Watch how a team of volunteer veterinarians from World Vets give free medical care to street dogs in Nepal.
By Heather Newgen
It's 7:30 a.m. and volunteer veterinarians from World Vets head to work. As they make their way through the dusty streets of Thamel, the touristy area of Kathmandu, some are laughing, others are excitedly chatting and one befriends a street dog they call Ryder.
The group of vets, who are from the U.S., Canada and Australia on this trip, have one common goal--to sterilize as many dogs as possible in an effort to reduce the massive population, improve their quality of life and decrease public health issues for underserved communities. According to local reports, an estimated 25,000 dogs live on the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.
As they catch their ride to a makeshift camp an hour outside the city where they'll perform surgeries and medical treatments, they coax Ryder onto the bus with food and put him at ease. He doesn't know it yet, but he's about to be neutered.
World Vets is an organization that provides free medical care for animals in 48 countries. All volunteers are veterinarians, licensed and non licensed technicians, pre veterinary, veterinary and technician students, as well as those who are simply animal lovers with trained vet skills. All volunteers pay for their own expenses.
Related: See what it's like to volunteer at Sneha's Care in Nepal
"I love it because it's something I strongly believe in---the sterilization of animals everywhere," Dr. Helen Valentine, whose been on three World Vet trips said . "It really helps decrease the overpopulation and it's an opportunity to travel and see the world and meet up with a great group of people," she added.
To make the biggest impact, World Vets partners with local organizations such as animal welfare groups, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, agriculture and public health officials, as well as, a wide variety of veterinary professionals to learn about the needs of communities in the countries they service.
For more information visit https://worldvets.org/.