Te
Are Manu is the only vet clinic in the Cook Islands and it's now a
busy, well-equipped place.
But
it didn't start out that way.
In
July 2017 we leased a building behind the Ministry of Agriculture in
Arorangi.
Cook
Islands Investment Corporation did a great job of cleaning and
painting our new clinic.
The
back yard needed clearing of discarded rubbish.
Volunteers
and board members put together donated shelves and sanded and painted
second-hand cupboards and tables.
We
also had an operating table and trolleys to be assembled.
Early
volunteer vets and vet nurses organised the supplies that were now
coming in.
The
Te Are Manu sign on the main road showed we were getting ready for
business.
Donated
vet supplies were now arriving from clinics overseas, mainly in New
Zealand.
A
washing machine, dryer and fridge were donated by previous Rarotonga
residents now living in New Zealand.
Although
we weren't yet officially open we had our first furry patient.
Pinot
Gris came along for a check up and de-flea.
On
13 October 2017 we had our official opening ...
and
after a rousing imene tuki, board chairman Trish Barton and board
members asked Tinomana Ariki, the ariki of Puaikura, and Taamo
Heather, the landowner representative, to cut the ei.
We
were now officially up and running.
The
Aronga Mana of Puaikura nominated Te Are Manu for a Village Pride
award.
We
put our $1500 prize towards buying a van for the clinic.
The
back of the room was organised into an office space and a work space.
The
main purpose of our clinic is to look after sick animals
and
our operating theatre was well-set up for this.
Many
generous vet clinics overseas have given us equipment that's surplus
to their needs.
Our
volunteer vets and vet nurses make full use of the theatre.
Our
lovely new operating theatre was originally set up by CareVet
for
the SPCA dog de-sexing team and is now fully functional.
Dr
Sean Owens and Dr Jessica Sanchez from the University of California
at Davis have set up a diagnostic lab to help detect parasites in
animals.
Te
Are Manu doesn't work in a vacuum.
We
assisted Aitutaki Vet Trek, an American group, including two vets and
two vet nurses, travelling to Aitutaki for a cat de-sexing programme.
They've gone two years in a row, 2018 and 2019.
We
also work closely with the Cook Islands SPCA – Te Are Manu is the
vet clinical side and SPCA is the animal rescue and shelter side.
Whenever
we have enough volunteers Te Are Manu sets up a stall at the Saturday
morning market.
This
means people can meet our volunteers and learn about our services.
And
we bring along kittens and Sonny the clinic dog - always popular,
especially with children.
The
yard at the back of the clinic has always been a place for our dogs
to play and especially clinic dog Sonny who mentors young pups
spending the day with us.
In
July 2018 we started building a kennel for our recovering animals –
cats as well as dogs – to make things less stressful (and smelly)
for everybody.
The
kennel is now in use and can be accessed directly from the new
operating theatre.
We
couldn't do all this without our volunteers.
The
vets and vet nurses come from all over the world, mainly New Zealand
and Australia but we've also had people from England, Ireland, all
parts of Europe, the United States and even Singapore. It's a real
united nations.
They
are all dedicated professionals willing to donate their time and
expertise to help our furry friends here in the Cook Islands.
Meitaki
maata – thank you all very much.
