Fuerteventura

Destination	Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
Suitability	Veterinary students
Dates	Watch this space - 2009 dates coming soon!
Number of places
Cost (per person)	£500 (excluding flights)

What This Trip Offers

This trip offers a unique experience for enthusiastic vet students to gain invaluable surgical experience and also help an established registered UK cat charity to make a difference on the island of Fuerteventura. This week can also be used as EMS small animal experience. VetAdventure Teams will consist of 2 vet students, 2 experienced WVS vets and 2 qualified Vet Nurses. Comfortable accommodation will be provided in a local resort hotel and transportation will also be organised for you.

The veterinary students chosen to participate on this trip will have the opportunity to perform cat jugular blood samples, cat castrations, basic stitch ups and will have a minimum of 2 hours one-to-one surgical experience per day, more if deemed appropriate by the veterinary team leader. This will allow you to become more confident with basic surgical procedures and develop clinical skills which will last a lifetime.

Volunteers should be aware that facilities will be basic compared to UK small animal hospitals and adaptation or improvisation may be necessary.

General Information

The shelter is well-run and has excellent facilities for a Trap/Neuter/Release programme. As well as a dedicated operating theatre, the facility also has a quiet knock-down room and separate recovery room to facilitate smooth induction, surgery and recovery. Oxygen is available as needed, although most cats are anaesthetised with the triple combination of medetomidine/butorphanol/ketamine. A separate isolation area is also available for cats showing signs of infectious disease. All staff will be experienced and there will be a team leader who will resolve any problems/concerns that arise. All the cats are given health checks, treated for fleas, worms, neutered and re-released in the same area in which they were originally trapped.

Cost

The cost of this week is £500 per applicant. This excludes the costs of flights or insurance but includes all accommodation and hire car. Volunteers will be met on arrival by a WVS representative. You will be responsible for transport to and from the airport in the UK.

Applicants will be required to pay a £200 non-refundable deposit at the time of booking.

Flights

Flights will be to Puerto del Rosario airport. You can either make your own arrangements or the VetAdventure Team will handle organisation and booking along with those of the WVS team. The costs of the flight will vary depending on the time of year and how far in advance of the trip, please complete the attached form with your passport details. This information will be used to book flights only and will not be retained or passed to third parties.

Insurance

We recommend that you book travel insurance prior to your trip with VetAdventure. Please specify that you will be working with animals as this may be a limiting factor with certain insurance companies. VetAdventure frequently use Go Walkabout Insurance(www.go-walkabout.co.uk). Volunteers will need to contact the company directly to clarify that veterinary work will be involved in the trip.

Health

Please check with your local doctor or travel clinic for details of which vaccinations are required for travel in this area . More information can be found at www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel, just click on the "Country Guide". You may need to allow several weeks before travel in order for immunisations to be effective so don't leave this to the last minute.

How to Apply

Booking Form. Please e-mail the office directly with a brief description of the project you are interested in and we will send you an appropriate booking form. bookings@vetadventure.com