VN August 2023

Vetnuus | August 2023 8 The Military Veterinary Institute of which the veterinary hospital forms part thereof is located next to the SAASIC. Animal Health is there to support in case of injury of these valuable animals, they must be treated within an hour only by Veterinary Officer, Veterinary orderly or Nurse.The dogs in themilitary are normally vaccinated from6weeks of age against the diseases such as Parvovirus, Distemper, Canine Hepatitis virus, Canine Para- influenza and Rabies at 12 weeks of age. The Military Veterinary Service also play an important role in the health intelligence of the SANDF with regards to advice commanders against the threat of Zoonotic Disease in the Area of deployment. The horses and dogs in the SANDF are the force multiplier as they assist with patrols at the borders in mountainous areas that are not suitable for vehicles to drive. As Director Animal Health I represent the South African National Defence in the South African Veterinary Association Federal Council which takes place twice a year. As a member of the SAVA, as they say, it pays to be associated, I won a quiz in the SAVA newsletter that paid for attendance of the 11th Biennial South African Veterinary and Para-veterinary Congress and awards that took place 25-27 October 2022 at the Emperors Place Gauteng. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) conducted a Joint and Multinational Peace Support Operation and Humanitarian Relief Exercise with the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) of the United States (US) Armed Forces code name EXERCISE SHARED ACCORD from the 05 to 28 July 2022 in and around Richards Bay in Northern Kwazulu-Natal (KZN). Over the period 11th to 26th July 2022 Director Animal Health, Military Veterinary Institute Veterinarian and 7 Veterinary orderlies attended a community outreach military exercise in Kwazulu Natal Richards Bay and Mtubatuba areas Themilitary veterinary service under my leadership involvement was a success in this Exercise SHARED ACCORD. The Exercise assisted with Humanitarian Relief and support. The Directorate Animal Health of SANDF is one of the stakeholders selected to assist the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to provide SECURITY and an outreach programme for vaccination of the dogs against Rabies since there is an outbreak of Rabies in King Cetswayo District Northern Kwazulu Natal. The Directorate Animal Health, US veterinary team and State Veterinary ServicesoftheDepartmentofAgricultureLandReformandRuralDevelopment (DALRRD) managed to vaccinate 3679 dogs and 553 cats in the Mkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo district of the Northern Kwazulu Natal. Themain challenge that I amexperiencing in the directorate is the recruitment and retention of veterinary personnel. The resolution of the challenge is an urgent review of the personnel management code which is a policy that was put in place for appointment of the new graduates in the year 1999, and by recruiting Military Skills Development System (MSDS) and sending them to study Veterinary Science and to retain them by remunerating them accordingly i. My family is the reason I wake up every morning, my husband Jacob to whom I am married for 20 years, my daughter Reabetswe (20yrs) and my son Mogale(15yrs) are my pillars of strength, and very supportive of my career as Military Veterinary officer. My husband was the person who stayed with our kids when I went on military courses. To be a Director Animal Health in the Military is not a walk in the path there are military courses that you have to go through, the course that set me up for promotion to become a director which took a whole full year to complete. As a woman in a leadership position, I will strive to empower or mentor other ladies in the veterinary field and as a career manager in my directorate, I will strive to recruit ladies in the Military Skills Development which takes place bi-annually and offer them an opportunity to study Veterinary science and veterinary nursing at state expense. v Female Vets in Practice Dr Marike Badenhorst Havingbeenaskedtowriteanarticleaboutwomenintheveterinaryleadership field I amslightly out of my depth. The reason is that this articlewill be a tribute to all women that have been in leadership veterinary positions beforeme, I am not able to name all as I will be leaving out important role players from the past. You have all paved the way for other female veterinarians to play a role in leadership positions in our profession I follow the path you set I salute you. Also, I would like to thank our male colleagues for showing confidence in us to take on many prominent roles in Associations, Industry, Academia, private practice and last but not least and very importantly our Veterinary Council. I am Dr Marike Badenhorst and currently, I am the Chairperson of RuVASA. I am nearing the end of my biannual term and would like to thank all RuVASA members for believing inme to keep the big ship afloat and sailing. Thank you also to the RuVASA BOD and Central Committee for the privilege of working together. My journey as an aspirant veterinarian started before I realised it. I grew up on a Dairy Farm in Eastern Free State. Without me realising it my interest was there. Whenever the vet/s ( Dr Clive Marwick, dr Duncan Winkworth and dr Woody Kotze) came for aherdvisit or diseasedanimalswithdystocia, displaced abomasumor horses that were injured I was a stander by or assistant whenwe took our pets in for consults. In my grade 11 year, I decided that this is the career path that I would like to follow and I visited dr Marwick in Clocolan for a week, after the first day of LDA’s, Dystocia’s, PD’s and an amputation of a Rottweiler limp I was hooked. Especially being a mixed animal vet practising in the rural areas of our country with a special interest in Dairy. After visiting a guidance councillor doing all sorts of tests I was advised tomay rather consider studying agriculture rather than veterinary science asmymath ability might be a drawback. Being not scared of challenges I started as a first year at TUKS studying BSC Agric with genetics. Those years we only applied for veterinary science with our first-year marks and we were invited for an interview depending on those marks. I still do believe that the interviews were integral to veterinary science and it is a pity that it is not still practised. The reason I say this is because a person on paper and in person is different from a real person in conversation. Thank you to the Grace of God and the panel that day of selecting me to be accepted to the Faculty of Veterinary Science. Tongue in the cheek we also said it was difficult to get into OP but it surely was even more difficult to get out of the place.