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Providing pet care to the Sahtu

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photos courtesy of Sarifa Lakhdir Sarifa Lakhdir, a fourth-year veterinary student, cuddles a dog in Colville Lake. Lakhdir is one of nine students who travelled the Sahtu to host vet clinics this past February.

For 11 years, veterinarians have been coming up to the Sahtu from the University of Calgary to treat local pets, and sharing knowledge is now part of the curriculum.

Sarifa Lakhdhir was one of nine fourth-year veterinary students to go to Norman Wells, Tulita, Deline, Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake in February. She says they spent the week before their three-week tour learning about the North and talking to people from the Sahtu.

Sarifa Lakhdhir, a fourth-year veterinary student, cuddles a dog in Colville Lake. Lakhdhir is one of nine students who travelled the Sahtu to host vet clinics this past February. photo courtesy of Sarifa Lakhdhir

“We talked to a lot of people from those areas about how they feel about people coming in and providing services and how they would like us to act and what they would like us to bring up there with us,” said Lakhdhir.

“I think for us (the take-away) was mostly the mentality to going up North – that we're not going there to make a big difference, but it's really more learning for us going up there and try to give a bit of what we learned through out years of schooling.”

The students were joined by certified surgeons and veterinarians and led by Dr. Susan Kutz, who has been leading the travelling clinics since they began.

In each of the communities, the clinics provide basic veterinary services, such as vaccinations for rabies, physical examinations, as well as spays and neuters.

The team also met with pet-owners to look at their animals and share care tips.

“We would discuss doing the physical exam, vaccinations, spaying and neutering when applicable,” said Lakhdhir. “And then when we found concerns with the animals or when they brought up concerns, we would do a one-on-one session with them on how to care for the animal.”

They also visited schools and showed children how to examine their pets’ health.

Lakhdhir said the experiences working with Northern communities was very positive, and that the travelling clinic has been working at building strong working relationships with them.

“Dr. Kutz has been going up there for 11 years now so the communities know her now and are looking forward to her coming so they can get these services from her. So we had very positive feedback from the community.”

Kutz was unavailable for comment before press time.