Hope House, Veterinary Clinic and Neutering Center, which is part of the House of Light on the Hill, affiliated with the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation (FIHF), carried out a campaign for neutering dogs and cats in the Municipality of Carmo da Cachoeira – MG, with the support of several volunteers and collaborators of the institution, teachers and students of the Veterinary Medicine course of the University Center of Southern Minas Gerais.
The service aimed the domesticated and abandoned animals on the street and it was offered with no cost to the community; there was also the objective of generating awareness in the population on the importance of neutering, which besides avoiding the birth of more animals, when they are neutered, they have less of a tendency to wander through the streets, and therefore, less likely to be run over or mistreated. They become more domestic, stop fighting, and therefore run less risk of contracting and propagating zoonoses.
The vet Luiz Renato Delgado, a volunteer of the Hope House for more than four years, explains the benefits of neutering: “It stops bitches from getting pregnant and having complications with birthing, contracting sexually transmitted diseases, developing a greater probability of breast cancer and uterine infections. Male dogs, on the other hand, may have prostate problems and testicular cancer, as well as sexually transmitted diseases.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), just in Brazil, there are more than thirty million abandoned animals, ten million of which are cats and the other twenty million, dogs.
“I believe it is very important to give people who do not have economic possibilities, the opportunity to neuter or take the animal for a consultation. At this time, we have a population of street animals that are suffering, starving and ill. Neutering manages to decrease this situation,” the vet emphasizes.
Resuming collective efforts
Because of the pandemic, Hope House had to suspend various activities, but with the return of collective effort, the vet, Yasmin Freire, was able to participate for the first time, and reaffirmed the importance of this activity: “Neutering hadn’t been done for quite a while, and as a result, we can see a large number of dogs and cats in the streets.
They are animals with a high reproduction rate. One day you have a female, and the next, you have a female and 10 puppies. About the services offered by the institution, Yasmin highlights: “That is what Hope House does; it helps those who are already helping in the community; which is to say, the people who rescue and take care of the animals.”
Learn by doing: Learning by Practicing
This project is also a means for training and encouraging students in a daily surgery practice. A student, Tiago Morais, spoke about the project: “As a student of Veterinary Medicine, I looked forward to having this opportunity for collaborating and helping animals have a healthier life, far from pain and suffering. I am very grateful for having participated and I hope to always continue, looking for new knowledge to give the best of myself to all of them.”
