PHOENIX — Local veterinarians are back from the trip of a lifetime in South Africa.
Dr. Gayle Leith is one of them. She's used to spending her time caring for horses but instead, she learned how to provide medical care to rhinos, cheetahs, and giraffes.
She, along with eight other local vets, worked alongside Dr. William Fowlds. He's a South African wildlife vet dedicated to conserving precious animals. Now that the group is back home, they are hoping to revive a passion for veterinary medicine and bring awareness to what is happening 10,000 miles away.
Fowlds says the African rhino is under attack due to poaching and, if that continues, the animal could soon go extinct.
"It was very incredible and Dr. Fowlds was wonderful because we wanted to help them," Leith said. "We didn't want to hurt them and we wanted to be respectful and he was super at guiding us on how to do things."
ABC15 had the chance to speak with Fowlds during his recent trip to the Valley.
"You got to look at nature as this asset that our future depends on," Fowlds said. "We've got to invest, reinvest, in the sustainability of our natural world and whether that's done in South Africa or whether that's done here, it's a collective effort that we all share as a responsibility because literally our future depends on it."
That mission is what Dr. Dean Rice, a champion of veterinary medicine in the Valley, lived for. Rice led groups to South Africa to work with Dr. Fowlds for more than a decade. But last year, Rice lost his battle with cancer.
The Arizona Veterinary Medical Association was determined to keep his legacy alive, creating a deeper meaning behind this year's trip, naming the program the Dean Rice Memorial African Safari Study Expedition.
"It's amazing to know that in spite of his passing, the things that were really important to him, the natural world, wild animals and the future of that are going to be better off because of what he stood for and the passion that he showed and the lives that he touched," Fowlds said.
