September 2005
November 2005
Heroes to Animals 2005
February 2006
April 8, 2006
April 24, 2006
May 2006
The Millicent Martinez Kondracke Scholarship
June 9, 2006
July 6, 2006
August 30, 2006
October, 2006
November, 2006
January 16, 2007
April 18, 2007
July 2007
October 2007

February 2006

As Valentine’s Day approaches, PATH is pleased to announce that we have found our soul mate – a partnership that is truly a match made in heaven for the animals of Nicaragua! Just weeks ago PATH formalized a partnership with the veterinary medicine school at Universidad de Ciecias Comerciales in Managua. PATH and UCC will join forces to provide Nicaragua with a comprehensive, sustainable and humane solution to one of our hemisphere’s most distressing animal welfare emergencies.

UCC opened its veterinary school in 2003 – and the first class of veterinarians and veterinary technicians will graduate in 2007. The program, directed by Doctor Enrique Rimbaud is as committed to the people of Nicaragua as it is to the country’s animals. Last year Dr. Rimbaud led his students into the communities of rural Nicaragua no less than 10 times. For many of these communities the clinics provided by UCC were the only veterinary care available during the year. Though desperately short of supplies and funds the UCC students treated more than 3,000 animals last year.

Beginning next month UCC professors and students will have unlimited access to PATH’s clinic in Granada. PATH has also (and will continue to) provided UCC and its students with the equipment, supplies and funding that will allow the school to significantly raise its capacity for care this year. In addition, visiting PATH veterinarians will work side-by-side with the professors and students of UCC in Managua, Granada and rural Nicaragua.

PATH and UCC will also work together in both humane education and conservation education to provide the children and adults of Nicaragua with a range of educational programs. These programs will include presenting humane education to children in public and private schools, as well as occupational training and vocational opportunities to individuals dependent on poaching for their livelihoods. To meet PATH’s increased responsibilities in the country we have hired three staff people. Humane Education Coordinator Gabriela Rivera, Lic. and Conservation Education Coordinator Nohelia Zepeda, Lic. will be based in Managua.
Veterinarian Pedro Caballero, Lic. will work out of PATH’s Granada clinic.

PATH has set up two scholarship programs for veterinary and veterinary technician students unable to attend UCC due to lack of financial resources. These scholarships -The Millicent Martinez Kondracke Scholarship in honor of PATH board member Andrea Kondracke’s late mother, and The Don E. Overton Scholarship, in honor of my late father - will provide compassionate animal-loving students the opportunity to attend the programs at UCC.

Students enjoying a humane education lesson in Granada.

PATH is also excited to announce that Pria Rai, MA, MPA has been chosen to chair PATH’s board of directors for 2006. Ms. Rai, a founding PATH board member, is passionately committed to working towards a world where people and animals live free of violence, fear and deprivation. Everyone at PATH is pleased to have Ms. Rai as our leader. Please join me in congratulating her.

One of the biggest hurdles to providing care and comfort to the sick and injured animals in Nicaragua is the shortage of needed veterinary supplies. The supplies that are available in the country are often very expensive. Andover Coated Products has very generously committed to providing PATH with needed veterinary wrap and bandaging for 2006. One day after Andover employee Marcia Cate expressed her company’s desire to help us with our efforts in Nicaragua - a very large box arrived at PATH’s Cambridge office. The box came from Andover Coated Products and contained an amazing selection of the highest quality bandaging materials available. We thank Marcia and Andover Coated Products for the support and compassion – their donated products promise hundreds of animals safe and infection- free recoveries from injuries and surgery.

PATH, UCC and our supporters are making great strides toward reducing the suffering of animals within Nicaragua. Our efforts are only beginning – literally hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of animals live in unimaginable agony within the country. Working with our partners, PATH is addressing the root causes of Nicaragua’s animal welfare problems. PATH is providing the facilities, supplies and funding, as well as vocational and educational opportunities necessary to make a lasting sustainable impact for the animals of Nicaragua. We are only beginning – there is so much left to do. The following photographs of two separate working horses need no explanation.

PATH needs your support. We are limited in the number of animals we can help only by available resources. In other words, the greater our resources, the more animals we can help. We need your continued financial support. We need donations of American Airlines Advantage miles. We need veterinarians to donate equipment and supplies they can do without. Please consider helping us bring comfort and love to these and other suffering animals.

Finally, I want to thank Walter Wickersham and Liz Hartman for their assistance prior to and during my recent trip to Nicaragua. I also want to thank Steven Gruber for his continued guidance and input. Thank you all!

Sincerely,

Kelly Overton, MPH
Executive Director
People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc.
43 Wendell Street
Suite 4
Cambridge, MA 02138
www.ppath.org Phone (617) 354-2826
animalpath@aol.com Fax (617) 354-2919