Vets Beyond Borders at agriculture fair

A Kisan Mela or agricultural fair, was recently held in Gangtok. This 3 day event was attended by 3000 farmers and for the first time the Sikkim Anti-Rabies & Animal Health (SARAH) programme was invited to hold a stall presenting ideas about its project in Sikkim.

Prior to the Kisan Mela SARAH staff busily created posters & presentations on animal birth control , rabies & the benefit of caring for all animals. The brightly coloured display attracted a large crowd and SARAH veterinarians Dr Thinlay, Dr Karma, Dr Jayanto, Dr Phurba and Dr Shams utilised the chance to promote SARAH. They informed farmers about the importance of anti rabies vaccination for their animals. Colourful posters written in the nepali language giving advice on preventing rabies and what to do if bitten by a dog were handed out to the public.

Dr Karma gave a demonstration of animal birth control (ABC) surgery. The Chief Minister of Sikkim (head of Sikkim) enthusiastically watched the surgery and praised all SARAH staff for their hard work. The Chief Minister was amazed that the project had performed more than 12,000 sterilisation and 22,000 anti rabies vaccinations throughout the state of Sikkim.

The Kisan Mela was an outstanding success and a fabulous opportunity for SARAH to raise awareness about rabies and animal welfare.

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