Vets
Treat Hundreds of Animals in Kenya
By
Michelle Halpin
 |
Kenyan
veterinary staff treat a goat during a veterinary civil
action program conducted on Manda Island in Kenya. Combined
Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa’s 350th Civil Affairs Command,
Functional Specialty Team, spearheaded
the event, which treated over 400 goats, sheep and dogs at
the site. The 350th CACOM FXSP is an Army Reserve unit based
in Pensacola, Florida.
CENTCOM Photo |
MANDA BAY, Kenya
(CJTF-HOA) — A Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa civil
affairs team worked side by side with host nation veterinarians
and other locals to vaccinate and treat more than 400 animals for
various ailments during a veterinary civil action program that
kicked off on Manda Island in Kenya’s Lamu District.
Members of
CJTF-HOA’s 350th Civil Affairs Command, Functional Specialty
Team, joined their local partners at a "cattle crush" and
attended to 441 goats and sheep and a dozen dogs brought to
the VETCAP by local
herdsman. All the animals were treated for internal and external parasites
and ticks. Additionally, goats and sheep received a dose of multi-vitamins
and were treated for blood-borne parasites and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia,
which is a major killer of goats in Africa.
The Manda "cattle
crush" is the first of several sites the 350th
CACOM FXSP and their Kenyan partners visited in the region.
"Yesterday, being the first day of the VETCAP, was our initial opportunity
to partner with the Kenyan veterinary staff, the veterinarians and the local
technicians. Our goal was to facilitate and to work in a supportive role for
them while they actually conducted the vaccination injections. The idea of doing
the veterinary work while we were in a supportive role in the background is absolutely
what our goal is and what our focus and what our mission is," said Army
Capt. Catherine I. Williams, 350th CACOM FXSP lead veterinarian.
"It was a great first day. We (also) got to work with the Kenya Red Cross
and the National Youth Service. They did a great job helping move the goats and
working with the animal herdsman. I was really pleased with their [Kenyans] work
ethic. They were willing to get in there and get dirty and get the herds run
through. I think it’s going to be a great mission," said Army Capt. Karin
Hamilton, 350th CACOM FXSP veterinary corps officer.
According
to the team, things will get a little more complex at the next
VETCAP site.
"We look forward to seeing how the next several days go when we start adding
cattle – we start working cattle and chickens and goats at the same time. Yesterday
was a fairly slow paced day and I think it was important for us to work out any
potential problems and kinks in our system," Williams added.
The VETCAP
personnel expect to treat over 20,000 animals during their
current mission, where at its peak they expect to take care
of over 10,000 animals
in a single day.
An Army Reservist
and veteran of seven other VETCAPs during this deployment,
Williams is a private veterinary practitioner in Fayetteville,
Ark., which
is also her hometown. She is part of the 7307th Medical Exercise Support
Battalion at Fort Sam Houston and is deployed with the 422nd Medical Detachment,
currently attached to CJTF-HOA’s 350th CACOM FXSP.
Hamilton
is an active duty Soldier deployed from Veterinary Command
at Fort Sill, Okla., and claims both Virginia Beach, Va., and
South Sutton, N.H.,
as her hometowns. She recently completed an extensive VETCAP mission in
Uganda, where she assisted in the treatment over 30,000 animals.
The mission
of CJTF-HOA is to prevent conflict, promote regional stability,
and to protect coalition interests in order to prevail against extremism.