Queensland

Torres Strait Islands trip

With AWLQ and Thursday Island Animal Support Group

Thursday Island Program: The program provides essential veterinary services to Indigenous communities in the Torres Strait Island. We work from a One Health-One Welfare perspective and aim to work with community to improve the health, well-being and safety of community and their companion animals. Volunteers will be assisting in an intensive desexing clinic in a registered field hospital located on Thursday Island. Volunteers will also engage with community members, discussing pet health care.

Provisions:

Return flights from Cairns to Horn Island, and ferry transport to/from Thursday Island
Accommodation
Public liability (limited) and professional indemnity insurances
Local Thursday Island support/coordinator, orientation, and on-island transport.
All veterinary consumables required to undertake the work
Complimentary VBB scrub top
Insurances: professional indemnity (by VBB), volunteer workers cover (by AWL-QLD), public liability (by VBB & AWL-QLD)

Upcoming dates and application form

Community outreach

With RSPCA QLD

Animal Wellness Day: This program is similar to initiatives run in NSW and WA, whereby outreach services are brought into the community to enable pet owners the opportunity to access veterinary services, basic pet items along with education and referral touchpoints to external human health and welfare services such as the Australian Red Cross, Queensland Health and community centres. The aim is to address the overpopulation of unwanted companion animals and assist people in accessing core veterinary services. We aim to have a positive impact on animal and human health and welfare, and to reduce the numbers of dogs and cats entering pounds. By partnering with human welfare services we also hope to enable pet owners obtain holistic support. Education campaigns that increase community awareness about the importance of de-sexing and other aspects of socially responsible ownership are also a vital part of the day.

VBB volunteers will assist the RSPCA QLD veterinary teams to provide: free Health checks, free vaccinations and heartworm testing, free parasite prevention (flea, tick and worming), free microchipping and pet ID tags, and referral to a local spay/neuter programs.

The event also provide non-veterinary services to pet owners such as: free pet banks (food, bedding, collars, enrichment etc. with educational message designed to decrease common issues reported to the RSPCA QLD Inspectorate to investigate), free nail clipping and grooming advice, free training and behaviour advice, human welfare stands offering support in mental health, pet budgeting, etc., and acceptance into online free online course about responsible pet ownership.

Provisions:

Designated on-site coordinator
Complimentary VBB scrub top
All consumables and facilities required to undertake the work
Insurances: professional indemnity (by VBB), volunteer workers cover (by RSPCA-QLD), public liability (by VBB & RSPCA-QLD)

Upcoming dates and application form

Community Cat Program

With the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, University of Queensland and RSPCA QLD

Community Cat Program: The Australian Pet Welfare Foundation is leading a transformational five year research project – one that could be instrumental in saving the lives of more than 100,000 healthy and treatable cats and dogs in Australian pounds and shelters every year. More info here.

Volunteers will be assisting the veterinary teams with sample collections to investigate the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens in semi-owned and unowned cats in the Greater Brisbane region.