THE C HIN O O K P R O J E C T
THE CHINOOK PROJECT:
CARING FOR ANIMALS IN CANADA’S NORTH Veterinary care is difficult—often impossible—to obtain in remote northern communities in Canada. But for the past ten years, teams of veterinarians and veterinary students from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at UPEI have been heading north to give free veterinary care to animals in some of those communities through the Chinook Project. Since the first trip ten years ago, 52 fourth-year veterinary students, 15 veterinarians, and two veterinary technicians have cared for over 1,400 animals, primarily dogs, at 16 mobile clinics held in 10 locations in Canada’s North. They have performed 728 spay and neuter surgeries, given countless vaccinations and doses of dewormer, and educated hundreds of people about animal care and welfare. Coordinated by veterinarians Dr. Lisa Miller and Dr. Marti Hopson, the Chinook Project responds to requests from northern communities for veterinary services. Teams of veterinarians, students, and veterinary technicians spend three to ten days in the communities, performing surgeries and other veterinary services in temporary clinics set up in firehalls, community centres, schools, and other venues. They also go out into the countryside to care for sled dogs, which are usually kept outside community borders.
Dr. Marti Hopson and then-student Chris MacLaughlin hold puppies during the 2011 Chinook project.
The students gain veterinary experience through the project, but they also get to know the people and the culture of the North. As part of their learning experience, the students write blogs about their experiences. Jessica Eisnor, AVC Class
of 2016, cares for a special Getting the veterinary teams to the North is no patient, Chubby, at a easy task. Hopson, who has travelled north with Chinook Project clinic in Chinook almost every year, spends hours dealing Natuashish in 2015. with every aspect of the trip—from transportation and accommodation to getting medical supplies. She works closely with people in the communities that the Chinook Project teams will visit.
Sending people and supplies to the North would not be possible without the financial assistance of the many sponsors and donors who support the Chinook Project. Among the major sustained donors are the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Rathlyn Foundation, Ann McCain Evans, Zoetis Animal Health, Air Labrador, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Iams-Eukanuba. This year the Chinook Project will visit Nain and Sheshatshiu, Labrador, and Iqaluit, Nunavut. For more information, visit chinookproject.ca
28