How it started
It all started with a little dog later known as "Kitty". In the spring of 2003, Katherine Nowell found a young female dog - not even 6 months old - tied in the rocks on the shores of Hillsborough, Carriacou. She saved her just in time from the rising tide, but the pup was very sick and needed veterinary care.
Kathy intended to foster the dog until she could find proper health care and a new home for her. Soon, Kathy came to realize that there was no qualified veterinary care for dogs on the island, and she ended up taking Kitty with her when she went back to the US for the summer ...and the rest is history! Kitty has been Kathy's loyal sidekick ever since, and upon returning to Carriacou the coming fall, she found Peggy Fisher who was the president of the GSPCA in Grenada at the time. Together they began organizing outreach clinics in Carriacou with a long term plan to open a permanent hospital in Carriacou.
10 years later, Kathy and Peggy founded Carriacou Animal Hospital as an independent non-profit.
How it works
Carriacou Animal Hospital is a registered and independent non-profit in Carriacou, Grenada. The charity is run entirely by volunteers - permanent and visiting. University and college graduated veterinarians and vet nurses from all over the world staff the clinic throughout the year and donate their time and skills.
Without grants and outside funding, it wouldn't be possible to maintain an animal clinic on Carriacou due to the island's small size and the economic challenges many people face. However, CAH doesn't receive public funding and we are only able to offer our very low-cost and free services through generous monetary donations as well as donations of medicines and medical supplies. These donations are generated with the fundraising efforts of our volunteers and other supporters, who appreciate the availability of veterinary care on Carriacou. Whenever possible we ask our customers for a nominal donation to help cover running and maintenance expenses of the clinic. Basic preventative veterinary care as well as spaying and neutering is offered free for anyone who can't afford it.
Our Main Goals
Accessible Veterinary Care
One of our biggest goals is to meet Carriacou's need of accessible and affordable veterinary services - especially preventative medicine - for the island's dogs, cats and other companion animals. We are the only veterinary practice on island.
Population Control
Population control through our spay & neuter program is important. Not only does it make for a more stable and healthier dog population, it also benefits the island with fewer roaming dogs, less unwanted puppies, less road traffic accidents and less incidents with livestock.
Continuous Education
We aim to continuously educate pet owners about basic animal care, proper feeding, most common diseases and their prevention, animal behaviour, breeding health and population control. We recognize that education and understanding the responsibilities as a pet owners are the determining factors to improve animal welfare on a long-term basis.
Core Team
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Katherine Nowell
- FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR -
Kathy is the founder of Carriacou Animal Hospital and the managing director since its opening in 2013. Prior to that, she's been an outreach coordinator for the Grenada SPCA since 2003.
Originally from the United States, she first discovered Carriacou and its beauty during a windjammer cruise in 1995. She's been coming back to Carriacou yearly ever since 2000, staying longer and more month at a time with each visit. She followed her dream and permanently moved to Carriacou in 2012.
At CAH, Kathy not only oversees the volunteer recruitment as well as most of the administrative and PR work, in her spare time CAH also makes use of her mad carpentry and handywoman skills.
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Nadine Cerny, Dr. med. vet., MRCVS
- HEAD VETERINARIAN -
Dr. Nadine is the Head Veterinarian at Carriacou Animal Hospital since 2016 and a director on the board since 2019.
She graduated from Vet School at the University of Zurich in 2008 and started working in small animal practice right after. At the same time she pursued her doctorate thesis, which she completed in 2011. After exploring the diagnostic field of Veterinary Bacteriology for 18 months, she started working in public service at the Veterinary Office in 2012 and was certified as an official expert in Animal Welfare in 2014. Since 2020 she's working part-time for one of the leading and most innovative Veterinary Telehealth Medicine companies.
Apart from her role as the head vet, she also does most things related to IT, website and social media work for CAH.
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Patty Cady
- HEAD VETERINARY TECHNICIAN-
Patty is CAH's head vet tech since 2018, when she started living semi-permanently on Carriacou. She's also the newest member on our board of directors since 2020 and also our appointed education officer.
She was a registered nurse for 30 years and worked in many fields of nursing. In 2009 she started working in the veterinary profession and became qualified veterinary technician.
Coming from Vermont, US, Patty has been visiting Carriacou regularly since 2005 and now lives here about 8 months out of the year. She and her husband Chris have been supporters of Carriacou Animal Hospital since its humble beginnings.
More Key People
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Emma Faulkner, BVETMED, MRCVS
BOARD MEMBER VET -
Dr. Emma is a frequent volunteer at Carriacou Animal Hospital, who visits twice a year and is also a member on the board of directors since 2014. She first came to volunteer at CAH in 2013 and she actually visited Carriacou three times that year!
She qualified from the Royal Veterinary School of London in 1991. Mansfield, UK, is where she calls home and works in a busy veterinary clinic for small animals as well as livestock and horses.
From there she also runs a supportive charity called "Friends of Carriacou Animal Hospital" to raise funds and ship supplies for CAH.
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Sibylle Erny, med. vet.
- BOARD MEMBER VET -
Ever since she graduated from Vet School at the University of Zurich Sibylle has been a steady volunteer at Carriacou Animal Hospital and the GSPCA's prior outreach programs in Carriacou. After she received her diploma in 2008, she went to Grenada to volunteer at the SPCA and headed to support their outreach clinic in Carriacou only a few weeks after her arrival. She ended up staying in Carriacou for 6 months! She's been on CAH's board of directors since 2013.
Back home, she works in a small animal practice in Basel, Switzerland, and lives nearby in the countryside. She visits her second home Carriacou annually.
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Rachael Grundon, BSC VETMB, MRCVS
CertVR MANZCVS(Surgery) FANZCVS(Ophthal) DipECVO
- SUPPORTER / FUNDRAISER -Dr Rachael has been volunteering with Carriacou Animal Hospital annually since 2014. She graduated from Cambridge Vet School in 1995. After 13 years in mixed practice she undertook an ophthalmology residency in Melbourne, Australia, gaining her Australian fellowship in 2014 and RCVS specialist status in 2017. Rachael successfully pass the ECVO exam in 2018 making her a European Specialist in Veterinary Ophthalmology.
Now a former member of CAH's board of directors - due to her responsibilities as a partner in her own practice - she continues to support us by collecting supplies, raising funds and with some very valued ophthalmological specialist advice.
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Peggy Fischer Cattan
- CO-FOUNDER & PATRON -
There would be no Carriacou Animal Hospital without the ongoing help from Peggy Fischer.
Peggy has been living in Grenada since 1990 and volunteered at the Grenada SPCA from 1995 to 2012. She took up the position as president from 2004 until 2012, when she retired. In 2013 she and Kathy founded Carriacou Animal Hospital as an independent non-profit. With her many years of experience and knowledge as the former president of the GSPCA as well as her dedication to animal welfare, she's an invaluable asset for CAH. Besides being an advisor, benefactor, mentor and CAH patron, she also kindly offers her guest room for our volunteers to stay, when they pass through Grenada on their journey to Carriacou.