Lara, a veterinary surgeon, works with Associação Bons Amigos Austria, focusing on dog and cat population management in Cape Verde. Lara recently sent a report about how the equipment donations received from SNIPi on two separate occasions were being put to good use.

In December 2021, following a successful grant application during the ITP course, Lara received a variety of equipment. This included a Vulcan dog trap, two Eezicatch Cat Traps with mesh floors, a trap transfer restrainer trap, and two trap transfer carriers. In October 2022, during the ICAWC, she received professional safety muzzles and a cat wrap.

Lara and her team organised a neutering campaign on Brava Island in Cape Verde, which took place from October 18th to November 3rd. During this time, they conducted various activities, including a neutering campaign in 10 different locations over 14 days. They neutered and provided parasite treatment for a total of 373 dogs and cats, as well as offering additional parasite treatment to 141 already neutered/spayed dogs and cats. The team also performed 13 other necessary surgical procedures, various treatments, and collected samples from 89 hosts for infectious disease research.

Additionally, they visited five schools to educate 166 children on basic animal care, conducted a survey on owned and stray dog populations, and provided dog and cat capture training to a local team led by Brian Faulkner. Throughout the campaign, they captured stray dogs and cats using appropriate traps. They specifically targeted areas with conflicts between dogs and livestock producers, where feral dogs were causing problems by killing livestock.

This marked the sixth time that Lara and her team visited the small island, which has a population of around 5,000 and no veterinarians. The donated capture equipment was essential during the campaign, enabling them to capture difficult animals and address human-dog/cat conflicts. They successfully caught 56 stray cats using cat traps and transported them using TTR/TTCs. They also captured 34 stray dogs using the provided catching equipment. The Vulcan dog trap was used at a dump frequented by strays and unsocialised dogs, where they managed to catch two dogs from this group.

The safety muzzles were utilised during dog manipulation and preparation for surgery. Interestingly, the cages proved so effective that they even caught free-roaming chickens in both the dog and cat traps.

SNIPi appreciates Associação Bons Amigos Austria’s great work and hope our support will facilitate further efforts to improve animal welfare and reduce human-dog/cat conflicts in Cape Verde.