Thank you so much for your letter--we are extremely grateful for your help in sending volunteers to Animal Aid. Our animals would be tremendously benefitted if any of the students could come.

We have a great range of trauma cases and many wound dressings throughout every day on dogs, cows, donkeys, pigs...there is a lot of opportunity to learn new skills, and in the absence of diagnostic equipment like x-ray and sonography, a vet or vet-student is challenged to work based on visual and tactile clues.

Erika, Jim en Claire Abrams leiden het asiel al vele jaren.

Our only problem is that we are not certain from month to month what our veterinary surgeon's oversight can be. There is a great shortage of vets willing to work in NGOs in this state (and throughout India) because they want to work for the government where they get lifelong contracts not connected to work performance ! and there is also a cultural pressure from families to snap up government posts whenever they are available. For the first time in Rajasthan's history there are more government posts than vets available because the gov't is pushing the expansion of the dairying industry.

Until July we have on staff an Australian vet who would be an excellent teacher, but she has to reapply for her visa in July and cannot be sure it will be granted.

If she is unable to return promptly or if she has to travel for an unexpected reason, we may have periods in which we don't have an overseeing vet surgeon.

Our vet nurses know a great deal. We have four of them. But they of course can't perform surgery involving general anaesthesia. We have never had a period without a vet surgeon lasting more than a week or two in 12 years but it could theoretically happen.

We welcome vet students and non-technically trained people who can do quite intricate procedures involving wounds. Our nurses do dispense all range of medicine from antibiotics to pain relief, and they understand quite a bit about medicine. They are also wonderful teachers and colleagues.

So if the interest in the vet students is primarily spay-neuter, I cannot promise there would be a lot of opportunity for it if our vet happens to be away at the time of a volunteer vet student's arrival. But with that exception, there is great range for fascinating work, with a variety of species, in very pleasant work conditions and an enthusiastic welcome from 38 staff members.

We have 300 animals--about half are with us in permanent sanctuary (and they too need care) and the other half are animals who are admitted each day from the streets--15 to 20 new patients each day--with injuries and illnesses.

Please share with all your contacts that we need and deeply appreciate help, technical and non-technical. All the work is "hands on animal care"--we can assure your students of an experience of a lifetime.

We don't offer accommodation but there are literally hundreds of hotels at every price range in Udaipur, 8 km from the shelter. All volunteers stay there, and we can suggest nice budget rooms for $5 a day, and then people can shop around and see what they prefer.

Transportation to and from the hospital can be by auto rickshaw at a cost of USD $5 a day or by public bus (an experience in itself) at just 25 cents or so. Food is also inexpensive.

We recommend that a traveller should come with at least $500 a month. For a modest traveller that's enough.

Please don't hesitate to ask for more details, and I really appreciate your contacting us.

All the best,
Erika Abrams
Co-founder

www.animalaidunlimited.com
www.facebook.com/animalaidunlimited.com