OTTAWA, ON, April 12, 2023 - Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Canada (VWB/VSF) is excited to launch its Ukraine Webinar Series, which will connect animal health experts from across North America with veterinarians, veterinary technicians, animal shelter workers, students, and more in Ukraine. Through these webinars, VWB/VSF is dedicated to continuing to strengthen animal welfare capacity in Ukraine, where many communities have been destroyed and access to veterinary care is near-impossible. These free, hour-long webinars will be hosted simultaneously in English and Ukrainian, and recorded for those who are unable to attend.
“This is a really exciting new direction in our Ukraine program,” said VWB/VSF’s Ukraine Program Manager, Oleksandra Tselishcheva. “By connecting Ukrainian animal health workers with professionals in similar fields in North America, and beyond, we can help ensure that both people have the support and skills they need to continue helping animals in need across Ukraine, despite the ongoing challenges and difficulties created by the war,” said Tselishcheva.
VWB/VSF’s first webinar launches on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. ET and will be hosted by Dr. Marie Holowaychuk, a Canadian board-certified small animal emergency and critical care specialist and passionate advocate for veterinary team wellbeing. Dr. Holowaychuk lives in Calgary where she occasionally locums in private referral practice and as a specialist teleconsultant. As a wellness coach, she facilitates wellbeing workshops and retreats for veterinary clinics and organizations and offers individual and group coaching and online programs for veterinary team members.
This webinar will focus on how animal health workers in Ukraine can provide optimal animal care, while maintaining their own mental and physical well-being.
NOTE: Webinars will be in English and translated live into Ukrainian.
Since the launch of VWB’s Ukrainian program, over 5,000 animals in Ukraine have received veterinary care, more than 5,600 animals have been spayed/neutered, and 1,530 online consultations have been provided for pet owners. In Romania, VWB has sent volunteers to assist at Save the Dogs, an animal shelter that accepted dogs from a bombed shelter in Odesa and is continuing to send supplies across the border to Ukrainian shelters and communities in need.
Media Contact
Charmaine Brett
Executive Director
E: charmaine@vetswithoutborders.ca
C: +1-613-880-1655
About Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières
Using a One Health approach, Veterinarians Without Borders (VWB) works for, and with, communities in need to foster the health of animals, people and the environments that sustain us. VWB works in Africa and Asia to improve the living conditions of the most disadvantaged rural populations through veterinary and agricultural services, sustainable animal production, training, value chain development and sustainable natural resource management. Additionally, we support remote Northern Canadian communities to improve animal health through temporary spay and neuter clinics, reduce the spread of rabies, and work to create the conditions for long-term, community-led sustainable animal health services.
Learn more at vetswithoutborders.ca
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