Dog health a priority in Maningrida

WARC’s Bradley Roy assisting Dr Ted Donelan and his team to deliver a dog health program facilitated by Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities in Maningrida this month. Photo credit: Ted Donelan A visiting vet team has been treating dogs in Maningrida and surrounding outstations throughout the month of October. The program has been facilitated by Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) and has been funded by NT Department of Health - Environmental Health Branch. The veterinary program has focused on desexing (to humanely control the dog overpopulation) and anti-parasite treatments (targeting intestinal worms, ticks, fleas and mange). Over the four week visit, veterinarian Dr Ted Donelan, who is a familiar face around Maningrida for the past 15 years, has been assisted at various times by volunteer vets Drs Ian Lewis, David Hopkins and Sam Lawson, as well as vet nurse Mel Plant, and vet student Gab Denton. West Arnhem Regional Council staff member Bradley Roy has also been invaluable in assisting the vets and acting as community liaison. The team has performed more than 100 surgeries and delivered hundreds of anti-parasite treatments to improve dog health throughout Maningrida. Many of the parasites that affect dogs can be transmitted to humans, so regularly treating dogs for parasites helps to improve human health. And of course desexing dogs helps to limit the number of unwanted puppies in the community. At the owner’s request, cheeky dogs and animals suffering untreatable injuries or illness have also been humanely euthanased by the veterinary team. The veterinary program compliments a training program delivered by AMRRIC Education Officers Melissa Pepper and Courtney Falls in August. During that visit, Melissa and Courtney worked with WARC staff members Darren and Benji, training them to prepare and administer 424 anti-parasite treatments to Maningrida dogs. The health of the dogs has improved noticeably since that initial round of treatments, and with the additional treatments and desexing delivered by Dr Ted and his team, the health of the dogs at Maningrida has benefitted enormously. AMRRIC would like to thank the Maningrida community for their support of this program. It is hoped that the development of a collaborative scheme of financial and in-kind contributions from local community businesses and agencies will result in the veterinary team being able to return on a regular basis. Community contributions from Malabam Health Board, Michael Stedman and in-kind assistance from West Arnhem Regional Council (WARC) have also greatly assisted.