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    Animal care part of humanitarian mission of African Lion 2011

    Animal care part of humanitarian mission of African Lion 2011

    Photo By Sgt. Rebecca Hansen | U.S. service members vaccinate livestock, May 23-27, during the humanitarian civic...... read more read more

    AGADIR, Morocco – Trying to find a way out of the coral yet still together, the sheep crowd together trying to keep away from the strange people trying to catch them. A man grabs one of the sheep by the back legs then inserts a liquid substance into its mouth and a shot just under the skin before letting it go.

    A group of U.S. service members alongside soldiers from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces provided medical care to animals belonging to Moroccan people from villages surrounding Agadir as part of the Humanitarian and Civic Assistance mission during exercise African Lion 2011. African Lion is a bilateral exercise between the U.S. military and Royal Moroccan Armed Forces designed to promote interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s military tactics, techniques and procedures.

    The five towns chosen for the mission of the HCA were chosen at the discretion of the Moroccan Ministry of Health and they included Tamsia, Tassguedelt, Had Belffaa, Tifnit, and Ait Baha.

    Morocco is an agriculturally based country where livestock provides a major source of food and income.

    “They can’t afford this kind of medical care,” said U.S. Army Maj. Chris Larsen, veterinarian, 19th Special Forces, Utah Army National Guard. “It cost about a dollar an animal to vaccinate and de-worm an animal and they can’t afford it so we provide this service for them.”

    Herdsmen would bring in their herds from the fields, numbering as high as 100 or even more to be treated. They would herd them into the barricaded areas and back them in a corner. Members of the vet HCA would grab and drag them to the people with the medications. One person would inject vaccines under the skin, and another person would administer an oral dose of a medicine to de-worm and kill parasites in the animals.

    “We have [provided the medicine] for sheep, goats, burrows, mules, donkeys, and cows,” said Larsen.

    Larsen and his team worked along side their Moroccan counterparts providing vaccines and anti-parasite medication to the Moroccan civilians in five days. They provided medical care to approximately 3,500 animals.

    “The Moroccans are pretty friendly people and I have had a great time coming over here and working with those Moroccans and then providing the service,” said Larsen. They were very grateful for the service they provided, he added.

    This veterinarian mission lasted five days and was apart of the bigger HCA mission where they provided medical and dental care to nearly 4,500 Moroccan civilians in five different Moroccan towns.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 05.26.2011
    Date Posted: 06.02.2011 10:13
    Story ID: 71473
    Location: AGADIR, MA

    Web Views: 120
    Downloads: 0

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