Wildlife & Habitat

UPDATE:  2011 Jun 19 

We have sent the
veterinary supplies!

We all used our credit cards to do this,  but we are still $1,220 short!

Please help us pay this bill!
And become a direct supporter of veterinarians in the Galapagos, who are giving their hearts and souls to help the local domestic and wild animals who need  urgent care and food! 

Three pallets packed with 37 crates and 1200 pounds of critically-needed veterinary supplies have now been sent from JFK Airport in New York to the Galapagos Islands for immediate use by local veterinarians! 

 We will keep you updated on their distribution and use, both on this site and our On Wings Of Care Facebook page!

The unique Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador in South America, are one of the most important remaining natural ecosystems on Earth.  But the wildlife here are in extreme danger from a threat so common and preventable you will be shocked -- stray cats and dogs! Thousands of homeless stray dogs and cats roam the area hungry and hunting for food.  These strays are starving and, because few if any of them are neutered, they are producing more offspring doomed to starve.  They have not been vaccinated and many of them need treatment for chronic injuries or disease.  And, in their natural drive to stay alive, they are hunting and killing precious endangered wildlife who do not have sufficient protection, natural or from the Park, from these unnatural predators. There is little or no funding available from local governments to support the responsible rescue, support, or neutering of these strays, and Park funding is not available to these domestics. So local veterinarians and their trained volunteers have taken this critical task on themselves, relying on donations for much-needed medicines, supplies, and equipment such as cages and specialized hospital equipment.   We at On Wings Of Care support this objective strongly, and we aim to help these wise and generous veterinarians all we can.

Since last summer, On Wings Of Care has been helping volunteers from the United States collect items most urgently needed by these veterinarians in the Galapagos.  With the help of the nonprofit organization Darwin Animal Doctors based in the Galapagos (DAD; see also their facebook page here) and generous guidance from shipping gurus at SeaRose International, we have organized and packed more than 1200 pounds of supplies into 37 crates.  They are all bound and shrink-wrapped and sitting on three large pallets (each  42" x 48" x 60") at the Compass shipping depot at JFK Airport in New York, ready for shipment to the Galapagos, where veterinarians are eager to receive and put it all to immediate use.  SeaRose found a non-stop flight for us from JFK to Guayaquil, Ecuador which will take all of these crates for a total cost of $2,495.  Air shipment is preferred over sea because it costs only a couple hundred dollars more, is much faster (one day vs several weeks), and offers much better logistics for receipt of the supplies in Ecuador and transport to the Galapagos.  

So that is our challenge:  We need to raise $2495 as soon as possible, and put these supplies on the airplane to the Galapagos!

STAY TUNED as we post where we are toward raising these funds! 

Following are some more photos as well as videos of work done by these selfless, dedicated veterinarians.  For even more than are provided here, check out these youtube links. You'll see veterinarians from the U.S. and Ecuador showing each other how to use and applying some of the new equipment that Darwin Animal Doctors brought to them last October and which are waiting now in New York for us to ship to them.  Many of these are types of equipment and veterinary supplies that have never been seen in the Galapagos.  They are prized highly and will be of immense use there, especially with the new veterinary infrastructure being set up there with the help of DAD and other organizations.

Read more: Veterinary supplies to the Galapagos