more of a guard for the house than a family companion in some cases, and are therefore not provided adequate care. And of course, in countries that are not as wealthy as the United States, families are typically not able to provide adequate healthcare to their animals at a level that we would consider adequate in the states.
2. Veterinary Mission Trips are helpful in three major ways.
So what can we do to help the animals of countries that struggle to support them? We can provide health care, while engaging and utilizing the hands and hearts of a population that is able to travel to these areas of the world in this time of their life. That's right - through students! In fact, per-veterinary students attending mission trips across the world has been an incredibly popular option to gain experience in the field, as they are able to receive more hands-on opportunities than they would otherwise in The States due to legal liability of veterinary practices. Therefore, veterinary mission trips support three parties: A. The animals that would otherwise not receive adequate care. B. The community members that benefit from healthy, well-cared for animals through the actual treatments themselves, as well as information and education about animal care. And C.The students and veterinarians that are able to learn about veterinary medicine while giving back to a greater cause.
3. Mission Trips are making a positive difference.
The first time that I ever visited Belize as a pre-veterinary student, I was a completely mind-boggled to say the least. I remember driving through the town of San Ignacio, in the Cayo district, and wondering if the town was abandoned. I had never experienced a town that looked so... for lack of a better word... poor. Among other things, I also didn't expect to see multiple stray dogs every single time I visited town. For me - a stray dog was an absolutely huge problem - POST IT ON FACEBOOK, CALL THE POLICE, BRING IT TO A SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! And I know that others feel the same way. But there, stray dogs were beaten away from store fronts with rocks and sticks, as they were a common, -expected- presence in the community. In fact, locals told me about how occasionally, community members were told to keep any dogs that they owned inside on a certain day - as food was going to be laced with poison to help diminish the massive stray population. ...woah... The problem was huge, and of course, stemmed from a larger problem: that families in this community did not have access to affordable pet care, and did not know about the benefits of castration. During our wellness community clinic of my first trip to Belize, we often had to try our best to encourage local people to neuter or spay their dogs and cats, but it was not often accepted. Keeping their pets in-tact physically was considered a higher priority than going through another batch of puppies.
However, my experience in Belize the second, and third trips were completely different. No longer did I see four or five strays in one trip to town - in fact, I hardly saw one! The amount of people requesting castration for their pets were almost too much for our veterinarian to handle. And a shelter was actively working to help any dogs that ended up wandering the town.
Did Veterinary Mission Trips cause this transformation? Probably not on its own. I'm sure that several separate efforts, together, helped control the stray population and change the thought system among the local people. But the efforts that the missions provided, as well as the information that we were able to bring to those that did not know - was imperative for this community.
When I was applying to veterinary school, I mentioned in my interview that I had traveled to Belize as part of a veterinary mission trip. My interviewer was interested in what I had to say, but after he had thoroughly rolled his eyes and gawked about how “every young person thinks they need to travel the world. “ And I always thought it was an interesting observation to look down upon. I think that traveling mission trips (or even veterinary mission trips held in our own needing towns and cities) are imperative for teaching our future - and current - veterinary medical professionals about the communities that need our help the most. And of course - it is important for the communities that we serve, and for the animals that we help. Because even a two week trip can help change the world.
xoxo alicen
