Mayhew International Summer 2017

Mayhew International Issue 23

working to alleviate the suffering of animals abroad

Summer 2017

Welcome to the summer edition of the Mayhew International newsletter. Inside you can read about our continued work highlighted on World Spay Day, exciting updates from Dr. Mo in Afghanistan and find out more about our International Vet Training Programme.

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Mayhew International is part of The Mayhew Animal Home.

Registered charity no. 1077588

International Vet Training Programme We recently welcomed Dr. Ioannis Fouskis from Greece, Dr. Nuno Rocha from Portugal and Dr. Ana Metskhvarishvili from Georgia as part of The Mayhew’s International Vet Training Programme.

The Mayhew International Veterinary Training Programme was established with the aim to promote safe and secure neutering techniques for animal welfare projects overseas and to encourage the advancement of dog and cat population management abroad through education.

As part of the training, The Mayhew’s vet team provide an insight into pre- and post-operative care, protocols and techniques for improved animal handling, efficient sterilisation techniques and pain management. Implementing these best practice methods significantly helps to control animal discomfort after surgery. It significantly reduces the risk of complications during and postoperation, improves animal welfare and minimises the stress to the animals before, during and after spay, neutering and general surgery.

The international vets also spent time finding out more about The Mayhew’s Community Veterinary Clinic, which focuses on providing preventative veterinary care and welfare that benefits the London community and individual pet owners long term.

Dr. Ioannis Fouskis, who volunteers for the Crete Animal Welfare Association and who trained with The Mayhew in February said: “I first heard about The 2

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Mayhew through the charities I volunteer for in Crete and thought it was a great opportunity to learn from The Mayhew about the different techniques they use for dog castration and spaying cats.”

Dr. Ioannis learnt skills and techniques that he can take away with him and show other vets working at the charities he volunteers for. He says: “I really appreciated the veterinary nurses that worked at The Mayhew. In Greece I don’t have any veterinary nurses to help me during surgery, but I’m now considering training a nurse when I get back.”

Dr. Ana Metskhvarishvili had received some field training as a vet student in Georgia over the last 3 years and volunteered for Mayhew International during our visits to Tbilisi.

Of the Vet Training Programme, Ana says: “I have learnt new techniques for pain management. It is very different here to Georgia and I am looking forward to taking my new knowledge back home and sharing it with the vets in Georgia.”

Dr. Nuno Rocha who helps out with Portuguese charity Animais de Rua agrees that it is vital to pass on their newly learned skills and he will share the new techniques learned, such as flank spaying, with his colleagues in Porto.

Both Ana and Nuno felt that The Mayhew exceeded even their highest expectations and the team was warm, friendly and professional.

Dr. Ursula Goetz MRCVS, GP Cert (SAS), added: “The vets participating in the training are enabled to not only help the animals, but to also gain an overall

understanding of the complexity of animal welfare and population management.

They are then empowered and equipped to have a positive impact on the animals they deal with as well as educating the people involved to help relieve the suffering of animals in their own regions.”

Head Vet Dr. Ursula with Ana checking an injured stray cat.

Dr. Ioannis in surgery.

L–R, Dr. Nuno, Dr. Ana, Head Vet Dr. Ursula, Vet Nurse Kelly with Trixie the dog.

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Mayhew International supports World Spay Day Mayhew International celebrated World Spay Day on 28 February 2017 by encouraging the charities and animal welfare groups we fund and support around the world to participate in this day and have a neutering drive for free-roaming dogs and cats in their communities. We were thrilled with the results.

Georgia Mayhew International has funded a Trap, Vaccinate, Neuter, Release programme (TVNR) with local charity Dog Organisation Georgia (DOG) in Tbilisi for two years.

DOG has a fantastic team of dedicated volunteers made up of expats living there and local Georgian activists who identify and monitor parts of the city where there are groups of free-roaming dogs. These volunteers catch the dogs and bring them to the Free Agrarian University Vet Clinic in Tbilisi for neutering and vaccination before releasing them back to their territories where they

continue to be monitored. The surgery is carried out by Mayhew International vet training alumni Dr. Mariam Chkhikvishvili and Dr. Mao Guliashvili.

On World Spay Day this great collaborative partnership neutered 10 dogs (seven females and three males) and notwithstanding this magnificent effort went on to repeat this on World Stray Animal Day in April with a further nine dogs neutered (eight females and one male). Their next neutering drive was during the field visit by the Mayhew International team in May 2017.

Russia Our animal welfare colleagues in Moscow participated in World Spay Day, with Fond Dingo, Ekologia Cheloveka and PetFund all neutering dogs and cats.

Again it was recipients of Mayhew International’s vet training programme who delivered: Dr. Rina Vorobyeva helped Fond Dingo to neuter 30 cats and four dogs over two days in the village of Alexandrov outside of Moscow where there is no veterinary provision; Dr. Elena Pershina neutered six cats at Ekologia Cheloveka’s sterilisation clinic; and Dr. Valentina Grigorova neutered three dogs and two cats at her clinic for PetFund. Well done!

India For HOPE & Animal Trust in Ranchi with whom we have been working for more than 10 years, most days are Spay Days at their clinic and in February 2017 an incredible 47 dogs were neutered and vaccinated against rabies by the wonderful HOPE vet team. Since our neutering and vaccination programme took off with HOPE & Animal Trust in 2008, we have neutered and vaccinated 59,851 dogs as of the end of March 2017. The number of these identified street and community dogs is really visible on the streets of Ranchi, helping to instil a sense of safety and security for the local communities there.

World Spay Day in India.

World Spay Day with PetFund in Russia.

World Spay Day in Tbilisi, Georgia.

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World Spay Day in Tbilisi, Georgia.

World Spay Day at Fond Dingo in Russia.

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World Spay Day in India.

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Dr Mo. wins Special Recognition Award 2017 We’re delighted to announce that our very own Dr. Abdul Jalil Mohammadzai DVM – Dr. Mo as we and everyone knows him – was presented with The Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) Special Recognition Award 2017 for his innovative work helping thousands of animals in London and Afghanistan.

The award, presented on 26 April 2017 at the ADCH Conference in Birmingham, is in recognition of an outstanding individual who has gone above and beyond and is tackling the biggest issues and challenges in animal welfare.

Claire Horton, ADCH Chairman, said: “The judges were blown away by Mohammad’s inspiring outreach work, where he has set out a clear programme for veterinary help and training in Afghanistan.”

Kabul update Earlier this year, our CEO, Caroline Yates, flew out to Kabul in Afghanistan to catch up with Dr. Mo, Afghanistan Project Manager. Dr. Mo has been busy setting up our NGO facilities and working with the Government and city authorities there to introduce and implement a long-term and sustainable animal welfare strategy.

On 22 January 2017 we signed a landmark agreement so that Kabul City authorities halted the cruel practice of culling street dogs through strychnine poisoning which is a slow and very painful death. We are working with them to plan and implement an animal welfare 6

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strategy encompassing a mass rabies vaccination and a humane Trap Vaccinate Neuter and Release (TVNR) programme.

In an incredible turnaround, four members of Kabul Municipality’s staff who had been members of the teams poisoning the dogs were interviewed and then chosen by Mayhew International for retraining to become humane dog catchers. The plan is that this team will receive training in India on humane catching methods and then be able to return to Kabul to implement the capture of the street dogs in order to vaccinate them against rabies, neuter and release them back to their community areas. These dog catchers will then go on to become trainers themselves by training other municipality workers overseen by Mayhew International.

We believe that educating communities is the key to spreading the word about rabies prevention, safe interaction with

community dogs, compassion towards animals and the benefits of neutering.

For more than 10 years Mayhew International has funded an Animal Birth Control programme which includes mandatory rabies vaccinations as well as a Community Education initiative in Ranchi, India that has so far neutered and vaccinated almost 60,000 dogs in eight years and educated over 275,000 children and adults. There has been a huge reduction in the number of recorded cases of canine-mediated rabies in humans in Ranchi City, with only four cases during the last two years. This is a proven result for a rabies prevention model we are aiming to achieve in Kabul.

Mayhew International will be working and collaborating with several government and non-government agencies to reach this goal of creating a safer and more secure environment for both the people and animals of Kabul.

Dr. Mo vaccinating a young street dog.

Dr. Mo examines a street dog’s eye.

Congratulations! Dr. Mo with his well deserved award.

Caroline at Tigger House.

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You can help us with our life-saving programme in Afghanistan ensuring an improved welfare for the free-roaming dogs in Kabul and providing a safer and more secure environment for all.

£100 could go towards the

£30 could help us deliver our

cost of training vets and vet students to help more animals

Trap Vaccinate Neuter Release programme to save the lives of Kabul’s street dogs

£50 could help us retrain dog catchers to humanely handle stray dogs

£10 could help us prevent the spread of fatal diseases such as a rabies

To donate please call 020 8206 5870 or visit www.themayhew.org/donate and tell us that your donation is for Mayhew International.

You can also text MINT17 £10 to 70070 to make an instant one-off £10 donation The Mayhew Animal Home, Trenmar Gardens, Kensal Green, London NW10 6BJ www.themayhew.org Join us on Facebook: mayhewinternational Twitter: @MayhewInt