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Fofo faipule calls for hearing on problems at Veterinary Clinic

Fofo Representative Andra Samoa
Return of Dr. Lameta and upswing in leptospirosis infections at issue
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Samoa News received several phone calls and emails over the last two week from local pet owners, airing their frustrations about the decision to bring Dr. Kenneth Lameta back to oversee the Veterinary Clinic in Tafuna.

Dr. Lameta, who received his degree from the Philippines, was removed from the Department of Agriculture- Vet Clinic last year after many complaints regarding the treatment of dogs and cats under his care.

He was then assigned to treat livestock only, after then Attorney General, Talauega Eleasalo V. Ale, noted his concern in a confidential memo, to then director of DoA, Filifaatali M. Fuiava, dated Oct. 8, 2019, Re: Recommendation of Termination ‚ Veterinarian Dr. Ken Lameta.

The memo was approved by Gov. Lolo M. Moliga on Oct. 18, 2019, and recommended that Dr. Lameta be terminated, “or at minimum, immediately assign him to a position that does not involve the practice of veterinary medicine.”

Last week, Fofo Representative Andra Samoa raised the issue regarding the return of Dr. Lameta to take over the Veterinary Clinic and called on the House Agriculture Committee to look into why Dr.Lameta is back at the clinic.

Samoa told her colleges that this is one of the most important services on island and the Fono needs to look into this matter immediately. According to Rep Samoa — Tanya Tarasaw, who was put in charge of the Vet Clinic after Dr. Lameta was removed, informed her that Dr. Lameta is now back at the clinic.

Last week the Veterinary Clinic issued a warning about the spread of leptospirosis from rats during heavy rains. The rodents are seeking shelter from the rain and entering houses exposing household pets like cats and dogs to leptospirosis, the warning said.

Also last week, DoH issued a health advisory about leptospirosis. According to DoH, this is a bacterial disease that is spread through the urine of infected animals such pigs, rats, dogs, and cats.

With recent heavy rains, DoH warns the public to be cautious of contaminated water or soil. Children are at risk of leptospirosis if they play in streams and muddy water during and after the rain.

All pet /animal owners should take extra precautionary measures when handling animals, including using gloves and closed shoes when handling or feeding animals.

Wash hands thoroughly after handling pets and make sure they are vaccinated at the veterinary clinic to prevent the spread of leptospirosis from animals to people.

In July, Tarasaw appeared before the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing to discuss the health issue regarding the spread of leptospirosis. Her statement was made to the committee before the return of Dr. Lameta last week.

HOUSE HEARING ON LEPTOSPIROSIS

According to Tarasawa, leptospirosis has been around forever, but has not been brought to public attention again until recently. She said that when there was a US veterinarian, a lot of cases in animals resulted in them being humanely euthanized to avoid human contact with the virus.

Other cases would be medically tended to in order to save the life of the pet while some cases are fatal, where no matter what was tried, the damage to the kidneys or liver was irreversible. It is more common in puppies than in adult dogs due to their immune system being weaker.

She said the virus is increasing from the rats and mice hiding from the rain and entering around our homes and eating the puppy’s food that the owners leave out while they are at work or asleep during the night.  

“Leptospirosis is everywhere in the world due to wildlife. There is no real solution because it would be impossible to eradicate the rats and the mice so vaccinations are a solution similar to measles. We cannot go out and try to poison all the rats because of the dogs and cats being at risk of consuming the poison,” said Tarasawa.

She further stated that there are a lot of people in American Samoa that love their animals and to see a dog or cat poisoned is a horrible and painful death. We can hold a vaccination campaign for leptospirosis or targeted rat control with trapping, but not poisoning, she noted.

“We have seen, and treated 3,125 animals for Fiscal year 2019- 2020 from October to August 6th, 2020. Which shows how much people love their animals,” the Veterinary Clinic official said.

Tarasawa pointed out, “We need a U.S. Certified Veterinarian hired as soon as possible. With a US license and a DEA for health certificates and controlled drugs, so that we can have a constant supply of medication, vaccinations to protect the animals and the people of American Samoa from a virus such as leptospirosis.”

She said the closest competition for vets is Hawaii, where the average vet salary is $100k/ year. The territory needs to be prepared to pay accordingly and also needs at least one more vet tech. She further noted that we should look for grants or scholarship opportunities to send a Samoan student to school in Hawaii, or do tech school on-line with hands-on practice in the clinic.

Tarasawa said that if we train someone from American Samoa instead of bringing someone in, that Vet Tech would be less likely to leave and stay on permanently.

She also said that they need an X-ray machine. A grant could pay for that, but only if we have a veterinarian. She went on to point out that more traps, more kennels are needed; and that at this moment there are only three paid ASG workers in the clinic — including a volunteer who has been waiting to be hired for 3 years now.  They don’t have enough manpower to do all that is expected of them, Tarasawa said.

“Without a Veterinarian, we cannot work with Marine and Wildlife to humanely euthanize the birds/or sea mammals that are suffering/injured/ or sick.

“We can’t work with DPS to deal with dog bite cases, no traps, no space, no manpower, no controlled drugs. What about the federally funded Customs and DPS K-9 Units that need medical attention? To help the law enforcement with the drug problem, fire arms, or explosives,” she stated.

Tarasawa told the committee that they can’t control the population of unwanted puppies and kittens, with no drugs and no US certified Veterinarian.

“The stray dogs that you see on the streets are because we don’t have the medication to spay and neuter animals to control the population.

“We have a very high feral cat population also but they help control the rat population that once again leads to Leptospirosis.  

“So my solution to this problem is to hire a US certified veterinarian at whatever cost it may take to help with all the animal issues to get everything under control once again,” Tarasawa concluded.