HSI Asia Field CLinic Protocols for sterilization and same-day-release

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>Envelope-to: anpeople

><Ken

> " Ken Grant " <Ken

><santhak

>Field CLinic Protocols

>Mon, 31 Jan 2005 16:46:49 +0800

>

>Mr. Santha,

>

>Thank you for your comments about the sterilization surgical

>procedures now being used on the dogs in Sri Lanka.

>

>I must first qualify my statements by saying that neither my wife

>(Sherry Grant) nor I are veterinarians. Further, I am now in Borneo

>and do not have our protocols manual at hand, so I am reciting this

>from memory, which fails me more and more each day.

>

>In addition to being the regional director of HSI Asia, Sherry is

>also one of the founders of the Bali Street Dog Foundation (also

>known as Yudisthira). Over the years, the Bali Street Dog

>Foundation has been fortunate to have had the support of WSPA, HSI

>and IFAW and much of what has been developed is due to their support

>both in training and resources.

>

>We were first introduced to the spay hook technique, which requires

>only a 3 cm incision, in late 1998 by a WSPA veterinarian. At that

>time this procedure was unknown to the vets in Bali, who were the

>performing full open hysterectomies. This procedure was obviously

>inappropriate for field operations as it was a lengthy procedure,

>required a greater use of anesthetics, and had attendant higher

>risks of infection, adverse anesthetic reactions, and longer

>recovery periods. However with the spay hook procedure, these

>problems were minimized, but not completely eliminated. The next

>two key features to adapting the spay hook procedure to the field

>operations were aseptic and suturing protocols.

>

>The most important feature of the field technique is enforcement of

>strict aseptic protocols. The operating theater is most often a

>covered area that is open to the elements. It is by no means

>sterile. The procedure begins with trimming the hair and then

>properly swabbing and sterilizing the point of incision (circular

>motion while moving outwards, never using the same swap twice,

>etc.). Sterile instruments are used and never reused without first

>being autoclaved. Surgical masks, drapes and other standard

>operating dressings are also used. The maintenance of strict

>aseptic protocols has proven to be the most difficult protocol to

>enforce. May vets either were not adequately trained in these

>procedures or minimize their importance. I can't tell you the

>number of times that I have seen experienced veterinarians go though

>the entire sterilization and prep procedure, only to then place an

>instrument on a drape rather then in the sterile receptacle, drop

>and instrument and continue using it, or wipe their gloved hand on

>their clothes.

>

>After recovering from the anesthetic, these animals are either

>released to their owners or back into the field. In either case

>there is no following up. These are mobile (i.e. set up for the

>day, tear down and move on the next day) operations and follow up is

>impossible in the case of a street dog. One of the risks in such a

>situation is that the wound will open up either due to the dog

>biting at the wound or through rough physical activity such as

>fighting. To prevent this from happening, the muscle layers are

>sutured using an " interrupted " suturing technique (i.e. the suture

>materials is tied off every 1 to 2 cm then a new suture is begun).

>The reason for this is that in the event that a suture is broken,

>the entire wound will not open up, just a small portion. Otherwise a

>broken suture could result in the entire incision opening thus

>exposing the animal to a longer healing time and greater risk of

>infection. The outer layer (epidermis) is sealed with super glue,

>which creates an airtight and durable seal. We have found that

>super glue works better and dries faster than any surgical glue that

>we have tried, and is obviously much less expensive.

>

>I am proud to say that of the approximately 15,000 dogs that have

>been treated in this manner, we know of none that have died of

>complications due to infection. Unfortunately, we did have two dogs

>that died when their wounds opened up, but that was because a

>visiting vet (a Westerner) refused to follow the proper suturing

>protocol. It is of course is possible that dogs may have died or

>gotten sick that we are not aware of, but the vast majority of dogs

>which we treat are either owned or village dogs and thus someone

>would have most likely brought it to our attention. Further, in

>most cases we visit a village 2 or 3 times to insure that we reach

>that magic 70% sterilization level (the minimum level required for

>zero population growth). Thus, people would have had ample

>opportunity to bring a problem to our attention.

>

>Further, these procedures have been adopted by street dog programs

>in the Philippines and Malaysia and we have no reports of problems

>from those organizations. In the later case, Malaysian

>veterinarians just recent completed training in Bali (you may read

>of their experiences on or website

>(<http://www.hsiasia.org/>www.HSIAsia.org) - see article

> " Spay/Neuter Workshops in Bali " at the bottom of the right sidebar

>on the home page.

>

>I apologize for my lack to veterinary knowledge which undoubtedly

>introduced some errors in my foregoing description. If you wish a

>further and more accurate description, I would be happy to refer you

>to a Chief of Veterinarian Medicine, Dr. Putu Listrian, who is a

>co-founder of the foundation and was very instrumental in

>establishing these protocols.

>

>I hope that the foregoing makes you feel more comfortable with the procedure.

>

>- Ken Grant

>HSI Asia (Bali, Indonesia)

>Humane Society International

>Mobile: +62 812 465 0171

><KenKen

><http://www.HSIAsia.org>www.HSIAsia.org

> Chat: KAGrant

><http://www.hsiasia.org>

>

>

>

>

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> > " K.santha " <santhak

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> >Mon, 31 Jan 2005 07:33:58 +0600 (GMT)

> > proposed sterilization procedure will kill many dogs

> >slowly

> >aapn

> >

> >

> >

> >>

> >

> >>We learned that Dr Grant of HSI wants to sterilize the dogs in Ulle

> >>and/ Tsunami striken areas of Sri lanka and release them to the

> >>streets on the

> >same day . iFAW also

> >>plan to do the same .Sterilization is good and we thank them for

> >>funding

> >these programmes

> >>Releasing the dogs to the streets on the same day is not a humane

> >>method

> >to adopt by any body .Many have opposed the idea and told me that they

> >have informed the representatives in Sri lanka about that.

> >>

> > We learned that Both Ifaw and HSI would release the dogs to the

> >streets on the same day .

> >>.We don`t expect to count the number of dogs which are sterilized.

> >>If they do so the dogs will become infected and die .The beaches of

> >>Sri

> >Lanka have been infected with decaying bodies and turned in to grave yards.

> >> Sri lanka is very hot these days and there would be rains .The

> >environment is unhygenic and

> >>is ideal for breeding flies and maggots .The infection is quite easy

> >>come

> >fromthe sand .

> >>These dogs will suffer as a result of maggots and bacterial infection

> >>and

> >suffer and die very slowly The maggots will eat them when they are

> >alive.As a veterinary surgeon I believe the treet dogs need rest food

> >and hygenic conditions to heal the wounds

> >>

> >>

> >>They should be fed inside a temporary shelter for at least one week or

> >>few

> >days before releasing them .

> >>the people in North East are not animal friendly.They have to move

> >>them to

> >another area.

> >>They may kill them as they have killed a homeless cow also to eat .

> >>

> >>

> >> The best sterilization programme in Sri Lanka was done by Edith

> >> Zellweger

> >an animal lover from Switzerland.

> >>She organised that quite well and did a sterilization programme in

> >>Kandy

> >dog pound.You can read about her work in following web site.

> >>

>

>><http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en & sl=de & u=http://www.tierrec>http:/\

/translate.google.com/translate?hl=en & sl=de & u=http://www.tierrec

> >>htste

> >rmine.de/modules.php%3Fname%3DNews%26file%3Darticle%26sid%3D75 & prev=/se

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> >3Fq%3DEdith%2BZellweger%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

> >>

> >>We request you to think about the welfare of the animals and change

> >>the

> >method of releasing them in the same day.

> >>

> >>K.Santha

 

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