Background to our work in Lithuania

During our first visit, we experienced the wonderful spirit of the Lithuanian people who, despite years of oppression, fiercely held onto their national identity and expressed a compassionate love of their land and their animals.  We were determined to help.
  

 

Five months later, we took a van stacked to the limit with over £10,000 of new equipment and veterinary drugs, plus an additional cargo of other drugs and aid donated by sympathetic vets in the UK. Upon our arrival in Kaunas everything was immediately distributed with countless animals being able to receive lifesaving vaccines and drugs.

In 1993 Professor Kazys Trainys, a highly respected teaching professor at the Veterinary Academy, re-established the Lithuanian Society For the Protection of Animals (LiSPA). It had been banned by the Soviets after their invasion in 1940. Starting with no telephone and virtually no funds, he set about his pioneering work.

 

The Academy also had a proactive and forward-looking Rector, Dr. Vidmantas Bizokas, who was determined to make sure they adopted the best in Western ideas whilst still retaining the historical traditions of the LVA. In July 1995, having prepared tailor-made programmes in different fields of veterinary medicine, we sponsored seven professors to attend a weeklong course in the UK. The LVA has over 600 veterinary students and the knowledge acquired would be passed down to these students - the future veterinary surgeons of Lithuania.

 

In 1995 we appointed Ben Noreikis as a part time representative in Lithuania. He arrived in Lithuania after many years of working with humane societies in America and was determined to study for his veterinary qualification in the land of his parents. He would become a major figure for our work in Lithuania.

 

Conditions in Lithuania for the animals were often appalling. Usually this was through poverty rather than malice but for the animals themselves the effect was the same. This is the hellish scene that Naturewatch found at one yard.  These horses had died of the cold and of starvation. A few of the horses there were rescued. However, long-term changes were also needed: it was scenes like this that led to our "Help the Horses" campaign.  Lithuania is also one of the countries involved in the live export of horses across to southern Europe, but the profit margins are low and the animals are invariably poorly maintained. Our concerns have also led to our being actively involved in campaigning for better welfare.

 

 

We needed a permanent base for the LiSPA office. This was obtained in 1999 on the campus of the university. We also obtained a vehicle which has been used for the animal rescue work. 

 

 

For many years, much of the work of LiSPA focused on the rehabilitation of wildlife. Wild birds were often brought into the centre, often with broken wings. It's a great day when a bird makes a full recovery - like this heron which could not get away fast enough!

 

LiSPA also has a vital role in educating Lithuanians in animal welfare - especially children.  A number of educational initiatives have been sponsored by Naturewatch Foundation over the years including: the refurbishment of an education centre at the zoo; the production and publication of  'Man and Animals' - a guide to teaching animal welfare in schools; a new library facility at the Veterinary Academy. The image on the left shows the opening of an education centre for children. The architect's eye-catching design of a dog certainly brought in the crowds to see the opening!