Good News For Domesticated Animals

An international charity, Veterinarians Without Borders, has embarked on an exercise to improve animal health in Liberia. A team of Vets arrived in the country about a week ago under the auspices of the USAID-Excellence in Higher Education for Liberian Development Project (EHELD).

The team is in Liberia on a two-leg mission firstly, to work with local partners to administer rabies vaccine in communities with high percentage of dog roaming the streets, and the second phase of its activities will be at Cuttington University in Bong County to facilitate two-week training in Ruminant Health Management in collaboration with the CU College of Agriculture and Sustainable Development and USAID / EHELD.

According to a release, Veterinarians without Borders has been administering vaccines to rabies dogs in various communities in Monrovia and its environs free of charge.

Team leader Carolyn Carrie La Jeunesse, said the USAID-Excellence in Higher Education for Liberian Development is underwriting portion of the cost of the Vet project, including a teaching component scheduled to take place at the Cuttington University in Bong County where the USAID-EHELD project is currently supporting the university’s Agriculture College..

The USAID-EHELD project in addition to its support to the Veterinarians without Borders has been involved in supporting other capacity building initiatives in the areas of Engineering and Agriculture under which it collaborated with Government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation supported Land Policy and Institutional Support (LPIS) project to train over two dozen modern technical Surveyors.

Veterinarian Carolyn Carrie La Jeunesse said, her organization is also involved in training people how to detect animal diseases and treat them, noting that the team has commenced the administering of rabies injections to reduce the number of rabies related deaths in the Country. She said the team has already begun work in New Kru Town, Rock Hill Community, Paynesville and Du Port Road and other parts of the city.

Some members of the team, according to Carolyn, will be in the Country for three weeks, while the rest will stay for a month to teach courses in animal disease management and professional development skills in animal communications, and teamwork, targeting goats, cows and sheep.