Vets cap conferences with

Rabies educ, goods for kids

TAGBILARAN CITY, May 18 (PIA)—Local government veterinarians across the country gathering here for their 16th Annual Convention and Conference capped their three day events by sharing their time and treasures to Bohol’s disadvantaged and children with special needs in an outreach program tied up with a private vet supply company. 

Kids with dexterity and mobility issues served at the Bohol Stimulation Therapeutic and Activity Center (STAC) 1 and at the Bohol Crisis Intervention Center (BCIC) mostly find animals as perfect pets, but their physical disabilities coupled with scant understanding of animal behaviour can lead to serious consequences, including exposure to rabies, Bohol Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Stella Marie Lapiz shared. 

To get to these kids the proper information, veterinarian members of the Provincial, City, Municipal Veterinarians League of the Philippines (PCMVLP), in partnership with Unilab’s Animal Health Care Company (UNAHCO) sat with the kids and taught them about the risks of rabies and animal bites, in a bid to keep them informed.

Responsible Pet Ownership and rabies are things that most people are not as keen, and starting the information to the kids could jump-start awareness, a parent of a child needing occupational therapy said in Cebuano. 

STAC Bohol occupational and physical therapist Gligen Nistal admitted that kids with special needs and who may have motor coordination issues often find animals perfect to pet, and this may lead to problems if kids are not aware of the risks.

The event also forms the Outreach Program of the Convention that happened at the Flushing Meadows Resort in Panglao. 

Billed as UNAHCO’s Kaagapay sa Tagumpay 2018, the outreach program also had the private vet med supply company bringing in school supplies and other personal hygiene kits for the kids, even as the City and Provincial Veterinarians Offices as conference and outreach hosts pitched in goodies for the kids. 

UNAHCO’s Erwin Flores said their company as a strong partner for veterinarians own several corporate social responsibility projects and brought in Bohol the Outreach as convened by the PCMVLP.

Apart from responsible pet ownership discussions with communities in Panglao, the vets and the vet-med supplier also performed spaying and neutering of dog in another attempt at curbing the explosive dog population which has become a public health concern in tourism island Panglao.

The Outreach Group also brought in partners who gave free chocobao, carabao milk icecream and IEC materials for kids. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

Veterinarians across the country capped their conferences in Bohol with an outreach program for the kids with special needs in Bohol. The vets taught the children responsible pet ownership and gave the school supplies and goodies. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)