GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (PNN) — Report by Nesma Al-Harazin
As war has surrounded people in Gaza with fear, injury and displacement, veterinarian Mutasim Qadura has found himself confronting another, quieter kind of suffering: sick and injured animals in need of care as veterinary medicines and vaccines become increasingly difficult to obtain.
Qadura continued working throughout the war even as many veterinarians left, medical supplies dwindled and electricity became unreliable. In northern Gaza, his family home became a refuge of sorts for pet owners who had nowhere else to turn.
People came to him seeking help, and he tried to do what he could with whatever remained. The medical instruments he once relied on had disappeared, and in some cases he was forced to use human medicines or old veterinary drugs when no alternatives were available.
Qadura said his decision to study veterinary medicine began with a desire to enter a field where there was a clear need for specialists. He studied veterinary medicine in Jordan on an Al-Fakhoora scholarship.
But the war transformed his profession, turning a veterinarian accustomed to working with proper equipment into someone who first had to search for medicine and then find a way to deliver treatment.
A Caesarean on a kitchen table
One case Qadura has not forgotten involved a cat brought to him by its owner after it developed complications during labour.
There was no properly equipped clinic, no reliable electricity and only a small amount of anaesthetic left in his supplies.
Still, Qadura decided to perform a Caesarean section on a table inside his family home.
The circumstances were far removed from those of a conventional operating room, but there was no time to wait for better conditions.
The cat's owner also chose not to have the animal's uterus removed during the operation, amid the sharp decline in the number of cats remaining in the area after the war.
The cat survived. So did her kittens.
And the story did not end there. Qadura said the cat recovered and is now pregnant again.
For the veterinarian, the operation was more than a successful medical procedure. It was one of those moments that reminded him that his work could still give life a chance, even in a place where war has placed almost every form of life under pressure.
A veterinarian working with what remains
Qadura said shortages of veterinary medicines and vaccines have become among the biggest challenges facing veterinarians in Gaza.
He said veterinary vaccines, particularly those requiring refrigeration, have not been allowed into Gaza in the quantities needed, while supplies of medicines have fallen to levels that cannot meet the needs of animals.
At times, small quantities of medicine are brought in with travellers, but what arrives that way is far from enough.
As the shortages continue, Qadura has been forced to rely on whatever medicines remain, including old or expired veterinary drugs when there is no other option.
Some animals, he said, have died because the necessary medicines were unavailable. Veterinarians can sometimes only stand by helplessly when animals develop viral illnesses they do not have the tools or medicines to treat.
The lack of vaccines, he added, does not simply make treatment harder. It also increases the risk of diseases and viruses spreading.
Livestock devastated by war
Gaza's animals have not been spared the consequences of the war.
Qadura said the poultry sector has suffered enormous losses, while sheep numbers have fallen sharply and cattle have become almost nonexistent.
Pet animals have also disappeared. Some left with families who were forced to flee their homes, while others became strays after being separated from their owners during displacement.
In such circumstances, the role of veterinarians has become even more important — even as the tools they need to do their jobs have become increasingly scarce.
Qadura returned to work after the war because the need for veterinary care had grown, particularly after many veterinarians left.
In northern Gaza, only a small number of specialists remained, and he was among those who continued receiving cases.
When the surgical tools disappeared, the need remained
During the war, Qadura's work extended beyond treating animals.
He also helped residents by stitching wounds and providing whatever first aid he could, while continuing to treat animals whenever possible.
But many of the surgical instruments he once depended on disappeared during the war. Electricity was unreliable, and his medicine supplies dwindled day by day.
Even so, he continued performing surgical procedures when there was a chance of saving an animal.
What kept him going, he said, was the feeling that people needed him.
“What keeps me going is serving the people,” Qadura said.
For him, returning to veterinary medicine was not simply a return to a profession. It was an attempt to fulfil the role he had chosen for himself when he first decided to study veterinary medicine.
The need goes beyond medicine
Qadura says solving the crisis requires more than simply supplying medicines.
He is calling for veterinary vaccines, particularly those that require refrigeration, as well as refrigerators and a reliable electricity supply to keep them safely stored.
He also wants specialised laboratories capable of monitoring infectious diseases that can affect animals and potentially threaten human health. Without laboratory surveillance, he said, detecting and controlling outbreaks becomes far more difficult.
He hopes programmes for monitoring and surveying animal diseases can be restored, arguing that protecting animals is also part of protecting the wider community.
A veterinarian in wartime
Today, Qadura does not have the medicine-filled clinic or equipment he might once have imagined when he chose his profession.
He has what remains of his medicines, a few tools, years of training and experience, and a determination not to turn away animals brought to him by owners seeking help.
He says he is a veterinarian and that his job is to treat animals. So he returned to work with whatever was available to him, even under the most difficult circumstances.
In Gaza, where medicines have become scarce, electricity intermittent and medical equipment a casualty of war, Qadura continues his work from a small space inside his family home.
He treats a wound here, helps an animal give birth there and tries to save an injured animal with whatever medicine remains.
At a time when war threatens both people and animals, the Gaza veterinarian insists that saving an animal's life is still worth trying.
Because, as he puts it, his mission has not changed: to treat with what he has and to keep serving people and animals, even when almost nothing remains.
This video was produced with financial support from CFI, Expertise France and the European Union. The beneficiary is solely responsible for the content of this document, which in no way reflects the views of CFI, Expertise France or the European Union.
When Medicine Runs Out, a Gaza Veterinarian Keeps Giving Animals a Chance to Live : Watch
Aggregated summary from an independent source. Read the original at PNN.