Volunteering Abroad through Vets Beyond Borders
Looking to get out of AUS and benefit animal welfare abroad? Experience another culture, save animal lives, and travel as a vet with Vets Beyond Borders, which works with local government organisations is less developed countries to implement effective veterinary based programs.
Since 2003, VBB has surgically sterilized over 30,000 street dogs, preventing the birth of thousands of more street dogs each year. Vets have vaccinated over 65,000 dogs and cats against rabies and trained over 320 local veterinarians. VBB works with local governments to teach humane alternatives to euthanizing or impounding stray dogs. From cancer repair to fracture repair, vets through VBB have treated thousands of pets who had never seen a vet. They’ve developed kennels and infrastructure for veterinary clinics overseas and worked with wonderful people within the local communities.
It’s easy to make traveling a time for fun and holiday, and to associate work with time spent at home in Australia, but making a difference in lesser privileged community is rewarding. Animals and people depend on those who are willing to contribute and invest in international aid. Hundreds of vets have volunteered in Sikkim, Ladakh, and Bylakuppe. You can catch a documentary about the Ladakh Program here.
**VBB has organised Animal Birth Control and Anti-Rabies Clinics with the following goals:
- To humanely capture and surgical sterilise, then re-release to their orginial territory.
- To rabies vaccinate and administer appropriate treatment while captured thus ensuring a stable, healthy, rabies free population.
- To educate the local community about dogs being desexed and rabies vaccinated and thus no longer a perceived threat.
- To educate and encourage owners of pet dogs to desex and vaccinate them.
If you fancy a trip to India, Thailand, Bali or the Cook Islands, consider Vets Beyond Borders, or one of the programs and projects by similar organisations.
Don’t have the time to go abroad, but want to get involved in other ways? Make a donation and attend a continuing education workshop. VetPrac is a proud supporter of Vets Beyond Borders, having raised over $10,000 through donations of auctioned workshops. For more information, contact Dr Ilana Mendels [email protected]