Location: Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Languages Spoken: English (by volunteers), Spanish (by the clients)
Species Treated: 80% dogs, 18% cats, 2% other (chickens, occasional equines). The clinic does not treat wildlife.
Type of Organisation: Charity Veterinary Clinic, with an emphasis on spay and neuter surgery (US-registered charity).
Aims of Organisation: DAD aims to provide low cost veterinary treatment and education on responsible pet ownership to the residents of Santa Cruz (and the other islands). The organisation also performs free-of-charge sterilisation surgeries to prevent overpopulation of domestic animals (thereby protecting the local habitat for wildlife).
Types of Volunteers Accepted (and fees):
– Vets, Vet Nurses and Vet Techs: Qualified vets and vet nurses are welcomed to work in the clinic for minimum stays of 2 weeks (longer stays are preferable). Vets are permitted to perform surgery and will be expected to share (generally quiet) on-call duties with the head vets. Self-catered shared accommodation is provided in the clinic, and volunteers are asked to raise funds before arriving to help cover the running costs of the clinic.
– Vet Students: The clinic runs with the assistance of vet and pre-vet students, who assist with all aspects of veterinary work- from diagnosis and treatment to surgery (dependent on level of experience). Students are asked to pay a donation to cover the costs of their stay in the clinic.
– Non-Veterinary Volunteers: As this is clinical veterinary work, it is more suited to those developing skills to work in the veterinary medical field.
Research Links: Darwin Animal Doctors are not currently involved in any research projects.
Introduction
I first met up with the Darwin Animal Doctors team at a water-front restaurant, on my first night on Isla Santa Cruz. As we chatted over vegetarian hamburgers and fruit juice, I was struck by their youthful enthusiasm and energy for what they did. This international team of young vets, nurses and students, were not only apparently running a vet clinic in a foreign language (none were native Spanish speakers), but were loving it. As they recounted their tales of sunburn, their futile searches for the Galapagos penguins and their embarrassing language mishaps (when asking if an owner if their dog is scared, do not use the phrase “el es mierda?”), I knew I would fit right in.
The team’s enthusiasm for their work was still apparent the next morning, when I had my first taste of life in the DAD clinic. By 7am, the locals were already crowding around the clinic gates with their animals, ready for the surgical admits and consults to start. A volunteer vet student helped me admit some animals, acting as a translator and helping me with the unfamiliar words on our Spanish paperwork. When a tiny sickly puppy was carried in, one of the head vets took them aside to begin treatment while we continued to admit. Throughout the day, the team continued to work well together- chipping in to assist when it got busy, and taking the time to teach and share experiences when the pace slowed a little. And because we were from so many different backgrounds (at that time, the team members hailed from six different countries), there was always something new that we could learn from one another.
Background of Darwin Animal Doctors
The clinic was founded in 2008 when Tod Emko and Andrea Gordon first arrived in the Galapagos.
They were struck by the fact that this unique world heritage site had stray dogs and cats which could spread disease and hunt wildlife. They could see that the local government vets were working hard to control the situation, but with no other vet on the islands at this time, they had more work than they could handle.
So, Tod and Andrea founded DAD and set up the clinic to run spay and neuter campaigns once or twice a year. A few years later, Dr. Jochem Lastdrager went to the Galapagos to run one of these sterilization campaigns and realised that the islands would benefit greatly from a veterinary clinic which did more than just spay and neuter surgeries and that was open year round. Jochem worked alongside Tod and Andrea to outfit the clinic to be able to provide basic health care and to build a volunteer team to keep the clinic open throughout the year.
The Galapagos-based team members, Rene and Mayra, stepped in, and soon enough, the clinic was open full-time. It has continued to grow over the years with the support of volunteers and donors and is now able to offer a number of services, including life-saving and complex surgeries.
Facilities
The Darwin Animal Doctors clinic is nestled on a commercial street, just 5 blocks back from the busy water-front fish market. The bottom floor of the building operates as the veterinary hospital, with a large room divided into an office, prep area, laboratory, pharmacy and operating theatre. Most consultations are conducted outside under a shaded area, generally in (broken) Spanish. The clinic has a microscope, haematology and biochemistry suite, but no further equipment for imaging is available. Supplies are generally donated by volunteers, yet the hospital is surprisingly well stocked for medications and equipment. The clinic does have a gaseous anaesthetic machine that runs on Sevoflurane, but surgeries are generally performed via injectable anaesthetic to keep costs down.
Volunteer Roles
Vets and Vet Nurses:
Volunteer vets and vet nurse are invaluable in the clinic. They are permitted to perform a similar role as in a western clinic, such as performing/monitoring surgery, running consults, performing diagnostics and dispensing medications. They also have an important role in teaching the many students that visit the clinic, and assisting with on-call.
Vets have clinical freedom the treat patients as they prefer, and use the surgical techniques they are most comfortable with- however more serious or challenging cases are often managed as a team. If you’d like to know more, read my interview with Justin and Stella about their experiences as head vets in the DAD clinic..
Vet and Nursing Students:
Students are welcome in the clinic, and get an invaluable chance to be a vital member of a small veterinary team. Vet students will have the chance to perform sterilisation surgeries on cats and dogs, under the direction and supervision of qualified vets. They will also have the freedom to perform consults and work up cases alongside the vets. Students will also gain experience building up other important clinical skills, such as anaesthetic monitoring, blood collection, IV catheter placement, calculating doses and giving injections.
Non-vets:
This is a clinical volunteering role, so its best suited to those with a background or strong interest in veterinary medicine. Unfortunately the clinic cannot accept non-veterinary volunteers.
Practical Information
Accomodation and Food
Accomodation is on-site, in the rooms above the clinic. The rooms contain bunk beds and are usually shared with others of the same gender, with bedding, towels and scrub tops provided. There is a bathroom with hot water and a small kitchen with facilities for cooking simple meals (ie. a kettle, a hot plate, a blender and a fridge). The rooms contain fans for keeping cool, and the clinic downstairs also has an air-conditioner. The clinic is also home to Stinky the cat, who has been known to demand attention at any time of the day (and occasionally night), so you can certainly get your fix of feline cuddles. The clinic is a 10 minute walk to the water-front and restaurants, and a 15 minute walk to the closest beach.
Longer term qualified volunteers may occasionally stay off-site in a small apartment, depending on availability.
Puerta Ayora is a very developed town by Ecuadorian standards. Most western food tastes can be catered for, including vegan. Restaurants serve everything from local fare, to burgers and sushi, so you are unlikely to experience issues finding a meal (but may have issues sticking to your food budget as there are so many choices). There are also a number of supermarkets where basic ingredients can be purchased for cooking at home, and a local farmers market twice weekly for affordable fruits and vegetables. Please note that certain comforts, such as peanut butter, pasta sauces and spices are fairly expensive here, so if you have a favorite it may be worth bringing it with you.
Working Hours
The clinic is open 5 days a week, and the team also covers on-call on evenings and weekends. As is typical for the region, the clinic opens in the morning (7:30am to 11:30am), closes for a long siesta, then re-opens in the late afternoon once the temperature has died down (4:00pm to 7:30pm). Typically, surgeries are performed in the morning, and most walk-in consultations take place in the afternoon.
Volunteers are expected to work 5 days a week and help with on-call on weekends on a shared rota. Its possible to arrange days off to allow you to travel to other islands or go on day trips, as long as the time away is approved with the head vet well in advance, to ensure that time off is shared equally between volunteers. Click here to read more about my top things to do see and eat during my time off on Isla Santa Cruz (Coming soon).
Location- Getting to the Shelter
Address: Calle Floreana, Barrio Acacias, Puerto Ayora, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
The Darwin Animal Doctors Clinic is located in the coastal town of Puerta Ayora, on the Island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands. Its less than a 10 minute walk from the Fish Market at the waterfront or from Baltra Avenue (the main commercial road), and can be reached on foot from anywhere in town. The google maps location is accurate, so you can use it to navigate there.
Here’s a map of Puerta Ayora to keep things simple! (courtesy of google maps)
To reach Puerta Ayora, its generally best to fly from either Quito or Guayaquil in mainland Ecuador to Seymour Airport on Baltra Islands (airport code GPS). From the airport, take a free bus to the ferry port at the Itabaca canal (there is only one road so you can’t get the wrong bus), cross the canal on a ferry ($0.80, 10 minutes), then take either a taxi (approx $25 per car) or a bus ($2 per person) across the island to Puerta Ayora. The bus may drop you at the bus terminal a little north of town- just walk down the hill for 10 minutes along the main road to reach the main business district. (All this may sound a little confusing, but trust me, practically every person on your flight will be heading into Puerta Ayora, meaning you can’t go wrong- just follow the crowds and joint the queue)
It is also possible to fly to Isla San Cristobal (airport code SCY), and take a ferry speed-boat ($30, 2-2.5hrs) to Puerta Ayora. However, keep in mind that you generally need to book ferry tickets in person at least a day before travel, meaning you would likely need to spend at least a night there before travelling to Isla Santa Cruz.
Further Information
If you’d like to know more about the Darwin Animal Doctors or to enquire about volunteering, please head to their website. You can also find them on facebook.
If you’d like to know what its really like to be a volunteer at DAD, check out my interview with head vets Justin and Stella, or read about the student experience with final year vet student Katelyn.
Leave a Reply