10 FEATURE
THURSDAY 6 APRIL 2023 TORRES NEWS
Long hours and late nights – TI vet clinic kicking goals again with dedicated volunteers
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The whirlwind visit could not have been more exhausting. More than 130 consults, lots and lots of desexed dogs and cats, dozens of vaccines preventing nasty diseases such as heartworm, parvo virus and distemper, countless removed ticks and bumps, a saved infected eye, an operated hernia and several entropion surgeries to correct inturned eyelids which, apart from being painful, can cause blindness if left untreated. The list is endless. All this in five days, enthusiastically achieved by an all-female team of vets and nurses from Vets Beyond Borders (VBB) and the Animal Welfare League of Queensland (AWLQ) and TI’s number one animal lover who seemingly never sleeps, Sonia Einersen. Despite the long hours and late nights, the dedicated women, who all volunteered their time while working on TI, looked happy and satisfied, welcoming each new patient with enthusiasm. VBB, an Australian-based, notfor-profit organisation, the AWLQ and the Thursday Island Animal Support Group Inc (TIASG) seem to be a perfect match. They all strive to make a world of better health for animals and community. That the vet visits are possible and that there is a pop-up, fully decked out clinic, including a brand new donga turned into a first-class operating theatre at Rebel is the fruit of the unwavering commitment of a core group of volunteers with TIASG including Sam McCarry, Ingrid Neilson and Sonia Einersen. The group was originally founded by Patrick Bin Juda and Sam McCarry, and steadily grew in size when they were looking for people keen to register as an incorporated association and a charity, explains Sonia, who joined TIASG just over two years ago. Since its humble beginnings, the animal support group has held six clinics in partnership with VBB and AWLQ, and aims to hold them every two to three months. Extraordinarily, no costs are charged. All services are for free, including vaccinations. That this is possible (though donations are very much welcome to cover costs) is very much due the fact that all VBB visitors volunteer their time, taking leave from their day jobs to make the clinic happen. They also cover the costs of their flights up to Cairns and theoretically they would pay for their accommodation too. On TI, however, they are accommodated by TIASG supporters and Sonia. For Annie Grove, an US-born vet from the Gold Coast, the clinic from 4 to 8 March was her first
STORY BY NADJA MACK PICS SUPPLIED visit to TI. “Unfortunately I did not get to see much of the island,” she said. “We spent a fair bit of time in the clinic. “We left on Thursday, the day after it ended and I went back to work on Friday. “A couple of years ago I went to Nepal for three weeks as a volunteer and didn’t do much more than animal work. “But that’s ok, that is what we are here for. “And hopefully this was not my last visit to the Torres Strait.” She, like the other members of the TI clinic, does it for the love of animals. Some of the pets that came to the clinic have never seen a vet before. Others are repeat customers, being brought in to get their yearly vaccines and worm treatments. “We have not had a serious parvo outbreak this year, however the wet weather washes up the virus which can live in the soil for up to eight years,” Sonia, a big advocate of prevention over treatment, said. “A quick needle can prevent needless suffering and death. “The same is true for heartworm and other nasties that are found on TI.” Thanks to the amazing efforts of Ingrid Neilson and tireless lobbying and grant application writing, the treatment room at the Rebel shed looks like the medicine cabinet of a well-stocked vet clinic, with rows and rows of tablets, ointments, first aid medicines ranging from antibiotics to pain relief and probiotics. The storage room next door houses boxes upon boxes of donated towels and sheets. All needed to run the vet clinic and look after its patients. Donations in the form of towels and sheets are always welcome. As are financial donations. “Vaccines are not cheap,” Sylvana Wenderhold, who is the Rural and Regional Program Manager at AWLQ as well as the newly appointed Program Manager with VBB, said. Sylvana has attended TI clinics from day one in her role with AWLQ and has recently joined VBB as well. Her amazing dedication to this program is one of the main reasons TI pets and owners continue to enjoy these clinics. “Donations allow the clinics to continue and contribute to the running costs,” she said. “Everything from the vaccines to needles and syringes, medications and the drugs used to anaesthetise the animals for surgery come with a price tag. “The C3 vaccine for example costs between $100 – $150.
“If you get your cat desexed on the mainland, you pay between $150 – $250, for a dog it is between $200 – $500. “The TI clinic offers these services for free, however a donation is encouraged if you can.” While mostly uplifting, the most recent clinic also had its very taxing moments, including the sad death of a loved family dog and local TI icon who sustained injuries consistent with being struck by a car. “I was extremely grateful that the vets were here to attempt to save him,” Sonia said. “They were able to administer pain relief and ease his suffering, but ultimately he wasn’t able to be saved, which is very hard, mostly for the family, but also all those who worked their hardest to stem his injuries. “There are things we can’t control but there are others where pet owners very much have it in their hand to prevent suffering. “Desexing is one of those things.” The TIASG flyer advertises the regular vet clinics and explains that ‘more than 1 in 4 unspayed dogs will develop mammary cancer’. With cats it is even more: up to 80 per cent will develop this type of cancer, which can be compared to breast cancer in humans, if not desexed before they turn six months. ‘The cancer is potentially fatal, if not treated’ the flyer states. “Treatment for cancer is not available on TI,” Sonia said. “However, even if it was, our preference is prevention. “Some people are worried that their pets will put on weight when they are fixed. “That is a myth. “Dogs will be less prone to wandering and might put on weight because of that. “We suggest reducing their food by a quarter or take them for extra walks. “People are also worried their dogs might change personality. “If that happens, it is usually for the better.” When Sonia is not coordinating a vet clinic, she seems to be the go to person for anyone with urgent veterinary needs on an island without a vet – while working in her day job in her mother’s business, Rebel, driving the Hammond or TI ferry, operating the water taxi, answering the phone that never seems to stop ringing. Sonia works closely with Dr Max Fargher from the Redlynch My Pet Hub in Cairns. “Dr Max has also done several clinics on TI, however due to an Australia wide shortage of vets he is currently unable to take time away from his Cairns clinics,” she said. Continued P11 N
