Vets at Work

Dutch veterinarian Rein Blanken worked with Dr Ramaswamy from India to spay bitches and castrate city dogs at the Tara Centre (the community centre Kate used to run in Gondar's city centre) in January 2008.

Dr Ramaswamy teaches Surgery at Gondar University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. For two years he brought fourth-year students to observe operations he carried out at the Tara Centre. Some students performed operations under supervision. Forty bitches and dogs were neutered.

"In 2007 the Public Health Office poisoned more than 1,000 dogs in Gondar city because of the fear of rabies," explains Kate. "Capture, neuter (with rabies vaccination) and release is a more humane method of controlling the number of stray dogs and reducing the risk of rabies transmission."