Current Recipients

Arkansas Native Plant and Wildlife Center-Mena, Arkansas is the home to Tommy Young and his rehabilitation Center. Tommy has a degree in Ornithology from Cornell University and is a Federal and Arkansas State licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Working with Dr. Sandy Hatch and Veterinary Technician Corbert Deary, Tommy has successfully rehabilitated birds of prey, bear cubs, deer, fox, skunk and other native Arkansas species. For those animals that are not able to be released back into the wild, the center will provide lifelong care.

AWARE Trust-Dr. Keith Dutlow and Dr. Lisa Marabini are the motivation and work force behind this Zimbabwean conservation trust. Founded in 2004, AWARE Trust focuses on the welfare of wildlife and the conservation of wildlife habitats. They do this through rehabilitation of injured wild animals, prophylactic care of domesticated animals living in poverty-stricken areas interfacing with wildlife conservation areas, research and education.

Karanambu Trust- In 1997 Diane McTurk and her family started the Karanambu Trust in the Rupununi, Guyana. The trust is dedicated to preserving the fragile ecosystem, wildlife and the traditional lifestyle of the indigenous Amerindians of the Rupununi river. Of special interest in this area is the Giant Otter. Dr. Lucy Spelman is now working with the trust to create a “one-health” program.

Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project-Led by Executive Director and veterinarian Mike Cranfield, this group was established in 1986 at the request of Diane Fossey. Their mission is to protect the remaining population of Mountain Gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Their work is primarily done in the field, trekking to the gorillas in the mountainous rain forests. The MGVP is also raising four orphaned infant mountain gorillas and six Grauer’s gorillas. Working in conjunction with MGVP is the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. A Denver, Colorado based nonprofit started by Ruth Keesling. Currently, the group helps expand the veterinary programs offered to local Ugandans and Rwandans so that they can protect their indigenous wildlife, especially Mountain Gorillas.

Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary-Located on a 100 acre island in Lake Victoria just offshore from Entebbe, Uganda this Sanctuary is home to approximately 45 chimpanzees ranging from 2 to 25 years old. These chimps were orphaned when their mothers were killed, either for the bushmeat trade or for their babies, who could be stolen and sold on the black market.

Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)-PASA created its first sanctuary in 1974 and currently has 18 sanctuary members in 12 African countries. Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, one of our earliest recipient organizations, is a member of PASA. These sanctuaries are caring for more than 850 chimps, 85 gorillas and almost 3000 other endangered primates. Each facility has their own veterinarian or group of veterinarians and they are all working to support the conservation and care of African primates.

Piyara Kutta-Deb Jarrett founded Piyara Kutta in 2008 after a trip to Dharamsala, India. There, she befriended an injured street dog named Tommy who led her to Arvind Sharma, Dr Sujay Sharma and the Himalayan Nature Society. The group created a shelter to help treat, sterilize and vaccinate the wild dogs of the community against rabies. They are also working to educate the community about animal health and welfare and its relationship to human health.

Tanzania Animal Welfare Society-Founded in April of 2008, TAWESO has already been making a huge impact on the way people in Tanzania view and treat domestic and wild animals. As one of their first projects, they spent over a year working with the Tanzanian Government to draft and pass the Animal Welfare Act of 2008. Executive Director, Dr. Thomas Kahema, and his volunteer staff are presently working out of a small shelter in Dar es salaam, providing veterinary care to primarily dogs and cats, while educating the community about animal care and zoonotic diseases. They also have plans for a donkey welfare project in Dodoma.

Tsunami Animal-People Alliance-In 2004 a devastating Tsunami swept through Sri Lanka, leaving thousands of people and animals displaced. Because of this displacement, as well as the lack of food and water, the threat of rabies soared. Local NGO’s and independent animal welfare activists joined together in March of 2005 to form what has become TAPA. Their field sterilization clinic travels within the tsunami disaster zone and refugee camps providing veterinary care, rabies vaccination and sterilization to community owned animals, privately owned animals and strays. To date they have performed over 25,000 sterilization surgeries and have improved the human-animal bond! 

VIDAS-This non-profit organization was created to improve animal health and welfare in some of the poorest areas of the world. VIDAS currently funds 2-3 free clinics per year in Mexico for vaccination, safe sterilization and parasite control in cats and dogs. They also are educating the communities about safe animal handling, zoonotic diseases and general animal husbandry. To date they have sterilized nearly 5000 dogs and cats!

Visakha Society for Protection and Care of Animals-Located in Andhra Pradesh, India, the VSPCA is a sanctuary for dogs, cats, cows, horses, buffalo, birds, turtles and other small animals. VSPCA started in 1996 in the city of Visahapatnam. They work primarily here and the surrounding areas, although as the numbers of animals needing treatment increase, they are branching out into to several other districts in Andhra Pradesh.

Are you an organization that could use our help?

We are interested in learning more about you and how we can help. Please download  ProjectVETS Request Form word.doc and email it to us at info@projectvets.org.