VIDA Veterinary Volunteer

Hello! I am an undergraduate student at the Universtity of Minnesota-Twin Cities and I am embarking on my second VIDA volunteer journey! This trip, like my last, will be a veterinary group sent to Guatemala. I will be traveling with a group of 19 other students for 13 days to give free healthcare to the animals of impovershed Guatemalan areas. The healthcare we offer include wellness exams, rabies vaccines, flea medication, and spay/neuter operations. While tending to animals we also spend time educating the public about the importance of what we do, and how to help better care for their beloved pets. This program has proven to be extremely successful! My last trip helped over 500 dogs and cats and even over 900 chickens! The most important goal of our program is to stress the importance of spay/neuter and offering the procedure for free. In these areas it is incredibly important, as the community has taken to poisoning strays in order to control the population. We were very successful in that endevour, as over 20 operations were completed every clinic day.  More information on this awesome volunteer program can be found here: http://www.vidavolunteer.org/main  As a broke college student, I have fallen into some financial difficulties and am calling on the interweb community for help. Help me help the animals and the people of Guatemala! Thank you for your time and consideration, Meredith G