CAAT TEAM IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

DAY ONE AND DAY TWO, July 9-10, 2007

TEAM NUNAVUT MEMBERS

• Dr. Liz Bartlett, Langley BC
  
• Dr. Brigitte Rudolf, Burnaby BC
  
• Dr. Ursula Craigdallie, Vancouver BC
  
• Barb Ashmead, Assistant, Qualicum BC
  
• Aliesha Timms, Veterinary Technician, Squamish BC
  
• Caitlin McLagan, Assistant, Vancouver BC
  
• Donna Lasser, Veterinary Technician, Team Leader, Hope BC
  
• Isabelle L'Hebreux, Veterinary Technician, Calgary Alberta
  
• Allison McLean, Veterinary Technician, Glenwalter Ontario
  
• Annette Pecak, Veterinary Technician, Ontario Chapter Coordinator, Cambridge Ontario
  
• Christine Robinson, Veterinary Technician,Ontario Chapter Coordinator Cambridge Ontario

After greetings and introductions, the seven British Columbia team members tackled the daunting task of distributing all of the medical supplies amongst themselves. Suitcases were open on the floor near the Air Canada ticket booths as we attempted to meet the fifty pound per person baggage weight allowance, ten pounds less than we were previously permitted. After an uneventful check-in, we boarded the "red-eye special" to Ottawa where we joined up with our remaining four team members the next morning at 7:30 a.m. Isabelle had safely survived her sleepover on a bench at the Ottawa airport.

Going through Security at the Ottawa Airport, Annette, Caitlin and Donna were pulled aside and given a “frisking”. We had a few questions about the vaccines we were carrying in the insulated bags, but otherwise our check-in was problem-free. On our flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit (approx. 3 hours) we were assigned seats where we were not sitting together as a group. This turned out to be a positive thing as several team members sat next to some very informative and interesting persons. Barb, for example, made a very important connection with the lady next to her, a lady from Iqaluit who volunteers with an animal group there and is working towards bringing a CAAT team to that community in the very near future. First Air was the airline we flew on from Ottawa to Iqaluit and from Iqaluit to Igloolik. We were very impressed with the level of service we received from First Air. The Flight Attendants were very friendly and attentive, we were given free hot meals, including a warm chocolate chip cookie part way through the flight. And as the plane begins it’s descent they hand out candies for everyone to suck on to help with the ear problems which often go along with landing.

First Air has been one of our main sponsors for this project, discounting our flights (eleven seats) by up to 75% of the regular cost. A huge thank you to First Air for doing this for us. Flights to northern Canada are very very expensive normally and this makes it difficult for CAAT to work in the Northern remote communities which so desperately need our assistance.

When we landed in Iqaluit we were surprised at the “smallness” of the community, considering it is the Capital City of Nunavut. The airport terminal building is bright yellow in colour. We were met as we entered the terminal building by a reporter from CBC North radio, and Donna and one of our veterinarians, Brigitte Rudolf, were interviewed. It will be aired this week on several news broadcasts all over Nunavut. We then had time to walk across the street to the Art Gallery and see some of the native arts and crafts from the area. At 1:00 p.m. we were met by another reporter, this time one from the Nunatsiaq News, the primary newspaper of Nunavut. Christine, Donna and Dr. Liz were interviewed for this article, and had our photo taken. The weather in Iqaluit was sunny but very chilly, probably close to five degrees Celsius. We could even see our breath. We quickly put on our sweaters and jackets as we slowly tried to acclimatize.

At 2:00 p.m. we boarded a smaller, turbo-prop plane for the last leg of our journey to Igloolik Island. The flight was two and a half hours in length. We were amused by our flight attendant who was a male dressed in coveralls who was both our baggage handler/flight attendant. He handed out snack lunches to us during the flight as well as the candies again on our descent into Igloolik. Igloolik Island is in the Canadian Arctic and we were impressed by the isolation of this community. The airport is very tiny with a gravel landing strip. While the team waited for their baggage and supplies to be taken off the plane, we all had our team photo taken in front of the “Welcome to Igloolik” sign, surrounded by Inukshuks. Our contact in Igloolik, Barb Pimlott, greeted us and our baggage was then collected and loaded onto the back of a pick-up truck and we were transported into the hamlet of Igloolik. Stephen and Lazarus, two employees from the Hamlet, helped to transport all of us women to where we would be staying.

Barb and her husband, Mark, fed us a delicious meal as we sat outside around a bonfire (they burn old hydro/telephone poles here, as trees cannot grow here), overlooking the water – ice floes as far as the eye can see. It was quite amazing to see. We were then introduced to Jay and Marin, a couple from Ontario who are working in Igloolik and went for a walk out to where their sled dog team was kept. We vaccinated and dewormed all eight dogs, beautiful dogs. The sled dogs in Igloolik are very unique as they are some of the only Canadian Inuit dogs remaining in the Canadian Arctic.

Several of the team stayed up late and visited together. While we were chatting, the doorbell rang and a lady from the community came in with a baby on her back and two other young children following behind. She had crocheted a hat and made a couple of other handicrafts she was hoping to sell to us. Her English was excellent as well and we were told that the children are schooled in their native language, Inuktatuk, until grade three, and then from then on they are taught in English. The children are so lovely with round, chubby faces. Our first night in the Arctic Circle was a bit challenging trying to sleep, as the sun doesn’t set. We will need to get used to sleeping in the sunlight during our stay here.

Thank You, Aeroplan Donors!

CAAT would like to thank everyone who donated their Aeroplan miles during the month of April. The campaign was extremely successful with almost 550 000 miles donated! These miles have been used to book the team's flight to Nunavut in July for the two week Spay and Neuter Project.

CAAT will be having an Aeroplan campaign every year, and we would appreciate your support again in 2008. Thank you for helping us to to impact on the safety, health and population control of domestic animals worldwide.

The Final 6 Days in Guyana

FRIDAY, May 18, 2007, DAY 11

Terill, Gwen, Brenda and Tera were picked up by Syeada at 6:00 am for a one hour drive to the river, and then a 1 ½ hour boat ride upriver to the community of Bartica, population 14,000. Syeada had made contact with a couple of residents previously, and they had the day organized for the team upon their arrival. The team worked extremely hard and long hours and were able to complete seventeen cat spays, three cat neuters, six dog spays and one dog neuter, as well as vaccinate, deworm and give parasite treatment to them as well as fifteen others. A few cases of venereal tumours were seen; one was euthanized.

Meanwhile, back in Georgetown, Donna and a terrific taxi driver, Mark, left at 6:00 am for the always harrowing ride to the Cheddi Dagan International Airport to pick up Dr. Raymond Deonanan and his assistant, Shivani Maharaj, whom we flew in from Trinidad, a short flight away, to work with the team for the remainder of our time here. CAAT’s Trinidad Team, November of 2006, had worked daily with Raymond and Shivani and had come home with glowing reports of them. And they did not disappoint us. Raymond and Shivani both proved to be extremely competent, very pleasant to work with and hugely hardworking. For the remainder of the day, Dr. Ray, Shivani, Vince and Donna worked at the SPCA clinic, seeing many walk-in appointments for sickly and worm-filled puppies, to mangy and malnourished dogs, to flea and tick-infested dogs. They also completed many dog and cat spays throughout the day.

Donna received a telephone call from the Vice-President of the GSPCA at 12:50 pm, telling her she was scheduled to speak at 1:00 pm (in ten minutes) at a Primary school to over two hundred children. She scrambled to gather her supplies and was quickly transported to the school where she was met by two hundred plus smiling Grades one to six uniformed children. The room was one big very hot classroom upstairs. The children welcomed her warmly, standing up together to greet her and in unison welcoming her. Donna spent the next hour sharing information with the children, asking and answering many questions, showing photos of dogs and taking many photos of all of the children. The children love to have their photos taken and then eagerly look at their photo on the back of the camera, smiling hugely when they spot themselves on the screen. The teachers had all of the children stand and together said “Thank you Miss Donna” and they promised to take care of their dogs and cats. It was very touching.

Meanwhile, the team of Raymond, Shivani, Vince and Donna worked at the SPCA clinic for the day and were overwhelmed with seeing drop-in patients as well as fitting in the occasional spay and neuter. At 6 pm, just as they were finishing up for the day, a lady brought in her dog, Mice, which she stated “was in labour since Monday”, five days previously. The dog was very exhausted, dehydrated, and hadn’t eaten for five days. We immediately gave her Torbugesic, a painkiller, and placed an IV catheter in her vein. After hooking her up to IV fluids, we anesthetized her and proceeded to do a C-section on her. Dr. Raymond performed the surgery, and when he opened her up he discovered an extremely large bladder filled with urine. It was so full it had moved its way up under the rib cage to some degree. He attempted to express her bladder to empty some of the urine from it, but was completely unable to do so. We assumed, incorrectly, that the weight of the puppies was pressing down on the urethra, making her unable to urinate. He then removed the seven large dead puppies and was still unable to express her bladder. It was then that he discovered a tennis ball-sized tumour (venereal tomour) which had wrapped itself in a stranglehold around the urethra. With permission by the owner, Mice was sadly euthanized. It was not a pleasant ending to our workday.

Syeada Manbodh and her partner Jerry La Gra own a Bed and Breakfast home in Georgetown, and they invited Donna, Jen, Raymond and Shivani to stay there. We, along with Vince, met up with Neil who had returned late afternoon from his adventure into the interior in the Mazaruni region, working with the goats, and had a bite to eat together and retired for the night.

SATURDAY, May 19, 2007 DAY 12

The Bartica teams of Gwen and Brenda, Terill and Tera were up at the crack of dawn to meet the 6 am boat to come downriver and back to Georgetown. Their wonderful and gracious hosts arose at 4 am to cook Roti and curried beef for their breakfast. Syeada drove them back to Georgetown and they arrived at the SPCA clinic at 9 am, safe and sound. The SPCA had arranged for part of the team to travel to Enmore, a small community approximately thirty minutes east of the city. The SPCA had announced their visit previously on radio and in newspapers, so a large turn-out was expected. This was not to be the case though. Two veterinarians and their technicians were transported to Enmore. Gwen and Terill were the Veterinarians, Brenda, Tera, Vince and Jen were support staff. They arrived at the Enmore Community Centre, set up the surgery tables and laid out all of the medical supplies, and waited for the people and their animals to arrive. Over the next four hours, the teams did three dog spays and one dog neuter, as well as vaccinations, dewormings, and euthanizing a male dog with a very large venereal tumour.

Venereal disease (a sexually transmitted disease) is very common amongst the dog population in Guyana, and it is very difficult to treat and to cure, if not impossible. Several Veterinarians in Guyana attempt to treat this horrible disease with a cancer drug called Vinchristine, but it is extremely dangerous to humans if the correct precautions are not taken. Euthanasia is sometimes the only option.

A dog with suspected rabies was also brought in, foaming at the mouth, growling and showing his teeth. Terill explained to the owner that the dog needed to be immediately taken and put down, and not to have any contact with it.

Because the numbers of people bringing their dogs and cats were so low, the team remained in Enmore until 3 pm, and then traveled back to finish out their work day at the SPCA clinic in Georgetown.

At 7:30 pm the team was picked up by Jean Lowry who had invited us to her home for a barbeque and a visit. Jean was the Canadian contact we had met at the Canadian Embassy on our second day in Guyana. She is the Guyana Field Director for the BCCP (Building Community Capacity Project), funded by CIDA in Ottawa. The BCCP is the group who Dr. Neil McKenzie (our equine vet) flew into the interior with to help with the vaccination and care of goats that the BCCP had recently transported in to the Mazaruni area of Guyana. After a very pleasant evening with Jean, her husband and several other guests, we were in bed by 11 pm or so, anticipating our big day ahead tomorrow – our long-awaited visit to Kaietura Falls.

SUNDAY, May 20, 2007 DAY 13

Our day off! Our trip into the interior to visit Kaietura Falls had been cancelled on Thursday due to rain, and had been rescheduled for today. And what a glorious day it turned out to be! The team was picked up after breakfast by the bus and transported one hour to the International Airport, where we then boarded our plane (a twin propeller aircraft which seats fifteen or so passengers) for our one hour flight into the Amazon rainforest. The pilots informed us that today was the best weather the Guyana interior had seen in two weeks and we definitely picked the right day.

After a very scenic flight over seemingly endless and very dense forest, we landed on a short, unpaved landing strip within walking distance of the waterfall. Our tour guide, Lawrence Gibson, introduced himself and gave us a short history of the area, what we would expect to see on our tour, what dangers to watch out for, and then we were on our way. We walked through very lush vegetation at times, saw several types of small toads including the nearly extinct Golden Toad, as well as two gorgeous wild Macaws (red and blue in colour) flying closely overhead. Lawrence told us the area is just teeming with wildlife, especially towards evening, such as jaguars, monkeys and snakes.

As we approached Kaietura Falls, we could hear the thundering sounds of the water and our anticipation grew. We were not to be disappointed. The world’s tallest waterfall was breathtaking and we were filled with awe as we snapped many photos and took in the magnificent scenery. The air was cool and so fresh and pure. Lawrence told us that if you bathe your face in the water of the Falls or drink the pure water, it is very rejuvenating. Like the “Fountain of Youth”. We questioned Lawrence as to why the water looks almost dirty, and he said it isn’t that it is dirty; it is the coppery brown colour due to the tannin from the tea leaves falling in the rivers in the whole country. Interesting. We were able to approach the waterfall from several different aspects and were also able to stand at the top of the falls right where the water went over the edge, falling 750 feet below.

We walked back to the landing strip along a pathway which took us past the Kaietura Guesthouse, a house built for the visit of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the 1970’s. He apparently spent some time there with Barbara Streisand we were told.

We were given a nice picnic lunch of rice, beans, curry, roti and chicken, and then we boarded the plane to fly back to Georgetown.

We arrived back in town very sunburned and tired, but extremely content with the beauties of our day.

MONDAY, May 21, 2007 DAY 14

Today was Media Day!!!
The three Veterinarians, Terill, Gwen and Neil appeared on “The Guyana Today” show at 7 am this morning and were able to share with the public our reason for coming to Guyana and what we have been able to accomplish thus far.

At 11 am we met with Dr. Steve Surujbally, the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Committee and a Veterinarian in Georgetown. Dr. Surujbally is a past President of the GSPCA. He was instrumental in getting our drug permit and Customs clearances upon our arrival in Guyana.

At 2:30 pm we held a Press Conference in the lobby of the GSPCA clinic where approximately 8 – 10 reporters and camera crew from the four Guyana newspapers interviewed the team.

We were then able to complete some last minute souvenir shopping and errands, have dinner and retire early for the night. Tomorrow will be our last working day in this country so we wanted to be well rested to give it our all.

TUESDAY, May 22, 2007 DAY 15

After breakfast, Dr. Ray, Tera, Brenda and Vince were take to the GSPCA clinic where they began, which turned out to be, a full day of spays and neuters. Shivani, an avid horse lover, asked Neil if she could spend the day with him as Neil spoke to the Veterinary Technician students at their college, visited the Guyana Police Station to have a look at their horses, and possibly, if time permitted, to continue working on the streets with the cart horses. (see the end of the blog for Neil’s report on his work in Georgetown with the horses.) Meanwhile, Terill, Gwen, Neil and Donna met with Jean Lowry one last time, at her office, to speak further about possible future CAAT involvement with several CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) programs in the Caribbean Islands, as well as a possibility of work in the interior of Guyana with agricultural programs and the native Indian peoples there.

Terill, Gwen and Donna returned to the GSPCA clinic to join Dr. Ray in completing over fifteen dog spays and neuters, as well as many vaccines, dewormings and parasite treatments given.

At 7 pm the team was transported to a restaurant where we were given an ”Appreciation Dinner” by several of the GSPCA board members. They also awarded CAAT with a trophy, expressing their appreciation for the work we did over the last two weeks.

WEDNESDAY, May 23, 2007 DAY 15

Dr. Ray and Shivani were picked up at 7 am to be taken to catch their 10 am flight back home to Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was difficult to say goodbye to them both. We truly enjoyed working with them and getting to know and love them. They are so easy to love. They will be life-long friends.

The Team was transported to the airport also, arriving at 10 a.m. for check in for our flight to Toronto, scheduled to leave at 1:15 p.m. An hour late and with no serious hassles going through Customs or Security, we took off for our beloved Canada. As we flew, we were able to see below several Islands of the Caribbean, presumably Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbados. Donna and Jen later spotted New York City, Manhattan and Central Park as we flew five miles above. We arrived in Toronto at 9 p.m., very hungry and very tired, but relieved to be away from the heat and humidity of the tropical Guyana. A shuttle bus took the team to the nearby Travelodge, where we had dinner and retired at midnight. It would be a short sleep.

THURSDAY, May 24, 2007 DAY 16

After only four hours of sleep, Gwen, Neil, Donna, Jen and Brenda were on the shuttle at 5 a.m. to meet their 7 a.m. flight from Toronto to Vancouver. Terill and Vince caught a later flight direct to Kelowna BC, and Tera’s flight departed at 9:30 am for Edmonton and her home.

Reflecting back on the last two weeks and our time in Guyana, we definitely feel we made an impact on many people there. We were able to meet many important contact persons who will make a difference for the Canadian Animal Assistance Team in the future. We were able to assess the needs and the situation with the animals (both small and large) in that country. We were able to prevent close to 150 needless pregnancies, as well as prevent to some degree, the continued spread of STD’s (venereal disease specifically) amongst the dog population. We were also able to make many recommendations to the GSPCA for the future, and worked side by side with them on a daily basis. We were able to spend a total of four full days with Dr. Dexter Allen’s Veterinary Technician students, teaching them and answering many questions. Our veterinarians were able to work with three newly graduated Veterinarians, showing them specific techniques and thus improving the quality of their surgeries in the future. Neil was able to work with the cart horses in the streets of Georgetown (vaccinating, deworming and general treatments) and educated and connected with the owners. The talks to over 400 schoolchildren were invaluable and extremely important. The media coverage CAAT received will reach thousands and thousands of people and bring new awareness to their minds about the proper treatment and care of their dogs and cats for the future. And so much more!

We want to give special recognition and thanks to all of the volunteers and staff at the GSPCA clinic - Maureen, Piper, Claudine, Dominique, Deb, John, Mr. Abel and anyone else whom we have failed to mention or whose names we are unsure of. Our gratitude also goes out to the Guyana SPCA board members, such as Oliver, Jennifer, Shiromanie, and Dominique for providing for all of our meals and transportation, countless bottles of drinking water, as well as arranging the school visits and media interviews. Thank you once again for the wonderful trophy you presented us with and for the appreciation dinner. Thank you for all you are trying to do for the dogs and cats in the city of Georgetown.

To the very important persons who worked behind the scenes, primarily Joyce Gomes of Vancouver, BC, a native of Guyana. Joyce contacted CAAT approximately one year ago and shared her burden for the dog situation in Guyana. She had just returned at that time from Georgetown, and had even brought back a stray dog with her whom she named “Pickup”. He has since fit in nicely into their family and with her other three dogs. Joyce pled with CAAT to plan for a two week project in her native country for the near future, and planning then began. Joyce traveled to Guyana one week before the Team arrived and began to arrange for the Team’s accommodations, as well as organizing some of the work we were going to do. Joyce personally paid for the six of the Team’s accommodations during the entire time we were in Guyana. She has worked tirelessly over the last year to prepare for this project and we owe Joyce a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you again Joyce. You are an amazing woman and we love you!

Syeada Manbodh and Jerry La Gra - owners/operators of Rainforest Bed and Breakfast for accommodating Donna and Jen, Raymond and Shivani in your home. And so much more! Jerry – thank you for all of our talks and for your sage advice, recommendations and suggestions for CAAT. Also thanks for your delicious potato pancakes, mango pancakes and scrambled eggs you made for us. The work you have done, especially in Guyana over the last twenty years, for the Indigenous peoples in the interior is incredibly impressive, fascinating and inspiring. Thanks for your caring heart. You will not be forgotten. Syeada – your shining example of dedication and untiring love for the stray dogs, cats and horses (all of the animals) of Georgetown and of your country, has been an inspiration to so many of us, the likes of which you will never realize. Never stop doing all that you do!!! You were such a wonderful and caring hostess (sorry about the ink ruining your sheets), and for your friendship. It will be cherished always.

Zenobia Williams - you traveled from Toronto to your birthplace, Guyana, to help facilitate and organize for our Team’s arrival and for our work in Guyana. You worked alongside Joyce over the last two weeks and were a dynamic team together. Zenobia has been inspired to return to Georgetown later this year to live there again. Her burden for the dogs in that city is great, and she feels she needs to live there to make a difference and be most effective. Thanks Zenobia for your dedication to the animals.

And last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you goes out from the Team to Harry and his son, Chris. Harry is Joyce Gomes’ brother and resides in Guyana, just outside of Georgetown. On a daily basis Harry provided the use of his bus van to the team and especially to transport Neil to various parts of the city to work with the cart horses. Chris was Neil’s assistant extraordinaire and was a big help to Neil continually. Chris has expressed an interest in coming to Canada to attend Veterinary Technician school in the near future. Chris was also our tour guide and security guard as we traveled on foot through Georgetown to shop and to take photos. Thank you Harry and Chris for all you did. You are both wonderful people and we love you both.

CAAT is now preparing for the next project which will be in Igloolik Nunavut from July 9 to 23. Ten team members from across Canada will travel to the Arctic Circle to work primarily with the sled dogs in that community. We will be vaccinating, deworming, spaying and neutering close to 300 dogs, as well as having opportunities to educate and share with the residents of Igloolik. With thanks to all of our donors in the month of April for their generous donation of their Aeroplan miles for this project, all ten team members will be able to fly for free to Ottawa. First Air has offered us a 75% discount on our airfare from Ottawa to Igloolik and we wish to thank them in a big way. A daily journal with photos will also be placed here on this blog at that time.

DR. NEIL MCKENZIE’S REPORT ON HIS WORK WITH THE HORSES

Neil was able to work with the cart horses in and around Georgetown. These horses are used to pull small narrow carts and are seen all over the streets mixed in with the cars and trucks.

He vaccinated (horse vaccines donated by Intervet and Wyeth) against tetanus, sleeping sickness (which they call “horse sickness” in Guyana), treated for external and internal parasistes and consulted with many medical cases. Neil was surprised with the level of external parasites that he saw. He was also able to do dental exams on many horses and was pleasantly surprised at the good condition of their teeth. This is probably due to their high roughage and low concentrate diet.

In total Neil worked with and helped over one hundred of the cart horses.

Neil also flew into the interior with representatives from CIDA. While there he examined fifty goats and was able to treat some for lung worm, maggots and vaccinated against Rabies. Rabies is mostly a problem in the larger animals is Guyana. The vampire bats , especially in the interior, bite the goats, sheep, cows, and horses and can transfer rabies to them. The Rabies vaccine was all donated to CAAT by Intervet.

Neil has gathered very much information which will be useful for future CAAT projects.

Guyana, Days Five to Ten

Day Five:
Saturday, May 12, 2007

At 9:00 am, we arrive at the SPCA clinic; there are already many people lined up with dogs and cats for exams, possible surgeries, deworming and vaccinations. Several of the dogs are suspected to have heartworm, a problem here.

One dog seen had a tumour in its right eye the size of a golf ball. Terill removed the tumour successfully and the dog’s head was bandaged. We will have to have a look at the eye again in a couple of days. We think that there will be vision in that eye.

Syeada, Jen and Sinobe go to a near by town call Success to pick up an unwanted puppy from a home as well as stray kittens. On the way back into town they found and picked up a very skinny puppy on the side of the highway. They took all of the animals into the GSPCA. Unfortunately, all of their fates are unknown.

The Team worked at SPCA clinic until 7:30pm and retired for the evening, looking forward to a much-needed day off.

Day Six:
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Mother's day & our day off!

Everyone gets to sleep in and enjoy the morning!

The Team meets up at Syeada's house and Syeada's partner Gerry takes us on a wild adventure up the west coast to Fort Island for the day. The eight of us pile into his Toyota pick up truck, four inside and four in the box (it is legal to drive like that here, eek). We drove past endless fields of rice patties, continuous villages one after the other, cows, horses, sheep, and dogs wandering by the side of and across the road. It is not uncommon here to see a cow standing in the middle of the road, and the vehicles have to slow down and drive around it. We also passed by a human cremation site (a large open building where important persons are cremated in front of an audience).

We drove across the longest floating bridge in the world, over the Demeraras River; a further 390-minute drive and we came to a community on the edge of the Essquibo River, called Parika. We parked the vehicle and walked to where all of the boats are anchored and we were immediately surrounded by several aggressive men attempting to convince us to hire their boats. After a price was negotiated, we climbed aboard a small wooden motor boat, which seats about 10- 12 persons, donned our life jackets (many boats don’t have them) and we were taken upriver for approximately twenty minutes to Fort Island and the home of Fort Zeelandia, a brick fortress built in the late 1700's. The population of the island is about 100 people. A two hundred year old church stands in the center of the island, which has now been made into a museum, which we all toured. Our driver of our boat, Leo, gave us a safe boat ride back to Parika where we visited the marketplace and took a few photographs of the locals.

Later that evening, the Team met up for dinner at a restaurant on the seawall and enjoyed some good food and great company. What a great day off!


Day Seven:
Monday, May 14, 2007

Another long day at the GSPCA full of health exams, vaccinations and spays and neuters for the Team. Again, another long line up all day of patients waiting their turn.

Syeada and Jen went into Georgetown and picked up some stray dogs that needed to be spayed/neutered. One of the dogs that they picked up was "Browngirl". She was quite old and had a limp. She was a guard dog at one of the hotels here in town and Syeada faithfully has been feeding her everyday for a long time and they developed a good bond. She was dropped off at the GSPCA and was spayed but her body couldn't handle the surgery, she died afterwards. A post mortem was done on her and it was discovered that she had a serious case of heartworm. This was likely the cause of her death.


Day Eight:

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

9:00 am
Tera and Brenda spoke at a school to about 180 5 1/2 year olds in cute yellow uniforms. They took along Sheeba, a huge friendly Neopolitan Mastiff to demonstrate to children how to approach strange dogs, and talk nicely to them. They showed the children the stethoscope and some of them were able to listen to Sheeba's heartbeat; they were all very excited!! Tera and Brenda were surprised to find out that many of the children had house pets of their own. They also talked about how to be kind to pets/animals, and how to love them and how if they did so they would love them back.

The school was very organized and the level of material on the walls for that age group was unexpected. All the kids cheered and were smiling as we left. Brenda and Tera also brought Canadian stickers for all of the children.

Donna, Jen and Carmella from the GSPCA headed over to a nearby primary school. There were about 100 kids in the room and Donna spoke to them about how to properly treat animals, how to care for them and how to safely approach approaching animals that you don't know. The media had been alerted to the school visit and a cameraman for a Guyanese Television station filmed nearly the entire talk. Donna placed four large posters around the classroom with colour 8x10 photographs depicting dogs receiving hugs and affection, playing ball, cats sleeping contentedly, as well as several photos of neglected dogs, mangy dogs and sickly thin dogs. Syeada provided all of these materials, including a one page hand out which every child was given to take home. The children were eager to answer all of the questions and asked many questions also. Crayons, colouring pages and pencils with Canadian flags were left with the teachers to hand out to the children after we departed. Several children drew photos of their dogs and wrote a story about them, including their names, addresses, and emails if they had one. What a great experience!

At 10:30 after we had visited the school, Gwen, Donna, Vince, Jen, Carmella, left for the day to a town called Uitvlugt to work the remainder of the day. We were dropped off at the town's community centre, where we proceeded to set up our exam/surgical table outside in the shade. For the next seven hours we worked non-stop, seeing 38 dogs, cats, bunnies, and even some sheep. During our surgeries, there must have been at least fifty children and adults crowded around watching. Gwen (Dr. McKenzie) explained her surgeries step by step to all of the curious onlookers. Their eyes were huge as they witnessed their first spay/neuter ever. We headed back to Georgetown at about 6:30 exhausted but contented with a great days work.

Meanwhile, Terill, Brenda and Tera had stayed at the GSPCA and performed spay and neuters all day along with about 30 health examinations & Neil worked a hard day in town on the cart horses.


Day Nine:
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The surgeries got off to a slow start this morning at the GSPCA due to a load of exams, vaccines, dewormings, and parasite treatments that kept flowing in through the front doors. We finally caught up and started spaying the dogs and cats, which we continued to do throughout the day until 7pm. Every day since our arrival we have eaten a hearty breakfast and have existed on no food but protein bars and water the rest of the day, until supper usually at 8 pm. It tends to take its toll on you after a while. That combined with the extreme heat and humidity 24 hours per day and you start to feel pretty weak and light-headed by the end of a workday. Power outages are a very common occurrence here. Today we lost power at about 2pm and when we left the SPCA clinic at 7:30pm the power was still off. As it became darker and darker, we had to perform surgery with a flashlight. Rather frustrating, to say the least!

We have our day off tomorrow, and have made arrangement to travel by small airplane to Kiateur Falls (approx. one hour's travel). Kiateur Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world and is located in the central interior of Guyana, in the dense rainforest. We will be away for the whole day.


Day Ten:
Thursday May 17, 2007

The day began with the very disappointing news that our trip to the falls had been cancelled, due to maintenance on the plane and also due to the weather. It is presently Guyana's rainy season, especially in the central interior where we were to travel today. We have rebooked this trip to take place on Sunday, hopefully. That will be our last chance to go.

Neil (Dr. McKenzie) was given a free seat on a small plane to travel today and tomorrow to an area in the interior very close to the Brazil border. CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) and one of their representatives in Guyana, Jean Lowry, requested that one of our veterinarians go along and start vaccinating the hundreds of sheep against rabies. Rabies is a severe threat in the large animal population in Guyana, due to vampire bats. CAAT had a large number of Rabies vaccines donated by Intervet before we left home last week, which is very much appreciated, and being put to very good use here.

Because our trip was cancelled to the falls, we decided to go shopping instead and explore downtown Georgetown by foot a little more. We also got to see the largest wooden building in the world. It is St. Georges Cathedral and it is beautiful. After a few hours of shopping and buying souvenirs we decided to go to the Pegasus Hotel to go swimming and lay by the pool. Now, that was relaxing!!!!! We then ate dinner there and returned home for the night.

Guyana, South America

Project: Guyana, South America
May 8th-May 23rd, 2007

Due to communication difficulties, this is the first contact with the team in Guyana. Below is four days worth of journals. To view pictures of the trip, please visit

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15267509@N00/sets/72157600216836614/

More Blog entries and photos will be added as they are sent from the Team.

Day One:
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007
Team arrives at Vancouver International Airport
Team Members:
- Donna Lasser, R.A.H.T & Team Leader
- Jennifer Picard, Photographer
- Dr. Neil McKenzie, Equine Specialist
- Dr. Gwen McKenzie, Small Animal Veterinarian
- Dr. Terill Udenberg, Small Animal Veterinarian
- Brenda Russell, R.A.H.T.
- Vince Nickel, Veterinary Assistant

We sorted through all of our medical supplies and distributed them amongst all of our suitcases, as we were only allowed to take two bags per person, with a maximum weight of 60 pounds each.

The two medical supply suitcases were slightly overweight and the carrier wouldn't make any exceptions; we were therefore charged an extra $80 for overweight luggage.

We boarded our flight at 4:15pm bound for Toronto and embarked on an adventure of a lifetime, arriving at Pearson International Airport in Toronto at 11:30pm. Tera Udenberg, R.A.H.T. arrived half an hour later on a flight from Edmonton, Alberta to complete the team.

We then proceeded to look for a comfy place to sleep as our flight was not scheduled to depart until 6:30 am, bound for Georgetown, Guyana, South America.

We found some big ol' comfy couches in the lobby of the Sheridan Hotel (in the Airport) and remained there for 6 hours until we had to check in for our flight. (Fortunately, the people working there were nice enough to not kick us out!)

Day Two:
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

After virtually no sleep and consuming too many sugary cookies we proceeded to go check in for our flight at 4: 45 am in the morning. We again had to do some rearranging of all our medical supplies as we didn't want to be overweight again and have to pay extra.

The carrier was nice enough to make exceptions for us by letting us take all of our vaccination bags on the plane, in spite of the fact that we were over our carry-on limit of one bag each weighing no more than 5kg.
We then boarded our flight at 6:30 am and took off at 7:00am bound for the unknown. It was a six hour flight filled with lots of turbulence, bad movies, much needed sleep, and just overall good times.

We arrived in Georgetown, Guyana at 12:55pm and were welcomed with a blast of hot humid air, partly due to the fact that we disembarked from the plane directly onto the tarmac. We then stood in line for an hour and waited for our turn to pass through customs. Thankfully, we had no problems getting our drugs and medical supplies through customs. We were welcomed by Joyce Gomez, Native of Guyana and presently a resident of Vancouver, B.C., Oliver Insanally of the GSPCA, and Dr. Nicholas Waldron, Veterinarian.

On our way to Georgetown from the Airport we were amazed with the number of cattle, horses, goats, donkeys and dogs that were running loose on the side of the road. We were also a little confused and petrified with the driving conditions. Everyone here drives on the left side of the road; there are no street signs or stoplights; everyone walks all over the roads, children, animals, bikes, horse drawn carts, people carrying loads on their heads; and here the cars have the right away, not the pedestrians.

Our guides were kind enough to pick us up and take us out to dinner for some Guyanese food and then took us to a meeting where we were greeted by the entire board of directors from the GSPCA. The purpose of this meeting was to go over our itinerary for the next 14 days and collectively plan out what we wanted to accomplish over the next 2 weeks.

During the meeting Jen's legs became a feast for many hungry mosquitoes! She developed quite the swollen ankles, something that Donna has struggled with on previous trips…

Next, we settled into our rooms at the Rima Guesthouse in the heart of Georgetown graciously provided by Joyce Gomez. We all then passed out surrounded by our mosquito netted beds! Ah, relief!

Day Three:
Thursday, May 10, 2007.
6:30 am Wake up, 3:30 Vancouver time! Whew!
We were picked up at 7:15am by a couple of members of the GSPCA and then
proceeded to go out for a lovely breakfast at the Pegasus Hotel on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

After breakfast, we went to a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture where we were introduced to the Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Elias as well as several other Veterinarians from different regions in the country (mainly large animal vets). The meeting ended around 11:00am and were transported to the GSPCA where we commenced our first day of surgeries (12 in total).

A woman by the name of Syeada Manbodh, who has done tremendous work for the dogs and cats in Guyana, took Jen out on a stray dog-feeding mission. Syeada makes food at her home and feeds these stray dogs everyday in different parts of the city. She took Jen to the poorest neighbourhood in Georgetown called Boystown where she gave a little boy with a dog on a rope a brand new leash & collar. He was so happy and thankful.

They also put up some posters for a cat named Princess that has been living at the Highschool and is in need of a good home. She is such a sweet cat.

Our Equine Veterinarian, Dr. Neil Mackenzie went into the streets of Georgetown and began working with the cart-horses. At one point the cart-horses and their owners were lined up down the road patiently waiting for their examinations. Equine Encephalitis has been a major health problem amongst the horses in Guyana for many years and Neil was able to vaccinate each horse against this disease, with vaccines donated from Intervet and Wyeth. He was also able to diagnose several cases of lameness, and other health problems. All of the horses he examined were also given dewormer, courtesy of Vetoquinol.

After a hard days work we convinced the president of the GSPCA, Oliver to take us across the street to the busy market place, which he reluctantly agreed to. The market was mainly filled with fruits and vegetables and even some hoodlums. We unfortunately witnessed a guy getting punched in the face and then being chased by another man with a knife. One of the team members, Tera, had to hide behind her father Terill as the man with the knife came running past her. Scary moments. Everyone bought some coconuts, cut open by a gentleman with a machete (and only four fingers…) and drank the milk through a straw.

At the end of the day, the group all went for dinner across the street from the their rooms and then prepared their medical supplies for the next day.

Day Four:
Friday, May 11, 2007
9:00am
After breakfast the Team met at the Canadian Embassy to register as being in the country of Guyana. We requested a meeting with the Canadian High Commissioner and were ushered into his office where we discussed the purpose for our visit and our long-term goals for the animals.

As fate would have it, Ms Lawrie from CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)
was scheduled to meet with the High Commissioner and joined in on our meeting, where we created the possibilities of CAAT working with CIDA in Guyana in the near future.

Ecstatic about our meeting, we left for a hard days work at the GSPCA where we were able to spay 8 dogs, and 2 cats. We also had the opportunity to do health exams on several dogs and cats. All animals were vaccinated (Vaccines provided by Intervet), had ear cleanings, and had Revolution (Donated by Pfizer) applied.

At 3:00 pm several of the team members met with the Minister of Agriculture for the Country where we were able to state our purposes for coming to Guyana as well as our long term objectives.

We then returned to the GSPCA at 4:30pm and performed four more surgeries and then retired for the night at 8pm.

CAAT Ontario Chapter Fundraiser

Come out and have some fun with dogs and support the Canadian Animal Assistance Team (CAAT) at the 1st Annual "CAAT" Dog Show.

When: Saturday, May 26, 2007 1:30pm to 4:30 pm.

Where: The Everyday Dog Training Facility
695 Industrial Road, Unit 2, Cambridge, Ontario

What: Classes include: Best Dressed Dog, Most Unusual Mixed Breed, Most Unique Trick, Dog with the Waggiest Tail, Most Animated Walker, Best in Show, etc. There will also be raffles for fantastic Doggie merchandise!

Cost: Entry fees $5.00 per class
Admission $5.00 per person

All proceeds go to support the Ontario chapters of the Canadian Animal Assistance Team's spay/neuter projects for dogs in remote/underserved communities (Eastern Canada). Admission and entry fee costs are tax receiptable.

Please be there by 1:30 pm if you are entering in the show! Only friendly, social, and vaccinated dogs are welcome so that everyone can enjoy a fun and safe day.

Donate your Aeroplan Miles During the Month of April

Aeroplan is glad to facilitate the transfer of miles to a specially designated Aeroplan account in support of the Canadian Animal Assistance Team. Donations will be accepted from April 1 to April 30, 2006. Donated Miles will be used to send CAAT Veterinarians, Technicians and Assistants to Igloolik, Nunavut for a two week spay, neuter and vaccination clinic in July 2007.

To participate, please download and print the pledge form on our website www.caat-canada.org. Please complete the form and return by fax or regular mail (Aeroplan regulations require that we have Plan Members signature). Alternatively, you can call 1-888-500-3330 or email info@caat-canada.org and a pledge form will be sent to you.

Thank you for helping CAAT to provide Spay and Neuter Projects to underserved areas in Canada!