Week of April 30th

This week we made contact with our former government partners in Valdivia. We are planning a meeting with interested professors and students from the Veterinary College sometime next week, just to catch up and see what they've been up to regarding their dog programs, in the last few months. Then, we will be facilitating a workshop to start putting a framework together for our next year of work together. I've attached some pictures of everyday dog sightings. Overpopulation is a complicated issue, involving long term changes in human behaviours, such as city waste management and responsible dog ownership- it is not just about spaying and neutering as many animals as possible.

Mostly we worked with people and their dogs, doing health checks, vaccinations, deworming and talking to them about general health. It was also an opportunity for the veterinary students to get some practice working with clients and their pets.

They were also doing human surveys to find out if there was evidence of diseases that are transmitted from sheep to dogs to people (Echinococcus granulosus).

Last weekend, we headed out to a small village called Curinanco to help with a vaccine clinic.

This is just past where we live, on our way to the village.

Settling in Valdivia

Well, we made it to Chile...it has been a real adventure! Lots of difficulties getting set up here, things are just moving really slow. We are living in a town called Niebla, near Valdivia. We have a small office kindly donated by the University of Austral Chile, Animal Science Dept. We've been working very intensively on a detailed proposal for 2 years worth of funding here in Chile, and yesterday it was submitted...so keep your fingers crossed for us!