Volunteers in Action

Working for Kosovo’s Veterinary Services
By Angela Griep

UNV Philip Deng is Veterinary Officer. Working with Kosovo Veterinary Services he is responsible for vaccination programs and other measures to prevent diseases in livestock that fall under the responsibility of the government. “At the moment we are monitoring the yearly vaccination against rabies”, explains the 41 years old Sudanese about his current work.

Under UNMIK, the veterinary system in Kosovo has been reorganized from a state dominated system into a more efficient structure that gives the animal owner more responsibility over the health of their pets or livestock. The veterinary services don’t take care of all kind of disease that might infect livestock or pets – the government is mainly responsible for epidemics that seriously affect either the health and production of high numbers of livestock, or the health of Kosovo’s population. “Rabies for example can be extremely dangerous for humans”, stresses the veterinary. “Carriers of this virus infection that often leads to death, are foxes. Those animals come in close contact with dogs easily. And the dogs might bite their owner – that’s why we have the yearly vaccination for dogs.”

Vaccinations against rabies started in 2002. The program is being implemented in all 30 municipalities in Kosovo. “We went to the villages to vaccinate dogs and register the animals and their owners. The registration process is important, because it ensures that vaccinations are up to date when this particular vaccination becomes the responsibility of the dog owner in 2004. “At the moment we are working on the legal frame work”, says Philip. “For example it is illegal not to have an insurance for your car and it is going to be illegal not to get your dog vaccinated against rabies. This is how it is done in most European countries.”

This year the government still pays for the vaccination. Private veterinaries are contracted to implement the program in the villages. “We are only monitoring them”, points Philip out. “That means we are going to the municipalities and villages to visit dog owners and to confirm vaccination, to find out if the treatment was for free and to see if everything is properly filled in.” If the work was not done correctly the UNV meets the veterinary with his findings. “It can always happen that for example the veterinary forgets to give the pills against Echinococcus”, says Philip, “When you have to vaccinate 50 dogs a day, you might forget something. Our general experience with the private veterinaries is quite good.”

Philip has a list of all diseases that fall into his responsibility. He only puts his hand on an animal himself if a new case of these diseases, like Foot- and Mouth disease, Bluetongue, Swine Fever, Rabies, Tuberculosis etc. is reported. To collect evidence if he is dealing with one of these diseases, he goes into the field and takes samples from the infected animal. The moment the laboratory confirms the outbreak of the illness, immediate measures are taken to avoid its spread. “But for prevention programs the local veterinaries do the actual work with the animal”, highlights Philip.

Most of the work of Kosovo Veterinary Services is in the process of being handed over to the local staff. “Recently I am mostly working in minority regions”, says Philip. “Most other regions are taken over by the local staff.”

The UNV enjoys his work for UNMIK. “It is very interesting to carry out all these different programs”, he states. “I also learn a lot here. For example there are some diseases, we don’t have in Sudan. Like swine fever – since we don’t have pigs, I never came in contact with the disease before.” The veterinary worked for several NGOs in his home country and in Egypt before he came to Kosovo as a UNV. “I enjoy interacting with different people in different environments”, he says. “Coming from Sudan with all its different ethnic groups and languages it is always easy for me to adjust to a new situation.”

For more information please contact:

Angela Griep, UNV Public Information Officer, UNMIK, Email griep@un.org, or
Chrsitine Botejue-Kyle, UNV Programme Manager, UNMIK, Email botejue-kyle@un.org