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Sunday,
October 21, 2012 - 41 animals were sterilized today by We sterilized 25 dogs and 16 cats. Of the dogs, 21 were female and 4 were male. Of the cats, 12 were female and 4 were male. Dr. Tello operated on the side of one dog and two cats that still had nursing babies. That way, the incision doesn't interfere with nursing. We also had one female dog that had a massive infection in her uterus. She would have died before long if Dr. Tello had not operated on her today and removed her ovaries and infected uterus. I remember when for a long time after starting the clinics, I walked all over Volcan knocking on doors, talking to people about sterilizing their companion pets, giving them written information about the benefits of sterilization, and trying to have them make an appointment for their dog(s) or cat(s). After several years, my work finally paid off. Recently the clinics have been filling up rapidly, far in advance of each clinic. Almost immediately we had 35 animals scheduled for the November 18th clinic (which will be the last one for this year) and I will schedule up to 50. My employee and I call each person a few days before the clinic to remind them. A few people will cancel and/or reschedule and some who say they will be there don't come. (Fortunately, the number of no-shows without notifying us is getting smaller and smaller - for this clinic we had only two no-shows.) Wulf and Olivia Kroekel brought their two beautiful kitties to be spayed. Wulf remarked about the number of Panamanians who obviously love their dogs and cats. He said he never thought he would see that in Panama - and I had had no idea that would be another result of the clinics, but I'm very happy that it is. As I have mentioned before, the clinics were initiated so that low-income Panamanians could afford to sterilize their dogs and cats. $20 per dog/$10 per cat was my estimated cost when I first started the clinics in early 2006. Not long ago I raised the estimates to $22 per dog and $11 per cat. But we've all seen the inflation that has occurred and that continues to rise. Now the cost estimates are more realistically $25 per dog and $15 per cat. However, I will not increase the amount asked of the low-income Panamanians, and no one is turned away for inability to pay. I have permission from Spay Panama to allow others in this area to bring their pets so they can have the benefit of Dr. Tello's expertise and caring. I ask expats (and Panamanians who can afford it) to pay more in order to help reduce my out-of-pocket expenses, and most of them gladly do so. Thanks very much to the expats who contributed generously for the surgery on their animals at this clinic and at previous ones. It helps to keep my out-of-pocket expenses from being even higher. Besides being an excellent veterinarian, Dr. Tello can also help people. (1) At this clinic one of our volunteers had a tooth ache. Dr. Tello injected novacaine in her gum to give her relief. (2) For years I had been bothered by an itchy little wart-like protrusion at the base of my index finger - about 1/2 cm long. Last July a determatologist at Chiriqui Hospital charged me $65 to burn it off/out. Her procedure left a hole. When it filled in and healed - which took about a month - the itchy protrusion came right back. I showed it to Dr. Tello. With a surgical blade - and no novacaine required - he scraped out the offending little piece of tissue that was causing the itching. In less than a week, it is almost totally healed - and no more itching! Please donate! Your PayPal tax-deductible donations for Chiriqui go through Spay Panama's Animals YES in the USA and are eventually forwrded to me. Please send me an email if you donate by PayPal so I can thank you personally! If you donate via PayPal, it often takes a long time for the funds to reach me. (See income and expenses below.) If you are local to Panama, please consider donating directly to me. If you're not able to donate in person, I can give you information about how to deposit to my bank account, either in Panama or in the US. Thank you! I can give you a tax-deductible receipt for your US tax return. Donors and amounts are reported on my web page for each clinic. Income and expenses are listed on each clinic web page. Thank you for your help! Your contribution helps make Spay/Panama-Chiriqui services possible. PLEASE BE AWARE that if you donate through PayPal, I cannot credit your donation on my web page until I actually receive the funds. If you have donated through PayPal and your donation has not been credited on my web page, please contact me. Anyone who is local to Volcan, PLEASE talk with your friends and neighbors, explain the importance of proper sterilization and tell them about our clinics. My goal is to sterilize at least 30 animals during each clinic - and lately we have been exceeding that number. Our next clinic will be on November 18, 2012. This will be the last clinic for 2012 and we will resume in January 2013. MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors. Without their help and dedication, ths important work simply could not be done. And by the way, with the exception of Don Binder who is a dedicated volunteer, all the rest are Panamanians.
**The owners of six dogs and one cat had no money for the sterilizations but I told them I would pay. Thanks very much to the people above (**) who responded to my request to help toward the costs to sterilize these animals. In addition to these 6 dogs and 1 cat, another person said she would pay $20 later. One person at the September clinic who said he would bring $20 to me the following week for sterilization of his dog has not paid anything yet. At this October 21, 2012 clinic, Dr. Tello sterilized 25 dogs and 16 cats. With my average cost for sterilizations of $25 per dog and $15 per cat, expenses were $865 plus $100 for building rent, for a total of $965. With contributions of $798.60, there was a deficit of $166.40 Therefore, my accumulated deficit is $2,131.55. My hearfelt thanks for all the generous donations of those who have contributed in the past and who will contribute in the future! I very much appreciate any and all contributions. They are welcome and needed!
Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 1,788 dogs and cats to date. Added to the 129 animals that Spay/Panama (from Panama City) sterilized in in Volcan in February of 2005, we have sterilized 1,917 dogs and cats! 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. 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 Back to Clinics Page Back to HOME PAGE |
Cristina Espinosa did a good job with registration. She is only 13 years old and is the daughter of my employee, Jose Espinosa. 