SAVMA PHCOC: Serving Island Dogs

By: Kelle Keyles

I am a student at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine currently doing my clinical

year at The Ohio State University. I have brought my love of the island animals and knowledge

of St. Kitts and Nevis’s severe lack of resources back stateside with me; I want to continue to

help support the animals of the island through many different facets. The first way is by sending

mostly donated supplies to St. Kitts and Nevis, having it be picked up by students or locals and

distributed to the local veterinary clinic. During my time on the island, which was almost 2 years

consecutively due to travel restrictions during COVID, I learned how the local clinic and

veterinary staff provide care to the local population. The entire clinic is run by one local woman

who is the technician and one veterinarian, with the addition of local volunteers from time to

time. It was a privilege to see first hand how they used minimal resources to cater to the local

animals in need.

My wife lived on the island with me and was hired by the first and only physical animal shelter

on the island. She worked as the foster and adoption coordinator and kennel attendant for about a

year which allowed us to take in some animals from the local clinic that were abandoned or

surrendered there. Once at the shelter we were able to get them into foster and adoptive homes.

The local animal population on St. Kitts and Nevis are severely underserved, often resulting in

owners having to surrender their pets. The stray population on the island is also very high and the

limited resources makes it difficult to control the population and get them proper medical care.

Veterinary care for small animals is already limited on the island as most of the local

veterinarians work with the agriculture department with the livestock and large animal

concerns.Since leaving the island for my clinical year at The Ohio State, I have been

brainstorming ways to continue to support the animals of St. Kitts and Nevis and help provide

them with veterinary essentials such as dog food, cat traps for spay/neutering feral cats, and

donated medications. In conjunction with sending down resources to the local veterinary clinic

on island, Ponds Veterinary Clinic, we have also been flying out puppies rescued from the streets

or abandoned at the local clinic We have partnered with a local vet student run rescue in Ohio, as

well as a Ross Alumni who works for a rescue in Pennsylvania . These are the two primary

locations our island dogs go when they come to the states. We have imported a total of 14 dogs

so far to the United States and we continue to keep contacts and options open for transporting

more dogs in the future.

I am able to continue to supply resources to the local clinic and continue to fly dogs off island

with the collaboration of Ross University Veterinary students on island. They help by

volunteering at the local clinic, picking up packages and pallets sent down, as well as fostering

and being flight buddies for dogs being flown off island. Students have been fundamental in our

ability to provide more assistance to the island while living in America. Students coordinate with

us to rescue and provide them with health care and a foster home, as well as prepare them for a

flight to one of the rescues we partner with. Students have been willing to help pick up shipments

from customs and distribute them to the local clinic and local community members in need. We

hope that with each experience they have learned that there are ways to continue to help the

island even from America that they will be inspired to do the same when they leave. St Kitts and

Nevis is a beautiful country, with some of the greatest people and they deserve to be able to

provide their animals with the best medical care. The stray animals living on the street deserve

loving homes and access to adequate medical care too. We are proud to still remain a part of the

community of students and locals that help the animals on the island and will always work

towards growing and changing for the better for them. We have since started a non-profit to

continue our support of animals and locals on the island, called Penelopes Rescue Mission.