Delivering relief

Without full time veterinarians or veterinary facilities in the Himalaya, many animals with simple injuries end up in dire situations because ailments are left untreated. During our 15-day presence in the Himalaya, our team facilitated the euthanasia of one cow and one dog plagued by what had developed into life threatening tumours. This brought relief to both animals, and residents that had to helplessly watch their animals suffer a slow and impending death. We also treated a street dog (photo above, and video below) that had suffered injuries to its eye and ear following a fight with another street dog.

Had we not shown up, this community dog would likely have died a slow and painful death. Flies were already buzzing around him. We are glad that we managed to trap him to fix his eye and neuter him and 40 other dogs in Jomsom. More neutered dogs means less dog fighting next mating season, and less chance that dogs will be injured. The dog is now recovering well from its injuries and has also been vaccinated.

While looking for dogs in Jharkot, we were approached by a lady who asked us to inspect her dog that had developed a swollen belly over several months (above). With Jharkot village located about 1 hour walk from our camp, our vet decided to made a trip down to the village rather than have her bring her dog to us. Apart from its distended belly, the dog appeared active and was very friendly (below). It had a buildup of fluid in its abdomen, also known as ascites, or abdominal effusion. We helped drain some of the fluid to provide some temporary relief, and left the lady with some medicines, vitamins, and advice on how to provide relief for her dog. Without proper medical facilities and drugs, the help we could provide was limited, but the lady was grateful that we provided at least some temporary relief for her dog. (Below: Veterinarian Dr. Bikash Shrestha examines the dog from Jharkot.)