staging.vettimes.com

Tag: bolivia

Glasgow Vet School Rodeo
My responsibilities included poster/flyer design.

The Glasgow Vet School Rodeo is an annual charity event organised by vet students. It is traditional for second year students to make the event happen, and so this year, I was involved in its organisation.

My responsibilities included taking minutes at weekly meetings, correspondence with print media for advertising, compiling the programme and poster/flyer design.

Each year, we support several (usually animal-related) charities with the aim of hosting a fun-filled family day out while raising money for worthy causes. The year, the final total raised came to a huge £16,162.74, which will be split between the charities [see bottom of page for a full list].

The 54th annual Rodeo was held within the grounds of Glasgow Vet School on April 12.

After the committee was soaked to the skin while unloading and directing exhibitors to their pitches in the morning, the rain (but unfortunately not the wind) stopped just in time for the gates to open at 11am – much to everyone’s relief.

The day included falconry, dancing, duck-herding and husky demonstrations in the main arena, with SMAART horse, Trec and horse rescue demonstrations in the horse arena. There was also a dog show, which offered all owners the chance to enter their dog in a variety of classes, as well as an animal tent, reptile tent and pony rides.

Jordan (left) and “friends”

If that wasn’t enough, there were craft stalls in the marquee, bouncy castles, horse and carriage rides, and local animal charities also came along to promote their work.

As has become traditional, we ended the day by drawing our “rodeo raffle”. We had some fantastic prizes, such as a family pass for Blair Drummond Safari Park, afternoon tea at Hilton Glasgow, “Tee Time” at Royal Troon Golf Club and many more – we are grateful to the various organisations for providing these.

Despite battling through the fury of Scottish weather in the morning, and relentless wind throughout the day (resulting in many stalls being relocated into one of the marquees), the committee felt the day was a success overall. After eight months of planning, we pulled it off, and celebrated that evening in true Scottish style with a ceilidh open to students at Glasgow Vet School.

The charities being supported this year were:
- World Horse Welfare, which is an international horse charity that ‘improves the lives of horses in the UK and around the world through education, campaigning, and hands- on care’.
- Blue Cross, which “finds the right homes for unwanted pets throughout the UK, treats sick and injured animals at their hospitals when owners can’t afford private fees, promotes animal welfare and provides the Pet Bereavement Support Service”.
- Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, which helps people experiencing hearing loss throughout the UK by creating “life-changing partnerships between deaf people and specially trained hearing dogs”.
- Veterinary Development Fund: the James Herriot Scholarship fund will enable Glasgow Vet School to award scholarships to excellent undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary students who, through financial constraints, may otherwise not be able to study at Glasgow.
- Inti Wara Yassi is a Bolivian charity that works to rescue wildlife by confiscating illegally kept wild animals or by offering sanctuary to animals that are voluntarily brought to the charity. These animals are cared for in one of three parks throughout Bolivia (I also volunteered at two of the parks last summer).
- Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue, is a charity in North Ayrshire, Scotland, that aims to rescue, treat, rehabilitate and release birds and animals back to the wild.
- Students for Animals In Need is a charity made up of veterinary students from the University of Glasgow who work together to provide treatment to sick or injured animals that might not otherwise be treated, due to financial difficulties.
- Riding For the Disabled Association (RDA): Glasgow RDA provides equine therapy to more than 300 children and adults with disabilities from across the greater Glasgow area.
April 30, 2014
Ever walked your own puma?

Over the summer, I spent six weeks volunteering for Inti Wara Yassi in Bolivia. The charity was set up in 1992 and now runs three animal sanctuaries throughout this South American country.

Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi

The park at which I spent most of my time was Ambue Ari, which is home to over 20 large cats, two species of monkey and a few other exotic species such as tapirs, tejons and many different birds. It was an incredible experience and I would definitely urge other vet students or even qualified vets to get involved in projects like this.

A day in the life of a cat volunteer

Wading through a waist high swamp, being mauled by a swarm of mosquitos, I think to myself, “What an earth am I doing here?” But after 15 minutes and a short trek through the jungle, Carlos’ cage comes into view and I remember exactly why. I shout “Hola Carlos” and we meow back and forth to each other until I reach the cage. He brushes up against the metal wire, wanting attention. I stroke him through the cage for a couple of minutes before calling “Vamos!” and making my way to the doors – working with Carlos gives me a chance to practise my (very limited) Spanish.

While I’m making my way around, he races through his cage with excitement before stopping to wait patiently at the door. I unlock the cage and attach a rope to my waistband before entering the second door to get to him. He paces, rubbing up against my legs before sitting and licking my hands. I clip him onto the other end of the rope and open the doors. He tugs at the rope to begin with, leading me along the trail that he wants to do today.

Walking a puma… as you do!

I watch out for his every move, prepared to burst into a sprint when he leaps over a log or to unclip his rope when he ducks under a branch to low for me to follow him. He tries to stalk something in the bushes. I can’t see what it is, so I stop him pouncing – trying to strike a balance between letting him be a puma and keeping him from unseen dangers such as snakes.

As the day heats up, he stops to lie down and sleep a while. This is when my war against the mozzies really starts. Sitting still, I have little choice but to watch their ceaseless assaults on my skin, despite my sweating under numerous layers of clothing.

After a time, Carlos appears to have rested enough and continue on his trail. The rough ground and natural obstacles result in the rope getting caught between his back legs. “Step over your rope,” I call out (apparently pumas are bilingual) and, after a couple of attempts, he’s free to walk normally again. I congratulate him: “Muy bien”.

After a few hours of walking, we return to the cage and he utters a deep purr, craving more attention before I say goodbye. I give him a few minutes of fuss before looping his rope around a nearby tree and entering his cage to clean his feeding platform and sleeping area. Leaving his meat on the platform, I return to him, careful to watch for signs that he might pounce while I unclip his rope from the tree. When I do, he tugs towards the cage and we both go through the first of the double doors. I unclip him from the rope and open the second door. He runs towards the platform, leaps onto it, grabs the meat in his jaws and darts into the bushes to eat in peace.

Turning away, I lock the cage behind me and start the return journey through the swamp, not forgetting to call out “Chao” as I leave.

September 16, 2013
Broaden your horizons with EMS

©iStockphoto.com/mjbs

When I received yet another EMS email that had been sent to the whole vet school, I almost deleted it out of habit, but something stopped me. A word caught my eye: Bolivia.

I had always wanted to go to South America – would this be my chance to tick something off the bucket list as well as get in a few weeks of EMS?

After a few days of mulling it over, I decided to fill out the online application – I could always change my mind, and I might not even get selected anyway – but the next day, I received an email inviting me to take part in a Skype interview. Shortly afterwards, I was offered a place on the project, so I decided to bite the bullet and say yes.

The project I will be volunteering on runs a wildlife sanctuary that houses various types of monkeys and birds as well as jaguars and pumas. Many of the animals are rescued from the fur and pet trades. While re-release back into the wild is difficult (especially for the big cats, due to local laws), the animals are given a much better life in the sanctuary than the alternative.

©iStockphoto.com/BeauDamonRichardsGallery

As well as handling and work with the animals, the students on the project will help construct new animal enclosures. The project itself lasts for six weeks, but I will be then going on to Peru for a two-week expedition afterwards.

Before going abroad, I’ve had to organise vaccinations against hepatitis, typhoid, yellow fever and rabies. I’ve also had to obtain malaria tablets to take while I’m out there. As for equipment, I haven’t had to buy too many “specialist” things as such – just a big rucksack, old clothes and the odd thing like water purification tablets and rehydration sachets.

With less than a week to go, I’m starting to get excited but still in shock that it’s actually happening. And I really need to start packing!

I’ll let you know how it was when I return to the UK in two months!

July 31, 2013
One year as a vet student

Jordan

Having received my results for the professional exams, I can finally say that I’ve finished my first year at vet school!

Being brutally honest, the first term was a bit of a culture shock. I had focused so much on getting into vet school and being a vet that I didn’t really think about what it would be like when I actually got there.

Coming from a town on the edge of the countryside in the heart of England and moving to Glasgow was quite a change. Although the vet school is on the edge of the city in a fairly green area, it wasn’t the same as being able to cycle 10 miles on quiet country roads to the farm where my horses are kept.

I think what I found the hardest was not being able to ride. I had gone from riding my horse every day to having a lesson with the uni riding club once a week. Owning a horse is a lifestyle, and not something I wanted to give up.

While the first term was largely spent getting used to the mountainous workload, I managed to squeeze other things into my time. Many of my friends from home went to uni a year earlier than me and have told me that Fresher’s Week is the craziest uni experience. But none of them are vets, and they don’t know what AVS Sports weekend is (an annual event hosted by the Association of Veterinary Students). This year, it was held in Glasgow, so we didn’t do any traveling, but certainly experienced the madness of meeting people from every other vet school, who came in all shapes and sizes – penguins, mimes, power rangers and more.

Another annual inter-vet-school event for us is Dick Day, where Glasgow competes against Edinburgh – The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies – in various team sports. Again, this year, it was held in Glasgow. Unlike AVS, the sport on Dick Day is serious and there was a strong sense of rivalry between the schools. I was part of the vet hockey team, but unfortunately we did not defeat the Dick vets in our match.

After battling through a long term of learning at a hundred times the rate we were used to and facing the stress of the class exams, I started the second term knowing better what to expect. I threw myself into getting fit for Easter by swimming, cycling and gyming. I also took up a weekly creative writing class that was put on by the Glasgow uni English department, to rekindle my love of writing.

At Easter, I had my first taste of EMS in the form of my first time lambing. The placement was great – we got loads of hands-on experience and got involved in all aspects of lambing time. We learnt loads, and everything from those seemingly endless sheep lectures started to sink in. Although tiring, we enjoyed every bit of it.

I also spent a week in Norway doing a charity dog sledding challenge to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, who saved my life when I had a serious riding accident two years previously. My family and I had spent a year raising money by doing bucket collections, making Christmas decorations, selling Valentines Day cupcakes, and selling bedding plants. The challenge was fantastic – I loved working with the dogs and getting to see the beautiful Arctic landscape.

However, the day after I landed back in the UK, I was driving back to Glasgow to face revision and the end of year professional exams. I especially began to feel the pressure, because I had arranged to be abroad during the summer when resits would be scheduled (not a wise move, and not something I’d recommend).

We had exams in five subjects: anatomy, physiology, biomolecular sciences, animal husbandry and veterinary professional and clinical skills (VPCS). While I felt most of them went OK, I was almost certain I’d mucked up VPCS after the first day of practicals, having gotten flustered and putting sharps in the wrong bin (we make such idiots out of ourselves when we’re nervous).

During the first month of the summer holidays (while avoiding thinking about the inevitable doom that results would bring), I did some dairy EMS. I’d never been on a dairy farm before and found the experience extremely useful in improving handling skills and my understanding of the dairy industry. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I’d retained from the two cattle lectures we’d had so far.

Without warning, our results started to trickle in, one subject at a time… and so began the momentary relief after receiving one and then the rising anticipation for the next one. Finally, the last one came in, and by some miracle (or so it felt), I had passed all of them! All that worrying about being away for resits was extinguished, and now I could get on with preparing for the next set of EMS I had planned… six weeks in Bolivia in a wildlife sanctuary.

And so I have passed first year. It’s been hard work and no doubt second year will be harder, but vet school hasn’t defeated me yet!

July 10, 2013