Day 1 - Betio council (BTC)

Dream team in red 2018

New banners!

What a great start to our time here today! We made the 30 minute trek down to the port end of Tarawa in the village of Betio to the council compound (BTC). We had been here back in 2015, so we were familiar with the set up in the small building by the back fence. Ceiling fans a luxury, as well as necessary shade.

Number 4 looking sleepy.

Happy customers came by car...

We set up our new banners and gear and before long people were arriving and the council arrived with plenty of dogs. Many people had heard radio announcements the night before or from the neighbour who had heard it. One owner came in after he saw our brand new banner on the front gate post!

...and by truck!

 

Pets were numbered by texta on their fur and their details collected before owners waited patiently for their pet’s turn. Pamphlets about dog care, post-op care sheets and collars were handed out, as well as flea and worming medication. Small puppies just had medicine, while larger dogs were desexed.

Nearly the end of the day after a long wait for owners.

Locals seemed happy to see us and to be able to get their animals desexed so that they would have no more puppies or quiet dogs which would stay at home. It was obvious that these owners cared for their pets and wanted to keep them healthy. They really like getting collars for their pets too – thank you Temwa for your fundraising and contribution to these. One lady we were talking with told is that she feeds her dog tinned salmon! (there is no commercial dog food available in the shops here).

We were delighted with the council support for our work today – advertising and pet transport are one of the best ways that they can help us to make the most of our time here.

The calm before the ?

We find ourselves again fast approaching our departure tomorrow Sunday 26th August. Our suitcases are bursting with new advertising banners, pamphlets, dog collars, medicines, surgical kits, sterile gloves, surgical drapes and more. As per usual not much room to squeeze any of our own stuff in!

We have our ever wonderful and amazing vet nurse Leesa who is going to keep tabs on FOUR vets again, namely Allison (me), Helen B and Helen P (B1 and B2) who have all volunteered on Tarawa previously, and we welcome new vet Annaliese who has worked in Samoa and other Pacific regions previously.

We are under instructions by Leesa to have pedicures to match our new red scrub tops. So we anticipate some fun and lots of sweat ahead. Some Facebook adverts this time hopefully will start us off well...time will tell.

Our main focus is still to continue to desex dogs and cats, and to provide some basic parasite medication and health care to the animals on Tarawa, Kiribati. We are looking forward to a busy and productive visit. Photos to follow.

An atoll we flew past close to Tarawa

We DID have alot of stuff, squeezed into our Subaru hire car on arrival.