Spaycation Survey

This is a survey about "Spaycations" and is intended for veterinarians who work in or are trained in High Quality High Volume Spay Neuter (HQHVSN). You may participate whether or not you have been on a "Spaycation" trip.

For this purpose we are defining a "spaycation" as an

1. Unpaid or minimally paid trip (may or may not include travel expenses, food, and accommodation; stipend, if any, amounting to less than 25% of expected day rate for HQHVSN surgeon)
2. From a high resource area to a low or moderate resource country or area (often another country, but may include indigenous communities or reservations, or territories or colonies controlled by the surgeon’s own country)
3. To provide spay neuter services (may include additional animal wellness services, but the focus is spay neuter)
4. Organized by someone other than the individual surgeon

This survey is almost entirely open-ended questions. Please feel free to write as much (or as little) as you like when answering them. Since this will be a qualitative study, long, detailed, and thoughtful answers are useful and valuable. The questions are meant mostly as cues for you to consider your experiences, so it’s OK to digress a bit as you answer.

Since the questions are open-ended paragraph style questions, you may want to set aside extra time (about a half hour) and use a keyboard (rather than a phone) for entering your answers.

My goal is that an analysis of the results will be submitted to a national conference for presentation and/or a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

Privacy Information: This survey does not collect any identifying information about you or any organization you work for or with. It does not store your IP address or your email address. Your responses will remain anonymous.

This survey is being conducted by Dr. Sara White of Spay ASAP Inc. and Ergovet. For more information about me or my previous research, please see my website. If you have any further questions about this survey, its collection, its analysis, or its intent, please contact me at sara@ergovet.com

Spaycations

I confirm that I am a veterinarian who works in shelter or spay-neuter (HQHVSN) practice or who is trained in HQVHSN, and that I am consenting to participate in this study. By clicking "yes," I give permission that my anonymous responses may be used in this research and in publications and presentations that result from this research. ^*

Yes

No

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Spaycations

Have you been on one or more “spaycations?” For this purpose we are defining spaycation as an^*

1. Unpaid or minimally paid trip (may or may not include travel expenses, food, and accommodation; stipend, if any, amounting to less than 25% of expected day rate for HQHVSN surgeon)

2. From a high resource area to a low or moderate resource country or area (often another country, but may include indigenous communities or reservations, or territories or colonies controlled by the surgeon’s own country)

3. To provide spay neuter services (may include additional animal wellness services, but the focus is spay neuter)

4. Organized by someone other than the individual surgeon

Have you been on one or more “spaycations?” For this purpose we are defining spaycation as an^*

1. Unpaid or minimally paid trip (may or may not include travel expenses, food, and accommodation; stipend, if any, amounting to less than 25% of expected day rate for HQHVSN surgeon)

2. From a high resource area to a low or moderate resource country or area (often another country, but may include indigenous communities or reservations, or territories or colonies controlled by the surgeon’s own country)

3. To provide spay neuter services (may include additional animal wellness services, but the focus is spay neuter)

4. Organized by someone other than the individual surgeon

Yes

No

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You indicated that you have not been on a "spaycation"

Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements.

What are the main reason(s) that you have not previously participated in a spaycation trip? Please elaborate.

What would motivate you to participate in a spaycation trip in the future? Please elaborate.

Do you have any reservations or concerns about the value of spaycation trips for practitioners and for the communities in which they are held? If so, please elaborate.

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Choosing to go on a "spaycation"

Remember, take as much space as you need to answer the questions.

Describe the spaycation(s) you have been on. What was the location, who sponsored the spaycation(s), and what was the group size?

How did you choose which spaycation to go on? (based on location, who the organizers were, other factors?) Please elaborate.

What are the reasons you decided to go on spaycation? What factors motivated you to go?

How is going on a spaycation different from your everyday work in HQHVSN?

Does meeting and working with other HQHVSN vets on a spaycation influence your desire to go on spaycation? Was this an important part of your decision to go on this spaycation?

Did you learn anything (technical skills or otherwise) or gain any insights on the spaycation? From the experience, or from other people on the trip? Describe what you learned.

How did you feel about the spaycation while you were there?

How did you feel about the spaycation after you returned home?

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Relationships with Local People

Remember, take as much space as you need to answer the questions.

Did local veterinarians, techs, or volunteers participate? If so, what were their roles? How did you feel about the extent of their participation?

Did you feel culturally prepared for the trip? Were there cultural or language barriers? Please elaborate.

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Impacts

If you have been on spaycation, you may answer for your specific experience or in general. If you have not participated in a spaycation, please answer what you generally believe to be true. Remember, take as much space as you need to answer the questions.

What do you believe are the impacts on you of participating in spaycations? If you haven't personally been on a spaycation, what do you believe are the impacts on participating veterinarians?

What do you believe are the impacts of spaycations on animals in the local community? Include those directly served by the spaycation, and those who were not.

What do you believe are the impacts of spaycations on people in the local community?

Do you think that spaycation-type events have a meaningful impact on animal overpopulation in the regions where they occur? Please explain.

What do you believe are the impacts of spaycations on local veterinary services and practitioners in the communities where they occur?

If you haven't already, think of some positive and some negative impacts that spaycations may have.

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The Future of Spaycations

Do you think that spaycation-type clinics with volunteers from high-resourced areas are necessary to advance animal welfare in low- and middle- resourced areas? Why? Will they continue to be necessary in the future? Please elaborate.

Do you plan on going on spaycations in the future? Why or why not?

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Concluding thoughts

Please share any additional thoughts you may have about spaycations.

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