VSU VetMed leads veterinary medical mission to San Isidro and Burauen, Leyte

Details: Written by Marianne C. Bayron; Published: 12 April 2024

The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) through their extension project “VET Mends” visited the municipalities of San Isidro and Burauen, Leyte for their veterinary extension services such as castrations, rabies vaccinations, and deworming of pets and farm animals.

The VET Mends Project Leader and the CVM Dean Dr. Santiago T. Peña, Jr led the team, with the veterinary clinicians of the College and some VetMed students.

They started the veterinary medical mission at San Isidro on March 20, 2024, where the VET Mends team conducted spay and neuter, and rabies vaccination for dogs and cats in the community.

Aside from that, they also organized the deworming of cattle and carabaos of the farmers in the said town. Deworming is important to farm animals to protect them against internal parasites and to improve their nutrition.

These veterinary extension services are part of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between VSU through the CVM and the Municipality of San Isidro.

Meanwhile, the VET Mends also responded to the special request of the town of Burauen to conduct the needed veterinary health care for the community’s pet owners.

The same with what the team did in San Isidro, they arranged services such as spaying and neutering, and rabies vaccination of dogs and cats in Burauen on March 21, respectively.

These activities are in line with the celebration of the Rabies Awareness Month last March.

VET Mends started in 2021 as CVM’s new extension project. The project aims to provide and support integrated veterinary health care in the local communities.

“This project believes that veterinary outreaches can positively impact the livelihood of commodity producers through improved animal health and disease prevention,” written on the VET Mends site.

The team has visited local government units (LGUs) in Leyte to extend the needed veterinary outreach programs. In 2022, the team conducted training on animal disease detection and prevention at Baybay City and Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte.