Dr Ben Odbert, Rachel Hattersley and Dr Sarah Hayes.
Volunteer Work In India Inspires Cambridge Vet
10 months ago 
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A passion for caring for animals has seen a local vet travel halfway around the world in a once-in-a-lifetime volunteering experience.
Rachel Hattersley, head of theatre at Linnaeus-owned DWR Veterinary Specialists in Six Mile Bottom, near Cambridge, spent two busy weeks in India, working alongside local vets and two of her veterinary colleagues Dr Sarah Hayes and Dr Ben Odbert, as part of the volunteering programme run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS).
She was based at the WVS Hicks Centre in Goa and her volunteering work included helping to train Indian vets in neutering, performing these surgeries herself with the team at the centre, reading x-rays and meeting clients and treating patients in the clinic.
Rachel also carried out more complex surgeries such as hernia repairs, skin grafts, abdominal surgeries such as foreign body removals and removal of urinary stones and amputations for patients with complex fractures which could not be fixed with the available equipment at the centre.
Rachel said: “The centre is an incredibly impressive operation, with dedicated and experienced vets, coordinated by head vet Dr Stacy Sequiera, working tirelessly to look after the many animals that come in from the streets, the wider community and also pet animals and those being fed within the community.
“It was a great experience to be able to support the team and see the way vets operate in other countries with limited resources such as drugs and surgical equipment.
“The charity does amazing work to support people and animals on the ground. I hope to be able to visit again to help to provide further training for this wonderful team.”
While at the centre, Rachel and Dr Ben Odbert also delivered a two-day course for local Goan vets on emergency surgery, including hands-on surgical training in some techniques. Daily teaching sessions were also held with the team within the centre on some of the more complex surgical techniques.
The WVS Hicks centre has three main aims within its ethos: practical surgical training of Indian veterinary surgeons from across the region, population control and rabies vaccination within Goa, and the provision of veterinary care to the local population.
The WVS works around the globe to care for vulnerable animals, including sending vital aid parcels, delivering veterinary training to raise the standard of care locally, and mobilising vets on the ground.
Dr Hayes is currently undertaking a post-doctorate following her PhD on rabies epidemiology and works at the University of Oxford. Dr Odbert is a veterinary surgeon in Devon where he sees both farm animal and companion animal cases.
DWR Veterinary Specialists offers specialist-led care in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, diagnostic pathology, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, interventional radiology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and soft tissue surgery.
For more information on DWR Veterinary Specialists, visit www.dickwhitereferrals.com or search for DWR Veterinary Specialists on social media.
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