#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. Meet Méli-Jade Léveillé-Blais, an Animal Health Advisor who spent three months in Kenya (May–August 2025) with our local partner, Meru Dairy, training farmers, building local leadership, and strengthening community resilience through better dairy practices.
The Patron Pet Center in Kyiv has grown from a handful of kennels into one of Ukraine’s most advanced animal welfare facilities, providing care for injured and abandoned animals from frontline areas. They recently unveiled a new cat wing offering veterinary care, socialization, and adoption support. We spoke with former director Iryna Podvoyska about the center’s growth, challenges, and vision for the future.
To mark World Rabies Day (September 28), VWB has teamed up with six animal health partners across Canada, and with one on-the-ground partner in Ukraine, to host free animal vaccination clinics aimed at halting the spread of rabies and other preventable diseases. VWB is also hosting a free rabies-focused webinar on Sept. 29.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. Meet Maddalena Jacobson, an Animal Health Advisor who spent three months in Kenya (May–August 2025) with our local partner, Wakulima Dairy, strengthening dairy management practices and supporting women farmers to build more resilient livelihoods.
Watch a replay of our World Rabies Day webinar which explored how One Health approaches are driving change, shared practical insights from the frontlines of rabies prevention, and highlighted how local efforts are contributing to the global goal of ending human rabies deaths by 2030.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate volunteers from the field. Meet Dayo Olaniyan, a Gender Advisor who spent three months in Ghana (May–August 2025) with our local partner, GAPNET, strengthening gender equity in livestock production and empowering rural communities.
In this edition of Ask an Expert, we connected with Dr. Richard Rusk, a public health physician and clinician who grew up in South Africa and is now based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With expertise in the epidemiology of infectious and vector-borne diseases, he brings both human and animal clinical experience, along with a systems-level perspective, to addressing challenges facing communities in Canada and around the world.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. This blog was written by Kayla Williams, a Veterinary Student and Animal Health Advisor who supported our VETS partner, the Apex Body of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex), in Ghana from May to August 2025.
VWB wrapped up its fifth Animals & Ales Pet Photo Fundraiser Contest in partnership with six breweries.
This article examines why integrating One Health into humanitarian response is essential for protecting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems. Drawing on VWB’s experience in Myanmar, South Sudan, and Ukraine, it highlights how addressing animal health, livelihoods, and environmental stability from the outset of a crisis strengthens resilience, prevents zoonotic disease, and supports sustainable recovery in vulnerable communities.
Written by Janine Mitchell, Executive Director of VWB, in recognition of One Health Day (November 3), this article draws on the FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems and the VSF International General Assembly to explore what it takes to turn One Health commitments into action—from building equitable partnerships and strengthening collaboration to ensuring practical systems and accountability.
On September 30, VWB joins Canadians in marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. We reflect on the importance of listening, learning, and respectful relationships in our work alongside Indigenous communities in northern Canada, and share resources for continued learning.
Watch a replay of our World Rabies Day 2026 webinar, which brought together perspectives from Alaska, Ukraine, and Laos to explore why rabies persists despite being preventable — and what stronger access, local capacity, coordination, and resilient animal and human health systems can contribute to progress toward ending human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
