Pacific Partnership 2024-2 Conducts Side-by-Side with Veterinarians in Legazpi, Philippines

Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)

By: MC1 Ryan D. McLearnon

Legazpi, Philippines (Aug. 15, 2024) – The Pacific Partnership 2024-2’s (PP24-2) veterinary team hosted five spay and neuter clinics in the Albay region during the PP24-2 mission stop in Legazpi, Philippines, Aug. 5-9.

As a side-by-side public health capacity building effort, the spay and neuter clinic was achieved through regional and international collaboration that provided pet health services to the community while also providing local veterinary students valuable training opportunities.

“We’ve got a week long spay and neuter going right now,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jeffrey Helfrich, chief veterinary planner for PP24-2 in the Philippines. “This is in conjunction with the city veterinary office of Legazpi, City, in partnership with the Republic of Korea, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local Albay region vets.”

The clinic was focused on animal population control to reduce the spread of disease and provided spay and neuter services as well as rabies vaccinations.

This operation was designed to simulate and test response procedures in the event of a natural disaster or in a humanitarian type mission.

“In the event of some natural disaster, we would hope to organize the veterinary community together to provide care to the pets as well as for any stray animals running around,” added Helfrich.

Dr. Grace L. Mae Collada, a veterinarian in Legazpi and a volunteer at one of the events, mentioned that the experience of integrating for an operation like this was not only a great training opportunity for her but it was actually beneficial to the community as well.

“Most pet owners here don’t actually have the finances to provide to the pets to be spayed or neutered,” said Collada. “This causes problems with the population and creates increasing numbers of stray dogs and cats which in turn increase the number of rabid animals.”

Rabies remains a significant public health concern in the Philippines, ranking sixth globally for rabies cases in 2023, with the department of health recording 89 cases in the 1st quarter of 2024.

Maria Anna B. Daet, a Legazpi City resident, showed up early to have her pets spayed and neutered and expressed her gratitude to the organizations.

“It’s a big help to us, especially for the pet owners because we will not be paying for the castration or spaying of our animals,” said Daet. “It’s a big help for us, especially to the U.S. Navy, thank you so much for sponsoring this event.”

While the focus of the effort between the U.S., Republic of Korea and host nation veterinarians and veterinary assistants was on integration and not solely to treat as many strays as possible; they did make an impact.

Speaking from the podium at the closing ceremony of PP24-2 in the Philippines, Capt. Daniel Keeler, PP24-2 mission commander said, “We held 5 veterinary events where 281 cats and dogs were seen for surgery and vaccinations in partnership with the Legazpi City Veterinary Office, partner nations and veterinary students.”

Individual projects like this are tailored to the specific needs and requests of each host
nation. This approach prioritizes regional engagements that focus on building human
connections, bolstering host nation capacity for managing non-traditional threats.

Now in its 20th iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.

Pacific Partnership 2024-2 will conduct mission stops in Vietnam and the Federal States of Micronesia.

For more information about Pacific Partnership visit, www.clwp.navy.mil/Pacific-Partnership.
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