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August 2019
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The Land Settlement Agency (LSA) under Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, has collaborated with the School of Veterinary Medicine in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at UWI St Augustine to focus on animals in these areas. These communities, often located in remote and forested locations, are typically in close contact with the environment and more importantly with wildlife, many of which are carriers of infectious pathogens. The Marabella Trainline/Bayshore community was selected as a pilot study area to study the “One Health” through community engagement principle (One Health is a multidisciplinary, internationalist approach to health for people, animals and the environment. See UWI Today March 2014 https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/archive/march_2014/article17.asp). This community is located on the coastline adjacent to and within the mangrove. It is also located next to a middle income community at Marabella as shown in the map below. |
When it comes to rural and marginalised communities we tend to think about the welfare of the people – but what about their pets? Just as community members have to deal with the challenges and risks of country life, so do their animal companions.