The many volunteers, local and international, consisting of veterinarians, technicians, and even some with minimal animal experience, gathered and worked together over two days to provide veterinary care to the animals of the island of Roatan, at no cost of the owners. The surgical team spayed and neutered an astonishing 197 cats and dogs, as well as administered a dewormer, and flea and tick medication. There was another team of volunteers that provided a physical exam, vaccines, dewormer, and flea and tick medication, to a large number of cats and dogs. These campaigns are essential to helping keep a healthy animal population, by providing the services free of charge to owners who love their pets dearly, but may not otherwise be able to afford it.

Owners lined up, often for hours, in the heat patiently waiting their pets’ turn. Despite the heat, they had smiles on their faces and thanked us for all of our hard work when they were reunited with their pets. Pure gratitude!

This October was my first, and hopefully not last, trip with the Allandale Veterinary Hospital team to volunteer with RAW. It was a long, hard, and hot two days in a small building, however all those things disappear when I think about the amazing work that was being performed by an even more amazing group of volunteers. At times there was a language barrier, however the common goal of helping others proved to be stronger than said barrier, and other means of communication were found.