A TEESDALE vet will swap the North-East for Sri Lanka this weekend to help tackle the country’s stray dog problem.

Janey Lowes, of Barnard Castle, has taken a yearlong sabbatical to set up a mobile charity dedicated to helping Sri Lanka’s growing population of street dogs after visiting the country for a holiday in July and deciding she wanted to help.

The charity, called WECare, will help vaccinate against rabies and other serious diseases, neuter up to 40 dogs a day and treat sick and injured animals.

Miss Lowes, who studied veterinary medicine at Nottingham University, will fly to Sri Lanka this Saturday (October 4).

She said: “I love to travel and I worked in Bali two years ago, which really opened my eyes, but it was when I went to Sri Lanka this summer that I was really shocked to see the condition of stray dogs.

"There are not enough charities to vaccinate, neuter and look after the animals as most of them have mange, eye issue and tumours at the very least.”

The mobile clinic has already had a £10,000 donation from Miss Lowes’ employers, Westway Veterinary Group, which also owns Easyvets and Value Vets.

The company is the region's biggest veterinary business, employing 35 vets across 23 surgeries.

Miss Lowes, 26, added: "My plan is to set up a mobile clinic and run a mass neutering and vaccination project and, because Westway is such a big practice, we can spare vets and nurses to join me at certain times of the year to lend a hand."

Managing director Nick Myerscough said: "Janey will be a tremendous ambassador as she is very enthusiastic and dedicated.

"We will liaise with drug manufacturers to get free drugs and equipment and our vets and nurses are going to go out in their holidays to do the work.

"It is very unusual for a private practice to do this, but this is exactly why vets come into the profession - because they want to make a difference to the health and welfare of animals.

"We hope it might have a snowball effect and other veterinary practices in this country might get involved to tackle what is a major problem."

Anyone who wants to help Sri Lanka's street dogs can donate at any of Westway's branches or by visiting www.facebook.com/WECareWorldwide