It may have been raining cats and dogs on Friday but it was a good day in Vailoa for pet owners as overseas veterinarians from the United States and Australia with the help of Animal Protection Society provided clinics for their animals.

The veterinarians were exhilarated seeing people making an effort to bring their dogs and cats for treatment either to get rid of fleas and worms or undertaking de-sexing surgeries. All these were done just for $20 tala compared to $100 tala charged at the APC Clinic.

Laura Martin is a veterinarian from Australia and she said that the outreach program was very important for dog and cat owners in Samoa, especially when they were offering treatment that is affordable and accessible for people. 

She believes that life in Samoa is very expensive and they were willing to give as much help as possible to help out animal lovers in Samoa.

“It is really important that this program reaches as many people as possible and educates them about how the treatment is going to help their dogs and ways to care for their pets and keep them healthy” she said.

Ms. Martin also mentioned her work experience here in Samoa. She said it was quite challenging because there’s only one vet, lack of resources for treatment and the food for animals was very expensive

“There are a lot of challenges while working here in Samoa because there’s not many vets or clinics for animals. We do not have the technology that we have in Australia such as x-ray and blood machines which is very challenging from our perspective," she said. 

"And for people who own a lot of dogs find it hard to provide animals with good quality food because they are very expensive.”

APS Administrative Office Manager Leisha Ah Sang said this was the sixth outreach program in Upolu and that they are planning to run another program in Manono next week.

“Vailoa is now the sixth village that has already been covered and we are planning to have another program in Manono next week because we want to provide equal access for people who live in rural areas," she said.

"This outreach program was organised by Animal Protection Society to ensure that veterinarians from overseas are able to treat animals as there are not many people who visit our main clinic at Vailima.”

Esera Levi,  a dog owner, told the Samoa Observer that he was happy that he made the right choice to bring his pets to the clinic.

“This was very helpful for us who own more than one dog because the price to treat my dogs at the main clinic is very expensive, that is $80 for a male dog and $100 for a female dog. With this clinic, I can get my dogs treated for just $20 and this is very affordable," he said.

“Taking my dogs to undertake these treatments is a very good way to ensure that my dogs are safe in terms of worms, fleas and other parasites. It is also ethical because it is the only way to prevent my family, especially the kids from being exposed to diseases and parasites the dogs might have.”

 The APS encourages dog owners to de-sex their pets to also control the stray dog population in Samoa.