Dog Jog-a-thon Fundraises for Vets without Borders in Chile

Guillermo and I were very pleased to receive the following email from Kaytie:

"On September 12, 2010 K9 Awareness held a Dog Jog-a-thon to raise funds for Vets Without Borders Chilean project. Our goal was to have at least one K9 treadmill running for 12 hours by dog owners purchasing a ticket to run their dog for 30 minutes each. We started at 8 a.m. and finished at 8 p.m. with a total of 42 dogs participating. Along with money raised from the sale of the tickets we had a wonderful silent auction with a great selection of donated items to bid on. A friend and business associate, Charmaine Hammond combined celebrating the birthday of her star dog “Toby” who is featured in her new book “On Toby’s Terms” with our event. Charmaine had the book on sale and donated $7.00 per sale to the fundraiser as well.  Between the Jog-a-thon ticket sales, book  sales and the Silent Auction, less the expenses of running the event, we raised $1,800!"

Have a look at come of the great photos: 

Thank you so much for supporting Veterinarians without Borders Chile project. We really appreciate it.

Finding the Fifth Leg on a Cat

 

People often ask us whether we think that mandatory dog registration would be one of the solutions to free-roaming dogs in Chile.  Our answer has always been “yes”, but it now comes with a big BUT. Let me explain! Take the Chilean driving regulations as an example. I recently began to study the transit and driving laws to renew my Chilean driving license. The laws are all explained one-by-one in a 50 page manual, and I noticed that they are very similar to the ones we have in Canada (i.e., drive on the right side of the road and never under the influence), except for a few things like “seat belts are only mandatory for people sitting in the front seat”. That gives new meaning to the phrase “shot gun”! Anyways, what is really interesting, and often frustrating, about laws and regulations in a developing country like Chile, is that we find that here “rules are really made to be broken” and nobody seems to really care that they are there in the first place. Here are a few pictures to illustrate what I am referring to:

Like in Canada, in Chile, it is against the law to park in front of a fire hydrant, but do people respect it? Can you imagine doing this in Canada?

Also, in Chile one is ONLY allowed to park pointing in one direction, but, what does the evidence show?

Additionally, according to the law one cannot park within 10 meters of a corner, but I guess one can argue which corner?

Like these, there are many more examples.  J-walking is an art! You have the “diagonal”, and the “I dare you to drive me over” crossing, just to name a couple.

BUT the biggest question of them all is; wouldn´t people get into trouble and be afraid that their vehicles would be towed away? To top it all, here is a picture of a street with a NO PARKING sign right next to a local police station (green sign in the background that says “recinto de carabineros”).

To make a long story short, Chileans are known for what they call “finding the fifth leg on a cat” (looking for ways to bend the rules). I think that in today´s society, it is often not a matter of bending the rules anymore, but instead avoiding them all together.

So getting back to implementing dog registration bylaws; even though registration is one of the most widely agreed upon solutions to battling irresponsible ownership and free-roaming dogs, understanding the perceptions of the people towards the issue will continue to be one of our number one goals.

Angelica Finds Vets without Borders Voluntary Work Gratifying.

Dr. Angelica Romero is a new veterinary graduate from the university here in Valdivia, and has been volunteering with us for almost 6 months now. She has helped us with all kinds of projects, research, and general day to day stuff, and is a huge asset to our group. We asked her to make a few comments about her work, and this is her report below, first in her own words in Spanish, followed by the translation into English.

Angelica helping us in Dichato, Chile.

Mi nombre es Angélica Romero soy medica veterinaria, hace unos meses atrás tuve la ocurrencia de venir a hasta la oficina de Veterinarios Sin Fronteras en Valdivia, como parte de la búsqueda de mi perfil profesional, y también asumiendo mi oportunidad para experimentar nuevos conocimientos después de haber obtenido mi título profesional. Mi experiencia como voluntaria ha sido satisfactoria, ya que siento que comparto varios intereses en común con Elena y Guillermo, desde dar solución a los problemas derivados de la tenencia irresponsable de mascotas en Valdivia, hasta el respeto y valoración hacia las diferentes especies de fauna. Me siento muy cómoda después de integrarme a este equipo, como a su vez muy agradecida del intercambio de experiencias, puesto que he podido presenciar una forma de trabajo diferente, más ordenada, lógica y humana, algo que los chilenos generalmente evadimos para tomar el camino más rápido al abordar un problema.

Bueno además de participar en el quehacer de VSF-Valdivia,  llevo un par de años trabajando con una especie endémica con problemas de conservación el “Pudú” (Pudu puda). Este ciervo habita los bosques templados de Chile y Argentina, su estado de conservación es vulnerable de acuerdo a la lista roja de la UICN. Las principales amenazas que enfrenta esta especie son: la fragmentación del bosque nativo, la caza ilegal, los atropellos, la introducción de especies domésticas, y dentro de éstas la más importante es el perro!!

Mi trabajo con esta especie es a través de un criadero privado donde mantienen alrededor de 25 animales, me encargo de velar por su bienestar y brindarles atención clínica periódica. Acá les dejo una fotos de esta especie, un adulto y un cervatillo, cuando son pequeños tienen manchas blancas en su pelaje, alrededor de los 3 meses estas manchas desaparecen por completo. A mí me causa mucha empatía este ciervo, ¿y a ustedes? espero que lleguemos a compartir este sentimiento...

Negro- Deer more than 3 months old.

My name is Angelica Romero and I am a Chilean veterinarian. A few months ago I had the idea to come to Veterinarians Without Borders-Canada (VWB) office in Valdivia, to look for ways to obtain new professional experiences and use the ones I obtained during my degree. My volunteer experience with VWB has been gratifying, as I feel that I share many common interests with Elena and Guillermo; from providing solutions to problems of irresponsible pet ownership in Valdivia, to ideas on how to teach respect and appreciation towards wildlife. I feel very comfortable after joining this team, and at the same time very grateful for the exchange of experiences, since I have witnessed a different form of work ethic, more orderly, logical and humane, different from the Chilean way which usually takes the fastest path to get the job done.
Well in addition to participating in the work of VWB here in Valdivia, I´ve been working on conservation issues of an endemic wildlife species, the "Pudu (Pudu puda), for a couple of years. This deer inhabits the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina and its conservation status is vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List. The main threats facing this species are fragmentation of the native forests, poaching, vehicle traffic, introduction of domestic species; and among these, the most important is dogs!
My work with this species is through a private captive farm where they have about 25 animals. I work to ensure their welfare and provide regular medical care. Here I´ll leave you with a couple of photos of this species, one adult and one fawn. When they are young they have white spots on their coat. At about 3 months, these spots disappear completely. This deer makes me feel empathy. How about you? I hope we share this feeling ...

Pudicillo - Fawn