Report of internship conducted at Soroti district local government veterinary department.

Abstract

The internship program as required to attain a diploma in animal production and management was done from Soroti District local government which is located opposite Soroti sports ground 10km from the current district headquarters (Katine) along Lira road. The period took a total of eight (8) weeks engaging in different activities at the veterinary department under the direction and guidance of the district veterinary officer, Mr. ELUBU LUKE. The work plan of the activities to be done was designed and arranged by the station supervisor together with the students during orientation in the first week of reporting. The work of activities was divided into three that is to say office, abattoir and field activities where students were divided into groups and could rotate from one section to the other on a weekly basis. The office activities included welcoming and attending to clients, entering data into the computer system, organizing and arranging documents at the office, organizing and discussing the work plans, writing reports of the activities done and attending meetings at the departmental office. The abattoir activities were mainly concerning public health management involving inspection of meat to make sure that it's safe for consumption. Meat inspection was carried out at the slaughter slab in Omodoi where both anti-mortem and post-mortem analysis was done on the animals by inspecting and identifying the health cases on the animals. The common cases were liver fluke infestation, tapeworms, echnococcus and CBPP. Organs infested by the cases were removed and discarded while other animals were incinerated. The field activities were the most pronounced and vigorous during the placement at the veterinary department. While in the field, we were engaged in various activities which included prophylactic treatment of cattle against trypanosomiasis, deworming, castration, disease diagnosis and treatment of animals, record keeping, breed identification, drug identification, artificial insemination, vaccination of dogs against rabies, ear tagging, training of the CDC members, vaccination of cattle against foot and mouth disease, CBPP and report writing. However, many challenges were faced for example inadequate materials, long distances travels, harsh climatic conditions, lack of veterinary drugs, aggrieve animals among others. Conclusively, despite these challenges, I thank God so much who helped me to finish excellently because I attained the goals and objectives needed in my study during fieldwork. I recommended that industrial training should be strengthened because it gives a wider field of learning hence gaining more skill and knowledge needed for practical work.