Worldwide Veterinary Service takes veterinarians, vet nurses, vet students, and non-vets on veterinary-related trips around the world. The following is copied from their website: http://www.wvs.org.uk.
Volunteer
WVS now supports over
340
different animal welfare charities all over the world and you can experience a trip of a lifetime by volunteering.
Have a look through the list of WVS Trips that are currently available.
Non-Vet volunteers:
The goals of WVS are to help our associated organisations on a sustainable basis for the long term. We only start sending teams to charities if we are confident we can follow them up with more resources in the future and assisting community education programmes is a core part of what many of our non-vet volunteers do on the trips.
You don’t need to be a brilliant vet or vet nurse to make a real difference to the charities we help, you need to just care passionately about what they are trying to do and have plenty of enthusiasm and energy to support them in the best way you can. This is why we ask for a brief description of your skills and experience when you join WVS – it helps us try to match up our teams and allows us to try to twist the arms of the volunteers in to joining specific charities that have specific needs. For example, we’d love to send some schoolteachers to Uganda and Peru, a builder to Thailand and a farrier to Gambia and the list goes on and on!
There is a role for everyone willing, enthusiastic and determined to make a difference – whether it is catching feral cats, recording statistics, managing publicity campaigns or simply making tea! We can only do it as a team and that means relying on each other to get the job done well and make sure the animals get the best care possible.
Vet and Vet Nurse Volunteers:
No matter what country you live in, we need your help. Simple as that. If you can give us a week or two we can give you an adventure of a lifetime. The veterinary community is international, so our teams and work has to be as well. If you particularly want to help a charity that isn’t on the registered trip list, let us know and we’ll do our best to work something out. We can support you with medicines and equipment and if you need them – other team members. The support we give has to be on a long term basis to help the charity, so if you do go on a trip with us, we will ensure there is a follow up to build on what you have achieved.
We tailor our vet and vet nurse teams to ensure there is a balance of experience. Feral animals probably need better surgery than privately owned ones because they don’t get the re-checks or have the perfect operating theatre to visit. Although we very much welcome vet students on the teams, we do this only on the trips where they can be very closely supervised and make sure that the welfare of the animals isn’t compromised.
If you are a vet who has worked for three years in a large animal practice and wants to get back into small animal work – that is great, but let us know. We will make sure you go on a team with experienced small animal vets who can back you up and help you get back into it. Please don’t volunteer as the only vet on a team going to neuter 200 dogs on an intensive neutering campaign – no one wins in that situation and that is why we check up on your experience and ask you respectfully what you can do.
As a guide – small animal vets leading a team should be very confident in being able to spay a bitch within 30mins, they will have no less that 3yrs experience although we prefer 5 and should be happy to support and direct the team in making decisions and clinical policies. We don’t have fixed policies with regards particular cases – we work with and for our associated charities so we help them with constructive advice and then we respect their decision about specific cases that are ultimately under their care.
Good vet nurses are absolutely essential to any hardcore team we send out. We take a balance of qualified and non-qualified but always do our utmost to make sure we include at least one qualified and experienced nurse in every team. Please volunteer – these animals really do need looking out for and we promise you your nursing skills will be utilised to the max!
Vet Students:
The energy and enthusiasm vet students can give to a team is fantastic. We love the idealism they bring to a trip and they get to see what vetting can be like in extreme places! We do allow vet students to gain experience with our teams but only on certain trips where the ratio of vets is sufficient to ensure they never operate without direct supervision and no harm can come to an animal. Feral animals are not for practising – they need the very best care because it is often the only time they will ever get to see a vet and the only chance they have to be treated/neutered or vaccinated. If you would like to come on a trip, please contact us and we can let you know which trips will be suitable.
Trips
TRIP [1][2] | LOCATION [3][4] | DESCRIPTION | DATES |
---|---|---|---|
Trip 286 | Botswana |
Ongoing placements for vets to assist an animal welfare society in Botswana. DATES FLEXIBLE. |
01-05-2010
to 31-05-2010 |
Trip 289 | Brazil |
Vets and nurses required to assist with neutering of street dogs and cats in Brazil. |
03-07-2010
to 17-07-2010 |
Trip 296 | Cambodia |
Fantastic opportunity for non vet volunteers! Ongoing volunteer placements available at a bear sanctuary in Cambodia. (Min. 1 week - Max 6 weeks) |
19-03-2010
to 17-12-2010 |
Trip 306 | Cyprus |
Veterinary volunteer required to cover holiday at animal rescue sanctuary in Cyprus. |
10-09-2010
to 24-09-2010 |
Trip 281 | Dominican Republic |
Volunteers required to assist with spay/neuter campaign and vet training at a charity clinic in the Dominican Republic. TRIP NOW... |
05-06-2010
to 19-06-2010 |
Trip 282 | Dominican Republic |
Volunteers required to assist with spay/neuter campaign and vet training at a charity clinic in the Dominican Republic. |
11-09-2010
to 25-09-2010 |
Trip 267 | Greece |
Assisting animal shelter with neutering and general veterinary treatments. |
07-04-2010
to 17-04-2010 |
Trip 268 | Greece |
Assisting animal shelter with neutering and general veterinary treatments. |
01-07-2010
to 10-07-2010 |
Trip 269 | Greece |
Assisting animal shelter with neutering and general veterinary treatments. ALL PLACES ON TRIP NOW FILLED. |
15-09-2010
to 25-09-2010 |
Trip 270 | Greece |
Assisting animal shelter with neutering and general veterinary treatments. |
01-11-2010
to 10-11-2010 |
Trip 293 | Grenada |
WVS Adventure - Travel to the Caribbean island of Grenada and work with the Kido Foundation saving Leatherback and Hawksbill turtles. Dates flexible |
15-03-2010
to 31-08-2010 |
Trip 284 | Guatemala |
Ongoing placements for vets to assist animal welfare charity in Guatemala. |
06-03-2010
to 31-03-2010 |
Trip 288 | India |
Flexible volunteer opportunities available for vets to take part in ABC and inoculation programme in India. |
06-03-2010
to 01-02-2011 |
Trip 263 | Mexico |
Providing veterinary assistance at a mixed animal shelter in Mexico.PLEASE NOTE THIS TRIP HAS NOW BEEN FILLED. |
06-04-2010
to 18-04-2010 |
Trip 264 | Mexico |
Providing veterinary assistance at a mixed animal practice in Mexico. |
21-06-2010
to 04-07-2010 |
Trip 265 | Mexico |
Providing veterinary assistance at a mixed animal shelter in Mexico. |
06-09-2010
to 19-09-2010 |
Trip 304 | Nepal |
WVS Adventure - Working with the Himalayan Animal Rescue Team surrounded by stunning scenery. Jeep trek to remote mountain villages and parahawking with the eagles. |
29-10-2010
to 07-11-2010 |
Trips 294 – 303 | Panama |
Volunteer vacancies available for a range of volunteers on an exciting spay/neuter project in Panama. Sight seeing included. Various dates available throughout the year. |
13-04-2010
to 20-04-2010 |
Trip 255 | Peru |
Neutering project in Peru. Volunteers will also be assisting with the charity's mobile health clinics and outreach work. TRIP NOW FILLED |
14-08-2010
to 28-08-2010 |
Trip 253 | Peru |
Neutering project in Peru. Volunteers will also be assisting with the charity's mobile health clinics and outreach work. |
10-04-2010
to 24-04-2010 |
Trip 256 | Peru |
Neutering project in Peru. Volunteers will also be assisting with the charity's mobile health clinics and outreach work. |
09-10-2010
to 23-10-2010 |
Trip 254 | Peru |
Neutering project in Peru. Volunteers will also be assisting with the charity's mobile health clinics and outreach work. |
12-06-2010
to 26-06-2010 |
Trip 287 | Peru |
Fantastic opportunity to join a large team of volunteers in Peru, includes a boat trip in the Amazon. |
01-10-2010
to 15-10-2010 |
Trip 271 | Russia |
Training vets / veterinary assistants at animal shelters in Moscow. Dates flexible. |
01-05-2010
to 15-05-2010 |
Job Vacancy – Samoa | Samoa |
Long term volunteer vet (1 - 3 years) required to start at this charity as soon as possible. |
20-05-2010
to 27-05-2010 |
Trip 278 | Thailand |
Assisting busy dog shelter in Thailand. |
21-06-2010
to 05-07-2010 |
Trip 279 | Thailand |
Assisting busy dog shelter in Thailand. |
08-11-2010
to 22-11-2010 |
Trip 291 | Thailand |
Great opportunity for one vet to work at a busy animal clinic in Thailand. (cover for resident vets holiday). Accommodation and a contribution towards expenses provided. |
15-05-2010
to 05-06-2010 |
Trip 292 | Uganda |
WVS Adventure - Walking with chimps, jungle trek in search of the Mountain Gorilla, vaccination programme with USPCA and working in the local community school. |
01-08-2010
to 12-08-2010 |
Trip 297 | Uganda |
WVS Adventure - Walking with chimps, jungle trek in search of the Mountain Gorilla, vaccination programme with USPCA and working in the local community school. |
24-10-2010
to 05-11-2010 |