Page 17 - April-June 2024 Edition

| ANIMAL WELFARE FEATURE
By Meg Hilbert Jaquay
Co-Founder, Uniquely Paws Ltd

“THE VITAL
AND
UNIQUE INTERCONNECTION:
ANIMAL WELFARE
Dick & Rosie Stockley
AS THE Meg Hilbert Jaquay
BEDROCK OF PUBLIC HEALTH” (You can see George here, one of Meg’s
dogs, with the first rabies collar of its kind in
If you are an animal lover, keep reading. Uganda: Photo courtesy of Meg Jaquay)
Even if you are not, keep reading. Taking
care of the overpopulation of our stray dogs
and cats is important to all of us living in
Uganda.
DISEASE DYNAMICS IN UGANDA:
One of the most tangible intersections of
animal protection and public health lies in
the realm of zoonotic diseases – those that
can be transmitted between animals and
humans.
Take rabies, for example – a lethal virus often
transmitted through the bite of an infected
animal. By protecting domestic animals
from rabies, we not only shield them from a
dreadful fate but also create a robust barrier
against the transmission of this fatal disease So, where did Sue and Meg come up with
to humans through bites, and we do not this idea to start Uniquely Paws? Well,
want one more person dying of a rabies bite fortunately or unfortunately, Meg has been
in Uganda. Animal vaccination programs, a the recipient of over 200 “over the wall”
cornerstone of animal protection, serve as a puppies in her compound in the 10+ years
proactive defense mechanism against she has been living in Uganda, in fact 19 in
these zoonotic threats. But it’s not affordable one month. So, seeing this as a bit of a
for the 1Million+ domestic animals here in crisis in her neighborhood, she raised
Uganda, but there is a solution. money to sponsor a free community spay
and neuter clinic in her area, in partnership
Have you seen the new, yellow dog collars in with the Uganda Society for the Protection
your neighborhood yet? This new initiative, and Care of Animals(USPCA), and within
created and funded by Uniquely Paws Ltd, a months, the number of puppies
non-profit based in the USA, and run by our abandoned at her gate reduced to nearly
very own Meg Hilbert Jaquay and Sue zero, so something worked. Then, she met
Williams, is called The Yellow Collar Initiative. Sue as a volunteer from the USPCA, and
For every dog that receives a rabies both being from NY, they realized their
vaccination in Uganda, they receive a interests and passions around women’s
yellow collar, each with a unique registration rights and animal welfare deserved a larger
platform, and so Uniquely Paws Ltd was
number on it, indicating that the animal has formed in 2022. And to date, Uniquely Paws
received a rabies vaccine, in which district clinics have served 2,563 animals, and
the dog lives (1 is for Kampala, 2 is Wakiso, performed 425 spay and neuter surgeries.
and so on), and the year they first received For every female dog who is NOT spayed,
their collar. These collars are made in there is the potential for that mama dog to
Uganda by Leopards Branch in Lubowa. give birth to 40 puppies in 2 years.

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