LAST week, visiting volunteer veterinarian Dr. Whitney Collins provided veterinary care clinics to more than 70 pets in the community. While most of her patients were cats and dogs, she did also evaluate and treat one horse and one wild bird. Members of the community were excited to meet with a veterinarian and discuss various health issues facing their pets, and were also provided with rabies vaccines which are necessary for travel off island.
In addition to providing veterinary care, Dr. Collins spent a large amount of time training the volunteers at Saipan Humane Society in various veterinary procedures that can be performed by a veterinary technician, such as clinical assessments, blood draws, and humane euthanasia for animals that are suffering. She also visited Rota to assist with conservation work and discuss dog population management with the mayor and municipal council.
Dr. Collins plans to return to the CNMI on a regular basis, offering veterinary care, ongoing training for the volunteers at Saipan Humane Society, and conducting conservation work.
“I want to thank Mayor Camacho and the Dog Control Program for allowing us to use their facility,” she said. “The Dog Control Program staff and Saipan Humane Society are a great team, and I really enjoyed my time working with them. The island and the people were wonderful. I feel that we made a lot of progress and look forward to returning.”
Dr. Collins is particularly interested in conserving the fragile ecology of islands and protecting endangered and endemic species.
The Mayor’s Dog Control Program and Saipan Humane Society will be hosting Dr. Brenda Smith from Guam Animals In Need or GAIN along with their team from April 10-14 for a spay/neuter clinic at the Mayor’s Animal Shelter in As Perdido.
There is also a clinic being tentatively planned for May/June.
To sign up on the waitlist for spay/neuter or other services, go to www.tinyurl.com/saipanhumane
When the volunteers at Saipan Humane Society begin scheduling, they will reach out to people on the waitlist to assign appointments.
To donate or volunteer, reach out to saipanhumane@gmail.com/. Saipan Humane Society is seeking financial contributions, food vouchers for volunteer veterinarians, accommodation donations for visiting volunteers, coupons for activities, and United Airlines miles.
Visiting veterinarian Whitney Collins with one of the few horses on Saipan.
