Mayhew Georgia had exciting plans for 2020 and the year got off to a great start.

We had two additional vet clinics in Tbilisi participating in our Trap, Vaccinate, Neuter, Return (TVNR) programme in the city; plans were underway for a pilot spay and neuter project in the resort of Anaklia on the Black Sea coast; and we were looking forward to a celebratory launch event at the British Embassy in the capital. Our target for the year was to neuter and vaccinate 1,350 dogs and bring even more local Georgian vets on board.

But lockdown had an impact on our work

As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe and Georgia went into lockdown in April, both the pilot programme in Anaklia and our launch from the British Embassy sadly had to be postponed. Veterinary clinics were closed for all but emergency care, and our TVNR programme was suspended for six weeks.

Georgia’s blossoming tourism industry and Tbilisi’s many restaurants, one of the main food sources for the free-roaming dog population, suffered greatly during this period. By early summer, the dogs were more visible on the streets and, with breeding season underway, our team were being notified of many dogs in urgent need of neutering and preventative care.

TVNR on the move!

Lockdown measures in Georgia began to be eased from the middle of May. We were keen to get the TVNR programme up and running again to ensure that fewer unwanted litters of puppies are born on the street and to continue our work building a safer and healthier community for both dogs and residents.

We are also very conscious of the need to expand our work outside the capital: conditions for dogs in the rural regions outside of Tbilisi are very poor, particularly as there is little access to any veterinary services. Although our pilot in Anaklia is on hold until 2021, we are very excited to announce that we are trialling a new partnership with Doggie Doc, which sees the first mobile veterinary clinic in Georgia begin operation.

This collaboration with mobile vet clinic Doggie Doc means we can run targeted population management and vaccination programmes in other regions of Georgia.

We plan to work outwards from Tbilisi to ensure consistency, with the team being led by Dr Ana Metskhvarishvili, Mayhew Georgia’s vet, and Dr Dato Omarashvili, also trained by Mayhew. Dr Ana and Dr Dato will also be sharing their expertise, training regional vets in techniques for animal handling, pre- and post-operative care and general animal welfare.

Having recently trialled spay and neuter days with the mobile clinic in two villages on the outskirts of Tbilisi, where we neutered and vaccinated 96 dogs, the team has started as it means to go on!

Giving dogs a healthier life and making communities safer

By the end of August, Mayhew Georgia had neutered and vaccinated (against rabies and the most common canine diseases) 507 dogs in Tbilisi and 126 dogs via the mobile clinic. Working with partner vets in Tbilisi, we aim to reach an additional 500 dogs in the capital, and with the collaboration with Doggie Doc formalised, we can continue to help more free-roaming and community dogs in the regions.

Our target is to reach over 200 dogs between September and December, but to do so we will need to make two trips each month and neuter and vaccinate an average of over 30 dogs per trip.

We’d like to express our gratitude to freight company Georgian Cargo, who have generously airfreighted essential deliveries of collapsible dog crates from the UK to Georgia for free. Thank you!