Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:54:45.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mobilization of a Mobile Veterinary Clinic to Ukraine During Wartime: Notes from the Field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2024

Jon Geller*
Affiliation:
Colorado School of Public Health, Fort Collins, CO, USA The Street Dog Coalition, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In late May, 2023, a 25’ long mobile veterinary clinic was mobilized to Ukraine from the US to provide emergency veterinary response for the animals of Ukraine. Due to effects of the Russian invasion, many pets and other animals were suffering from neglect, starvation and injuries, and many veterinary practices had been forced to close, greatly decreasing access to care. Prior to the mobilization of the mobile clinic, an initial response to care for pets of Ukraine refugees had been set up at the Ukraine-Romania border in early March 2022, soon after the invasion begun. This presentation will describe the initial challenges that arose when 6 million refugees, some with pets, migrated from Eurasia to Eastern and Westen Europe with the focus on potential zoonotic disease transmission, barriers to travelling to the EU with pets, and the strong bonds that the Ukraine people had with their pets. The main focus of the presentation will be on the many logistical challenges that arose with the transport and mobilization of the mobile veterinary clinic from the US to Ukraine, and operational issues related to security, travel logistics, language barriers, stocking drugs and medical supplies, pet overpopulation and many other challenges.

Type
Abstract
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc