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VWB/VSF Canine Project in Chile
Street dog overpopulation is a serious and multi-faceted ethical, socioeconomic and public health problem in Valdivia, Chile. Canine overpopulation not only threatens the health of people, wildlife and agriculture, it also impacts the health and welfare of the dogs themselves. Disease, malnutrition and neglect, resulting from population surplus, are killing dogs in this region at an alarming rate and while there have been numerous attempts to deal with the problem, none of the proposed programs have resulted in a long-term and sustainable solution.
With the goal of working alongside local community members
to develop a sustainable and culturally-appropriate canine
management program, VWB/VSF members Elena and Guillermo traveled to Valdivia in fall 2008 to meet with local stakeholders and asses the situation. This initial step was met with overwhelming community support, which lead Elena and Guillermo to relocate from Duncan, BC and move to Valdivia in order to devote themselves full-time to the project. Starting this spring, Elena and Guillermo will be focusing on the second phase of a comprehensive program that will include organizing community workshops, conducting household surveys, data analysis, initiating vaccination and sterilization campaigns and developing an education outreach program for school-aged children.
With the goal of working alongside local community members
to develop a sustainable and culturally-appropriate canine
management program, VWB/VSF members Elena and Guillermo traveled to Valdivia in fall 2008 to meet with local stakeholders and asses the situation. This initial step was met with overwhelming community support, which lead Elena and Guillermo to relocate from Duncan, BC and move to Valdivia in order to devote themselves full-time to the project. Starting this spring, Elena and Guillermo will be focusing on the second phase of a comprehensive program that will include organizing community workshops, conducting household surveys, data analysis, initiating vaccination and sterilization campaigns and developing an education outreach program for school-aged children.
Hi Elena, sorry about this informal setting. My name is Brandon Sherman, and my wife and I are leaving to the Los Lagos region to teach English for a minimum of six months. We have a Shih-Tzu we want to bring with us, but have some apprehensions. I have been doing some research on the overall outlook on dogs in Chile, as well as potential problems we might run into, and I was hoping to contact you and ask you questions and get some valuable input. I would love it if you could email me and we could communicate. My email address is shermb@u.washington.edu - thank you.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Sherman
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing about your activities in Valdivia - out of professional interests as we will be running rabies projects in SE Asia for VWB/VSF as well, and from personal interest because I lived there for a while a few years ago! It would be great to see more photos/hear about the situation there!
Cuidense y mucha suerte!
Sonia (VWB/VSF SE Asia Regional Prog Manager)