Surgical Dog Sterilisation Skills Training in Bosnia

A recent survey has estimated there are in excess of 11,000 stray dogs in the City of Sarajevo alone. Surgical sterilisation is important for the welfare of individual owned dogs and as key part of dog population management. There is also an increasing demand for surgical sterilisation as more owners recognise the health benefits of neutering and see it as a key part of responsible dog ownership. This course run in partnership between the Veterinary Faculty, Sarajevo, and Dogs Trust BH aims to give participants the practical skills they need to be able to competently and confidently neuter dogs independently. The course has three aims:

• The first is to up skill Veterinary Surgeons, giving them practical surgical skills to neuter a dog, which also provides transferable skills that the surgeon can apply to other procedures eg exploratory laparotomy
• The second is to understand the welfare around the care of patients before, during and after surgery and in becoming confident in the use of General Anesthetics available in Bosnia-Herzegovina
• The third is to develop an understanding of the veterinary profession’s role in responsible dog ownership and dog population management

The seven-day course is highly practical with tutorials on key topics and it is taught by a combination of Bosnian and British veterinary surgeons. Congratulations to Hayley Walters, one of the JMICAWE team and an anesthesia nurse at The Dick Vet Hospital who went out for 2 of the courses, to help establish the training clinics and assist the Dogs Trust teams, so that they are now confident to go on and train more Bosnia vets with these clinical skills.

Fore more information, please visit Dogs Trust website or email ApplicationVFSDT@gmail.com.