Andrea Flynn, who has worked as a Veterinary Assistant at Oldtown for 5 years, was born in Argentina and moved to the United States as a youngster.  This early experience gave her a great love of travel and when she discovered the volunteer opportunities offered by the World Vets Organization, she quickly recognized this as an opportunity to combine her love of travel with her other passion….caring for animals.  The program that was most appealing to her required the participation of a licensed veterinarian, so she approached her co-worker, Dr. Courtney Pierce, who she knew shared her enthusiasm for both travel and animals.  Volunteerism and pro-bono veterinary work are important to Dr. Pierce, so she was very excited about supporting the World Vet’s mission of providing affordable veterinary care to animals in developing nations.  The trip was confirmed and they traveled to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua for a week last November.

Their primary volunteer responsibilities were to provide post surgical care for animals that had received spay/neuters by another team of volunteer veterinarians that had staffed the clinic the prior week.  While there, they also staffed an outreach day clinic (a table by a beach in one of the poorer neighborhoods) where they administered much needed vaccines, dewormings and as much other care as their limited supplies allowed. “It was a teachable moment…we are so lucky here to have access to the level of medical care that we do for our pets.” Andrea Flynn The clinic is a converted 1 room storage shed.   Instead of an autoclave, instruments are sterilized in a pressure cooker.  There is a small permanent staff, but none are formally trained in veterinary medicine. Courtney and Andrea quickly  recognized that they not only faced supply and equipment challenges in treating the animals, but they also had to respect the significant cultural difference in the way animals are viewed in Nicaragua.  Lack of infrastructure, education, and funds make even the simplest vaccine a stretch…dewormings and other treatments that we take for granted are almost out of the question.

Since the clinic cannot  afford surgery lights, Dr. Pierce performs surgery using her camping headlight.  She threw it in her suitcase as a last minute whim and it ended up being the most valuable item she packed.

It’s clear even through the cultural differences that a great love and kindness towards animals can be found anywhere.  One of Courtney’s fondest experiences was working with a father and son who learned that the clinic had volunteer medical staff available and loaded their puppies in a basket on their bicycle for the 2 hour ride each way to have the puppies spayed and neutered.

On one of their last nights in Nicaragua, Courtney and Andrea were dining with the sanctuary director and asked her what her wish list for the sanctuary would include. Of course financial support and a full time veterinarian were on the list, but Surfer came up a lot as well.  Surfer is a very sweet young dog who had been hit by a car a few months prior to their arrival. A couple of concerned tourists brought him to the sanctuary, where he had been living ever since. Surfer’s basic needs were being met, but without a veterinarian available his injuries had been left untreated. A dislocated hip meant that he walked on three legs and was in so much pain that when the staff had to move him he howled in pain as he tried to rise.

On their return, Courtney and Andrea launched a fundraiser and within three weeks had enough money to fly him over! Many weeks and lots of red tape later, Surfer arrived at RDU on 1/19/10.

Although improving Surfer’s chances for a long, healthy life was reward in itself, Courtney and Andrea both learned that more was in store. In February, WFMY Channel 2 News learned about Surfer’s story and on February 10^th, honored Dr. Pierce as a Local Hero during their 5pm broadcast.  Courtney describes her motivation as follows:

 For Andrea’s part, Surfer gave back in ways no one could ever have anticipated.  In early January while Andrea and Courtney were busy navigating the logistics of how to fly Surfer to the US, Andrea received a call that her mother had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.  Andrea credits her work with Surfer in the subsequent weeks with helping her cope with the grief and shock of this loss…a powerful and amazing gift from an injured, abandoned dog from Nicaragua.

In February, (accompanied by a lot of tears and hugs) Surfer went to a new home with an outstanding pet owner and long-term client of Oldtown.  He is scheduled to begin what will likely be a series of corrective surgeries later this month.

CONGRATULATIONS TO COURTNEY AND ANDREA

FOR CREATING A HAPPY ENDING! 

For More info on:

More Nicaragua & Surfer Pics

WFMY Channel 2 Hero Segment: http://www.digtriad.com/life/community/herocentral/story.aspx?storyid=137518&catid=256

World Vets: www.worldvets.org