Kate Foran, Tennant & District Times
Over the past three weeks, Barkly Vet partnered with Barkly Regional Council to provide veterinary services to people who are long distant from our clinic in town.
These bush trips are essential to remote Barkly residents who don’t often get to town, while also providing vet students with a marvellous opportunity to experience remote work, and gain real clinical experience in the field.
Students Holly Currey and Arkie Pickering were mentored by experienced Vet Peter McCourt, and just loved their visit to the Barkly. They can’t wait to return!
Locals, Barkly Vet Student Nurse Shoni Smith, Barkly Council Local Laws Manager, Scott Spurling, and Local Laws Officer, Enis Zendelli accompanied the visiting team to the remote clinics and in the first week, AMRRIC (Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities) also contributed Vet Sophie and Nurse Lani.
It was a terrific team effort. Together they visited Ali Curung, Ampilatwatja, Alpurrurulam, Elliott, Epenarra, Murray Downs and Mungkarta. More than a hundred dogs were desexed, with many receiving additional treatments such as parvo vaccinations, tick medications and treatments for mange and other skin conditions.
Two emu chicks were treated for injuries and bandaged; a donkey was saved from having its hoof stuck in a large tin; and a health check was conducted on a pet pig!
The children in each community happily came along to observe the workings of the remote clinic set-ups. In particular, at Epenarra, the vet team interacted really well with the school and were awarded a wonderful thank you plaque …
This article appeared in Tennant & District Times, 20 May 2022.
