While most local residents will be focusing last-minute shopping and holiday feasts, a team of four Burnaby residents is heading to South America to donate their time and expertise, helping some four-leggeds who are badly in need.
Veterinarian Dr. Saman Moaveni, his wife Anahita, animal health technician Nicole Kutyla, and Angela Kerslake leave Saturday for three weeks at the Aware animal shelter in Guatemala.
Moaveni learned of the shelter through Kerslake, one of his clients at the Burnaby New Westminster Animal Hospital, who travelled to the shelter previously where she cared for and adopted three dogs.
"I started to email them and saw their pictures, and saw that they have a very limited, limited medical service for the animals that are unfortunately suffering multiple chronic conditions, and I felt very bad - very sorry, so I offered my services" Moaveni said. "The numbers differ depending on the time, but they have between 300 or maybe 400 or even more dogs and pretty much the same number of cats."
Moaveni and his team started fundraising and collecting donations to bring to Aware, which gets by solely on donations.
"We raised a fairly good amount of money, somewhere between $2,000 to $2,500, and lots of pharmaceutical companies gave us lots and lots stuff to take - lots of vaccines, parasite control medication, and we put some money from our pockets too," he said.
All told, Moaveni estimates the team is taking about $10,000 worth of vaccines plus bandages, disinfectants, needles, antibiotics, sutures, sedation drugs, anti-pain meds, surgical and dentistry tools.
Moaveni said a love of animals, which he's had as long as he can remember, is what's inspiring him to give his vacation and expertise to Aware. The fact that Aware is a no-kill shelter also helped. Rather than euthanize animals, Aware's founders try to nurse them to health and adopt them out to families in North America, just as Kerslake did.
Much like her boss, Kutyla's love of animals is what's inspiring her to go.
"It's such a great opportunity to go. We're lucky here. We've got all the medications we need all the time. Our pets get great health care, whereas down there, they don't get anything. We thought we'd go and help them out," she said.
Kutyla said she expects she'll have to see some things that are hard to look at, but that's what makes the trip so important for her.
"You have to expect that. Guatemala is a Third World country," she said. "(The animals) don't get seven days of pain medication to go home after. They're lucky they if get an injection of pain medication after."
Moaveni and the rest of the team will spend their time spaying and neutering dogs and cats to control the stray population, performing minor operations, cleaning and bandaging wounds, applying casts and administering drugs and vaccines for the animals
Moaveni said he plans to start fundraising for next year's trip as soon as he returns to Burnaby, but he encourages people to donate to and consider adopting pets from Aware anytime.
To see more of Aware's shelter operation or to donate, visit www.animalaware.org
