Vets and nurses working in VetPartners’ practices can apply for funding to do charitable veterinary work overseas. The overseas missions are often life-changing experiences for volunteers undertaking clinical work with animal charities operating in the most challenging conditions.
Vet Amy Dronfield, who works at Alsager Vet Centre in Staffordshire, spent two weeks on the Caribbean island of Carriacou.
Rather than finding paradise, Amy reveals how she was met by a devastating trail of destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl but it turned out to be one of the most uplifting experiences of her life….
IT had been another emotionally exhausting day for Amy Dronfield and her fellow veterinary volunteers. With no operating theatre or hospital facilities, they’d spent the day treating dogs with badly infected injuries and wounds by the side of a road.
Driving around the island of Carriacou, she could see the devastation wrought by Hurricane Beryl. Flattened homes, streets strewn with the remnants of dismantled roofs and apocalyptic scenes with people living in panic, fear and anguish.
As she wearily set off back to her base with her team, their car was flagged down by a man who asked her if she could help his dog in urgent need of flea, worm and heartworm treatment,
“He told us he didn’t have anybody apart from his dog and, during the hurricane, they had been sheltering together as their whole house was destroyed,” said Amy.
“All that was left of his life was his best friend – his dog – and all he cared about was ensuring it was okay.”
The encounter is the most poignant, heartbreaking memory of her time in Carriacou, but also one of the most uplifting moments as it enabled Amy to fulfil the purpose of her trip and make a difference in the lives of owners and pets in most need of help.
“If anyone is wondering about volunteering overseas, I would say do it because experiences like that made it truly worthwhile,” she added.
She had arranged to work for Worldwide Veterinary Service at Carriacou Animal Hospital, a charity where university qualified vets and vet nurses from all over the world volunteer their time and skills to the island’s pets.
Six weeks before her arrival, its hospital was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl, leaving the volunteers with only a makeshift, temporary theatre. No pets could be hospitalised and they had to be treated by the side of roads or wherever they were found.
The worst case Amy encountered was a dog that suffered horrific injuries in a dog fight, which were common in Carriacou. The bite wounds had become badly infected, and she treated the animal in a front garden, but sadly to no avail.
Another dog injured in a fight had a much better outcome. As well as a torn ear, it was suffering from tick fever and heartworm and had collapsed. Under sedation and local anaesthetic, Amy was able to stitch up his ear and treat other conditions and the dog is now doing well against the odds.
Her time on the island saw her driving round providing preventative healthcare treatment and supporting the weekly neutering clinic to help with population control and to reduce issues like dog fighting and sickness that leave the service under pressure.
Amy said: “As vets we have a lot of transferable skills, and we are used to improvising and adapting to situations. That helped with what I encountered in Carriacou as I’d not anticipated the conditions I found when I volunteered. I was expecting a clinic with less equipment than I’m used to in the UK, so I knew it would be challenging but it was even more so in the aftermath of a hurricane.
“They had to get a mobile clinic up and running, and I was involved in outreach work, driving around the island and treating dogs where we found them. The trip has had a massive impact on me as you were talking to people who had lost everything. You’d look around and see a concrete foundation where there had been a house. It was rare to speak to anyone whose home still had a roof.
“On the flip side, you had people who had lost everything and yet are still smiling. Their resilience, optimism and happiness is so inspirational.
“The main challenge is the availability of drugs as we have so much to choose from in the UK. There, you have a small handful in a little box. The skills of an RVN are something I will never take for granted. I have always appreciated them but now I will do so even more. When the RVN I worked with in Carriacou returned home I was left doing the anaesthetic and it is a big challenge without an RVN.
“A lot of dogs in Carriacou are not receiving care even though the hospital does amazing work as there are only so many pets they can see in a day.
“It made me realise how lucky I am to be a vet in the UK, and it has made me more relaxed. Things we stress about are so insignificant, and we should focus much more on the good things we’re able to do and the positives.”
Sponsorship from VetPartners is enabling vets and vet nurses from across our group to undertake clinical work with approved overseas animal charities.
Some 33 vets and RVNs, including Amy, have already successfully applied for funding to volunteer to use their clinical skills to help animal charities across the world.
What was Amy’s motivation for wanting to volunteer with Worldwide Veterinary Service?
“I am passionate that every animal deserves access to veterinary care regardless to resources available to owners or their location,” she said.
“From a personal perspective, I struggle with self-confidence and imposter syndrome, so I wanted to push myself so I can look back on the experience that proved I am much more capable than I think I am.
“I also love problem solving so this was a good challenge for me. I’ve never seen such a gory injury than the ripped ear repair. As the dog had tick fever, it meant he bled more easily.
“There were no x-ray machines, no blood machines out there, of the equipment we take for granted to do our job in the UK. You have to think on your feet and work with what you’ve got.
“It really was a life-changing experience.”
- Amy raised £1,400 to help Carriacou Animal Hospital build a new clinic after their facilities were destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director, at amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk or 07970 198492
