120th STERILIZATION CLINIC IN VOLCÃN

August 26, 2018

This was our second spay/neuter clinic in August 2018. Today 50 animals were spayed/neutered by Dr. Andres Tello, our wonderful veterinarian. The total dogs/cats spayed for August was 85! Plus Dr. Tello also performed several exams and other
procedures, including surgery on a dog's eye.

At this 120th clinic, Dr. Tello sterilized 30 dogs and 20 cats. Of the dogs, 17 were female and 13 male. Of the cats, 16 were female and 4 were male. This brings our total of dogs and cats sterilized to 4,589.

We had two clinics this month. The work (for me, mostly) is daunting to have two clinics in one month. But now, despite my intention that I'd never again have two clinics in one month, I may change my mind...depending on the availability of Dr. Tello, of course. During our two clinics this month, we sterilized a total of 85 dogs and cats!

This was despite no-shows of 18 animals for August 12th and 19 animals for August 26th....a total of 37 no-shows for the two months! That's the reason that we always overbook appointments. Francia Pinedo contacts EVERYONE before a clinic to confirm their appointments. People with confirmed appointments who do not bother to cancel and then do not bring their animal are inexcusability discourteous!

Our next clinic will be on September 30, 2018.

I can never repeat enough my gratitude for our wonderful volunteers! Besides paying the rent for the building, I pay Dr. Tello, who works for much less than at his private clinic in Costa Rica, and he is the only one who is paid. We simply could not have these clinics and help so many animals without our volunteers. So--I extend much love and gratitude to all of you wonderful volunteers who work very hard all day!

My Ketch pole came to the rescue again! A woman needed help to bring a WILD female cat to the clinic. The cat, that had had kittens after kittens, was inside a building. Our wonderful John Gould went with the woman, and with the help of my Ketch pole, finally managed to capture this very WILD cat. Well, no more kittens for this mama cat! Thank you to John, and to the woman who cared enough to make the effort to get the cat spayed!

Blessings to Denise Reed! She has worked with an indigenous family for months to get better care for their female dog. Little by little. Finally, she was able to bring the dog to the clinic to be sterilized today. Thanks to her efforts, the dog is being fed properly and she has a harness instead of a wire around her neck. They do need to keep her tied because she will eat their little chicks--which will be food for them. But now, thanks to Denise, the dog is no longer being mistreated and she is being fed properly.

Denise lives in the Cuesta de Piedra area. Her friend (and mine) Andrea Gonella live in the same area. Andrea rescues MANY dogs, feeds dozens, and arranges medical care for those who need need it.

Thank you both, Denise and Andrea! We need more people like you --people who CARE and who also make the effort to improve the lives of mistreated animals! Much love from me--and from the dogs you have helped so much.

Remember, we also offer teeth cleaning of dogs. The cost is $25.00. Please make an appointment if you want this procedure.

You may click the PayPal "Donate" button below to help the animals. It is to my personal PayPal account at muffiemae@gmail.com and your contribution will not be US tax deductible. Please specify your payment is for "friends or family" so that PayPal will not charge a fee and every penny will go for the animals. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can use a credit card.

Except for our wonderful veterinarian, neither I nor anyone else connected with the clinics receives any pay. I rent the building where we hold the clinics, and I buy all the anesthesia, medications, instruments, supplies, and equipment--and provide transportation for those who need it. I have no offices, no salaries, no paid advertising. Every penny goes for the animals. This is a project from my heart, and I pay the deficits from my own pocket.

Thank you in advance for future financial help, and thanks to everyone who has donated in the past.

Volunteers:

Following are our other regular volunteers. I believe that we now have the best team of volunteers we have ever had!

Francia Pinedo served as registrar.
Don Binder weighed animals and gave the anesthesia injections. He, Elcy Morales and Agueda Castillo gave the pre-op injections of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. (Welcome back, Agueda! She was absent for two clinics because she injured her knee. We missed her and her expertise!) They also put mineral oil in the eyes of the animals so they would not dry out, shaved the surgical site before surgery, and performed whatever other duties were needed.
John Gould helped remove cats from crates to anesthetize them (sometimes dangerous). John and other volunteers carried animals to and from the surgical table and then to the recovery area, plus he provided help in many other ways.
Various volunteers assisted Dr. Tello and gave post-op injections of B-12 and antiparasite. Those include Alex Rios, John Gould, Kathleen Arauz and Elcy Morales. They dressed the incisions, applied flea and tick treatment, tattooed the ears of female dogs, and generally checked the well being of the animals.
Elcy Morales and Alex Rios also helped by cleaning and sterilizing the surgical instruments.

We had a lot of delicious food for the doctor and the volunteers! Thanks to everyone who contributed: The main dish by Janette Lee, drinks by Carla Black, dessert by Dorreeen Reynolds--and her husband Richard brought a loaf of his wonderful sour-dough bread! (Already sliced and buttered!)

Please forgive me if I forgot to thank anyone who donated or contributed.

Income and expenses:

$   995.00*
contributions by guardians/owners

        25.00
Al Jan (Volcan)

         5.00 Anonymous

      100.00 Sylvia Prestige

         5.00 Elena Luchich

        40.00 Bruce Jarvis

$   1,170.00 Total cash income

*Note: The $995 contributions by guardians/owners were for spaying and neutering only. Payments for other procedures were paid to Dr. Tello separately. Neither those payments nor the charges for other services are included in the income and expenses.

At this August 26, 2018 clinic Dr. Tello sterilized 30 dogs and 20 cats. With my average costs of $25 per dog and $15 per cat, expenses were $1,050 plus $100 for building rent for a total of $1,150. Income this month was $1,170 leaving an excess of $20. Therefore, subtracted from my previous out-of-pocket expenses, there is currently an excess of $2,559.28.

My heartfelt thanks for the generous donations of those who have contributed for this clinic, who have contributed in the past, and who will contribute in the future! We need and appreciate your help! Love and thanks to everyone!

See the photo album for this clinic here: https://imgur.com/a/RgwgeJK

Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 4,589 dogs and cats to date. (And this number does not include the extraordinary surgeries that Dr. Tello has performed at our clinics...removal of tumors, amputations, etc., nor the clinic we performed in Davila in which 35 dogs were sterilized.)

There are many more to go, but we are making progress! Our goal is to sterilize at least 75% of the dogs and cats in the Volcan area, and thus almost completely solve the problem of homeless dogs and cats, and the terrible venereal disease suffered by so many dogs--but thankfully, we see a lot fewer venereal tumors than we did in the past!.

Remember: In 7 years a female cat and her off springs can be the source of 420,000 kittens. In 6 years a female dog and her off springs can be the source of 67,000 puppies. Unless your dog/cat is totally confined and unable to continue the population increase (AND the spread of venereal disease), please do the humane thing of having them sterilized!

For the health and safety of your dog/cat, however, have the sterilization performed by a competent vet who is experienced in early sterilization (eight weeks of age and up) and small-incision surgeries, and one who closes with stainless steel sutures....like Dr. Tello, who we are so fortunate to have operate at our clinics. (I do not trust care of my dogs or injured dogs that I find in the street to ANYONE except Dr. Tello.)

Thanks to everyone who participated in our clinics today, and to those who had their pets sterilized. Always remember that TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Dorothy Atwater - 6517-8752 or muffiemae@gmail.com
skype: muffiemae

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