14 Sept 2022
More than 100 UK vets and nurses have already volunteered to help the project, which aims to neuter 300 dogs in the war-torn Bosnian town.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Lawrence Dodi and Rachel Nixon are fund-raising to run a neuter clinic in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A pair of record-breaking, globetrotting vets are planning to lead a team to neuter hundreds of homeless dogs in a war-torn Bosnian town.
Rachel Nixon said she and her husband Lawrence Dodi have had a “remarkable” response from both UK and locally based vets to their appeal for the Green Valley Dogs shelter in Srebrenica.
The couple are now fund-raising via the GoFundMe platform to run a neuter clinic in the town – where more than 8,000 men and boys were massacred in 1995 – this autumn.
Miss Nixon said local leaders’ focus on fixing infrastructure following the war means the shelter is run solely on donations.
Miss Nixon added: “The aim is to neuter all dogs at the shelter and in the surrounding area (approximately 300 dogs) over a two-week period. We feel this will have a major impact on the community and veterinary public health.
“We have had a remarkable amount of support from the Bosnia-Herzegovina Small Animal Veterinary Association and also from the UK veterinary community, with more than 100 UK vets and nurses contacting us to volunteer their time to assist with the project.
“We will likely have a team of 6 to 10 vets and nurses from the UK, and some Bosnian veterinary surgeons will also be involved.”
Around £1,220 of their £3,000 target has been raised so far and Miss Nixon said donations of supplies are also welcome.
The couple are no strangers to fund-raising, having set off from Liverpool on their Overlanding Ambulance challenge, in aid of Vetlife and Anthony Nolan, last October.
They have now travelled more than 20,000km, setting a new Guinness World Record for the longest journey in an ambulance along the way.
But continuing COVID restrictions in some countries, as well as effects of the war in Ukraine, have had an impact. Miss Nixon said the couple are now planning to head back to the UK over the coming months.
She added: “Rather than shipping the ambulance to North America from Russia, we will instead ship it from the UK.
“We plan to drive from Canada to Ushuaia in Argentina (the Pan-American Highway), before finishing the journey in Liverpool, Uruguay, meaning we will have travelled from Liverpool, UK to Liverpool, Uruguay.”
