Kyrenia Animal Rescue (KAR)
New Clinic Opens

By Margaret Sheard

On Wednesday 15th May, KAR were pleased to open the new clinic which is a project they have been working towards for a long time and the move to their new premises in Karakum gave ideal space for a clinic. Of course these things are costly and KAR and their supporters have been working very hard to raise the necessary funds to convert the space they now had at the new premises into a much needed clinic.  Diana Peek who has been a supporter of KAR for many years, has been very active with this particular project and has worked very hard to raise the donations needed to make this new clinic possible.

There were some people present who had arrived for the opening of the clinic and we all made our way down the stairs to the new clinic area. We had visited the offices a little while ago and saw the basement which was then a very large open area so we were very surprised and delighted to see the transformation of this area into separate units which are well kitted out and ready to receive animals for neutering, treatment etc. We wandered around the new facility admiring the way in which it has been laid out. There is an additional operating table awaiting delivery which should be arriving soon. We had noticed when we visited previously that there is a parking area at the rear of the building with a rear door entrance which is a great asset.

There was a plaque on the wall which is a thank you to all of the people who have contributed to making the clinic a reality. Margaret Ray thanked everyone for coming to the opening and made the following speech:

We asked you here to view our new KAR Veterinary Clinic facilities and to the unveiling of this plaque which has been placed on the wall as a thank you to those who have contributed to this Clinic.

Over two years ago, after yet another rise in veterinary prices causing a major drain on KAR financial resources and much deliberation on how we can cut costs, a dream of having our own veterinary clinic arose. A clinic to be used for the neutering and treatment of the dogs and cats found on the streets of Girne and surrounding areas as part of our neuter and release programme and in a bid to control the population of unwanted animals humanely.

Last November we moved into these new office premises in which a large open basement looked an ideal place for the clinic and the dream began to become a reality. Money was raised for partitions to be built and a group of volunteers were formed to continue to raise funds, source equipment and promote the clinic. A very kind donation of $1,000 from the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust paid for pieces of equipment and donations and support was rallied locally and from the UK. On 1st April a delivery from the UK brought us medical equipment and supplies and gradually we have been putting together the clinic that you can see today. We have been advised that more equipment and supplies are on their way from the UK over the next few weeks.

Our next step is to employ a qualified Veterinarian and hopefully find some experienced volunteers to help in the clinic and then neutering operations can begin. Of course we will need to continue to raise funds to finance the staffing costs and to purchase the medicines and supplies needed for the dogs and cats’ operations and treatments.

We have managed to reach this far thanks to all of you here today who have been working hard on this project and to those named on this plaque plus others who have given their support and very kind donations to make it all possible.

The one essential requirement is a full time Veterinarian and Margaret Ray said she is hoping that there may be a retired vet who would be happy to offer his services. So if there are any retired vets who would like to give KAR the benefit of their experience and help to look after all of those unwanted animals, Margaret would be very pleased to hear from them.