RE: Volunteering

Mark Hedberg — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 08:49:50 GMT

[quote]

“It’s beginning to look a lot like ringworm...[/quote]

This. Is. Amazing. :) Showed it to a nurse colleague and she cracked up laughing.

RE: Volunteering

FINNIGAN — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 08:12:29 GMT

Thanks guys,, not quite sure wat some of the above posts re rhymes hAv to do with this post!! Lol

RE: Volunteering

Ian M — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 17:05:23 GMT

Mark, there is also

“It’s beginning to look a lot like ringworm.

Everywhere I go.

Take a look in your iso pen, oh yes they’re glistening once again with that verdant woodslamp glow.

It’s beginning to look a lot like ringworm.

Of that I’m now quite sure.

And the most hideous sight to see, is the green luminosity, on your own, front, paw.”.

But that was too long for the signature.

RE: Volunteering

Jemma Laycock — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 13:25:50 GMT

I went to Samos in Greece on my own and did work with some cats and dogs, then went to Athens and worked alone and then went to another island

Everyone is so welcoming and friendly you will be fine and you are doing something you love so I am sure you will do great

Do they need any more help as I am looking for another trip this year and I am a vet nurse?

RE: Volunteering

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 12:18:31 GMT

[quote]

Ringworm merrily on high, your kittens are infested.

Classic lesions round the eye, fluoresce when woodslamp tested.

Micr-spor-or-orum, microsp..... (repeat several times)

Microsporum canis.[/quote]

I'm going to remember that one, Ian M :)

RE: Volunteering

Jo Mackenzie — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 11:15:46 GMT

I volunteered at SCWA in early 2013, have sent you a message :)

RE: Volunteering

Sal the 1st — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:59:55 GMT

[quote user="Ian MacFarlaine"]

(9) Don't bring animals home. We kill enough unwanted ones in the UK already.

[/quote]

definitely - and I wish a few more people would realise this

RE: Volunteering

Ian M — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:43:08 GMT

My top tips, having volunteered on some awesome projects and some truly awful projects, organised a few projects (including some truly awful ones) and spoken to lots who do this.....

(1) If you are worried about going on your own but are going anyway, you are made of the right stuff,

(2) A good population control project needs to do more than just neuter cats and dogs. It needs to be part of an ongoing programme of community engagement, education, stakeholder engagement of local vets, collaboration with municipal authorities, and responsible rehoming. In a lot of cases, importing foreign resources can be a cop-out, and the danger of short-burst projects is that there is a rush to neuter as many animals as possible while you are there and the emphasis is on numbers rather than of clearing locations effectively. With the proliferation of volunteering charities there has been a tendency to go for this approach rather than seeing what can be done locally. The Greek islands are an exception to this as are places where there aren't enough animals or people to sustain a vet or charity.

(2a) A clue to the local effectiveness is to se how many locals of the nationality of the country visited are involved (rather than expatriates) , My first ever volunteering was with a charity which was almost entirely operated by visiting Brits or local expats and they spent their entire week dissing the Spanish and ensuring they fitted their cat trapping around the availability of a full English breakfast, one had been there 6 times and did not know how to ask someone in Spanish if their cat was neutered already. The organiser had been doing it for 7 years and did not know the Spanish word for kitten.

(3) It's essential that if fieldwork is happening, the animals are being trapped effectively and humanely. That means you need decent equipment and to know how to use it. It is unacceptable for people to be bitten or scratched, for cats to escape or for a neuter rate per colony of less than 85%. Unfortunately many small and large charities don't take equipment seriously. That includes some of the well known UK ones that specialise in this. So ask what restraining and trapping equipment is available, and if trapping is being done with automatic or manual traps or both.

(4) Don't assume that however big the organisation sending you is, they will have thought of everything. There's a UK run/funded training centre in India that neuters free-running street cats and had no crush cages for the first 2 years (it only got them because I bought and sent three over with my own money after being so disturbed at seen handlers paid two dollars a day having to manually hold feral cats) .

(4a) there are some essentials on the consumable side you could take - a few cannulas, some pre-packed swabs, Elastoplast, size 15 blades and 100 1cc syringes. These with make your own life easier, as will a pen torch, tourniquet and some scissors.

(5) Ask the charity about instrument sterilisation. Neutering is an elective procedure so there should be some sensible arrangement made for sterilising. Dunking in Hibiscrub isn't a good method.

(6) Be legal and don't piss off local vets. Know what you are allowed to do (which may be nothing) and be very suspicious of a charity that has no dialogue with local vets. Equally, if UK vet students are being trained on a project then find out why local students from that country are not.

(7) Evaluate it on the impact on animal welfare, rather than how nice the people were, the proximity to the beach, or the quality of the nightlife. This is a major failing of VNs who volunteer - and allows bad practice to continue.

(8) It's not a holiday. Long days are likely.

(9) Don't bring animals home. We kill enough unwanted ones in the UK already.

(10) Drugs will be different . Injectable-only anaesthesia is common, and you need to know what is being used and understand it especially if it is an older drug such as Xylazine. Also, check what pain relief is being given.

(11) The Greek economy has been shafted for the last 5 years. This has affected tourism and thus local employment or business profits. It has also affected the input of local authorities in dealing with the stray animal problem. The local wage is often shockingly low, so don't expect animal welfare, neutering or responsible ownership to feature highly in people's priorities. People still love their animals but their place in the grand order of things is different from what you might be comfortable with. Try not judge anyone, and don't be averse to helping people with the neutering of what you might consider pets. Unneutered pets make the ferals on the next neutering trip.

(12) Ear tip all unowned free-running animals,. no exception, and do it by the agreed international method of flattening the tip. Not by notches, nicks or tattoos.

...ask the local charity to supply contact details of an alumni so you can speak to them at first hand.