ABSTRACT: The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad [SPANA) is a leading UK-based charity that for the past 88 years has supported animal welfare in some of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world through a combination of veterinary treatment, education programmes, professional training and emergency projects.

Committed to working alongside and supporting people for whom a fit and healthy working animal is an essential to their livelihoods – and often their lives.

Here, we highlight the core elements of the work SPANA undertakes – activities that are making a real difference to vulnerable people each and every day.

Worldwide veterinary work

SPANA is well known for the veterinary work that it carries out worldwide, offering free treatment and improving animal welfare through owner education, professional training and replacing equipment.

Based in eight less-developed countries in North Africa and the Middle East, SPANA carried out more than 382,000 treatments and interventions in 2010. It has a network of permanent centres in the region, supplemented by mobile clinics that travel long distances to reach isolated communities. Whether visiting a village high in the mountains, a souk on the edges of the Sahara or a remote Middle Eastern encampment, SPANA vets endeavour to reach sick and injured working animals in need and return them to health.

Since 1923, SPANA has been working in some of the poorest countries in the world, tirelessly giving working animals vital treatment which relieves suffering and supports the livelihoods of some of the worlds poorest communities…

SPANA teach children at their education centre in Morocco

Emergency programme

When conflict or natural disaster strikes, poorer communities are often the most vulnerable. For many in the developing world, the loss of working animals and livestock can be the catalyst for a catastrophic collapse in health and economic well-being. Once a family loses its only means of generating income, a bad situation can become rapidly worse. SPANAs Emergency programme supports livelihoods and helps communities recover by intervening quickly to prevent the loss of livestock and working animals, the organisation works in the most challenging conditions, striving to get essential help to people and animals in desperate need. SPANA has recently delivered a feed programme in East Africa, protecting a nucleus of livestock through the drought in order to give pastoralist communities a chance of a life once the rains return.

Vets treat donkey wounds in Mauritania

Education programme

Central to SPANAs mission is educating the animal owners of tomorrow about the importance of animal welfare. As the charity has grown, so has its education programme. The programme is based on the concept of humane education, which encourages children to respect all living creatures to develop empathy and compassion for them. Today, SPANA’s education programme is active in all of the African and Middle Eastern countries in which the charity has permanent centres.

Volunteering programme

In addition to SPANA’s education programme, the charity also runs a volunteering programme in Morocco. The vet students here, as well as in other countries where the organisation operates, carry out practical training with the SPANA staff. These programmes are more formalised in Morocco, where all Moroccan vet students have to spend three weeks with SPANA as part of their course. This ensures that all students qualify with practical experience of equine veterinary care.

For more information on SPANA, visit www.spana.org, or www.facebook.com/spanacharity. 

Diana Hulme education director at SPANA in a Mali classroom with educational materials created by SPANA

Author

Dan Tickle

Dan was recently appointed director of communications at SPANA, following a varied career in PR and communications across the voluntary sector. As head of communications at The Blue Cross he was responsible for promoting the work of the charity's veterinary programme across all media. At SPANA he has a similar rote, although now with a global remit.

To cite this article use either

DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2012.00159.x or Veterinary Nursing Journal Vol 27 pp 152-153

Veterinary Nursing Journal • VOL 27 • April 2012 •